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Father and stepmother arrested
for refusing child water and boy died
DALLAS (AP) — A 10-year-old Dallas-area boy who died of dehydration
after his father and stepmother kept water from him was being punished for wetting the bed, authorities say. The boy,
Johnathan James died July 25 after water was kept from him for five days while temperatures soared to 100 degrees or more
each day, police said. The boy's dad, Michael Ray James, and stepmother, Tina Alberson, both 42, were jailed after being
charged Thursday with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Johnathan's
twin brother, Joseph James, and a 12-year-old stepbrother were not injured and are staying with relatives. Attorneys
for the dad and stepmother did not immediately return calls seeking comment left at their offices Saturday night. Joseph
told the Dallas Morning News (http://dallasne.ws/qOpWSJ) that his parents put Johnathan in a room without air conditioning
and told him to stand by the window. Joseph said that on the day Johnathan died he had peanut butter stuck in his throat but
his parents wouldn't let him wash it down. "They still wouldn't let him
have water," Joseph said. Joseph told the newspaper he wanted to help his brother but was worried he would face
similar punishment. "I wanted to do something, but I couldn't," Joseph said. "I couldn't do nothing
because I would get in trouble." Police documents show the boy suffered until
he collapsed at his father's Red Bird home and hit his head on the floor. He was taken to a hospital, and authorities
say Michael James told authorities there that Jonathan was sick. Medical staff were unable to revive the child. The
boys' grandmother, Sue Shotwell, said Jonathan was easy-going and never held a grudge. "This
kid, if you know Jonathan, he could forgive you for no matter what you did," Shotwell said. "You could ground him,
and he would say 'I love you, Mimi.'"
Kennedale father found guilty of killing his
family, faces death penalty
Posted Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2011
By Melody McDonald
FORT WORTH -- John "Johnny" Hummel was found guilty this afternoon of killing his wife, daughter and father-in-law so
he could pursue a romantic relationship with a woman he had met at a convenience store.
The jury in state District
Judge Judge Ruben Gonzalez's courtroom returned the verdict about 4 p.m.
The punishment phase of the trial
is next and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Hummel, 35.
Hummel fatally stabbed and beat his pregnant
wife, Joy, 34; then fatally beat his father-in-law, Eddie Bedford, 57; and his daughter, Jodi, 5; before setting fire to the
family's house at 600 Little School Road in Kennedale on Dec. 17, 2009.
Prosecutor: Boy suffered
'horrific death'January 06, 2011
7:53 AM CLARENDON, Texas (AP) - A Donley County man has been
charged with capital murder in the death of his 4-year-old son. An affidavit from Sheriff Charles "Butch"
Blackburn says 38-year-old Robert Monroe Babcock provided information that linked him to the death of his son, Chance Mark
Jones. KVII-TV reports the boy was found unresponsive Tuesday at his home near Clarendon after the father called 911.
The child later died at a hospital. Blackburn says there was evidence that the victim was assaulted. Prosecutor Luke
Inman says the boy suffered "a horrific death." Further details on the child's injuries were not immediately
released. An autopsy was scheduled Thursday. The Donley County Sheriff's Office early Thursday declined to release
more details on Babcock, who was arrested Tuesday. Clarendon is 50 miles southeast of Amarillo.
Man accused of child abuse waives hearing
Posted: Sunday, January 2, 2011 10:00 pm BY RICK
FULTON An alleged Gettysburg Borough child abuser was ordered
held for court Wednesday following a preliminary hearing in which the suspect was accused of inflicting “life threatening”
injuries on a 4-year-old victim. County District Attorney Shawn Wagner reported Thursday the defendant Michael Love,
22, 255 Chambersburg Street, was ordered Wednesday to be held following his preliminary hearing on charged of aggravated assault
and endangering the welfare of a child. Wagner stated that the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident are continuing, and that
it is expected other individuals will be charged. According to Wagner, Love was arrested Dec. 4 by Gettysburg Borough
Police, and was charged as the result of the alleged physical abuse of a four-year-old boy, after the child was taken to the
Gettysburg Hospital the same day. When the juvenile was taken to the hospital, he was subsequently transported to the
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Wagner stated the young victim “had multiple injuries, including
a subdural hematoma (blood clotting on the surface of the brain), multiple bruises and abrasions, burns on his skin, a vertebral
fracture,” as well as vertebral compression fractures, a fractured finger, and corneal abrasions. The district
attorney stated medical personnel also detected evidence of an older liver laceration. Wagner stated, “Doctors...determined
that these injuries were non-accidental trauma consistent with child abuse.” The attorney said, “The injuries
were life-threatening and surgery was immediately performed on the brain of the four-year-old boy to control subdural hematoma.” The
juvenile remained at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center from Dec. 4 through Dec. 29. According testimony
presented at the preliminary hearing, Wagner stated, the juvenile “was given to the defendant by the child’s mother
in September 2010.” “The defendant was the primary caretaker of the 4-year-old child since..,” Wagner
indicated. Love is scheduled for arraignment in Adams County court on Feb. 17, and is currently being housed at
the Adams County Adult Correctional Complex on $50,000 bail. The Adams County Children and Youth Service have assisted
Gettysburg Borough Police in the investigation.
13-year-old
says murder defendant made him view the dead bodies of his mother and baby sister12:14 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 27, 2010
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
jemily@dallasnews.com
Two brothers tearfully recounted for a Dallas County jury Tuesday
how their stepfather forced them to look at the dead bodies of their slain mother and little sister. The boys' emotional testimony came in the capital
murder trial of Gary Green, 39, where they also told jurors that they persuaded their mother's husband not to kill them,
too. Green is accused of killing Lovetta Armstead and her 6-year-old daughter, Jazzmen Montgomery, at their south Oak Cliff home in September 2009. As they see their mother lying on the floor, "we just fall on our knees
and start crying," the older boy, now 13, told jurors. Armstead was killed shortly after informing Green that
she wanted to annul their marriage just months after the wedding, according to police. Green had moved out, but he persuaded
Armstead to let him spend the day at the house. If convicted, Green would face the death penalty or life in prison
without parole. The attack on Armstead was so violent, said prosecutors Andy Beach, Heath Harris, Josh Healy and Jennifer
Bennett, that one knife broke and Green grabbed another. Armstead also grabbed a knife and stabbed Green twice behind
his shoulder. But her stab wounds were too much and she died "a slow, painful, agonizing death," Beach said.
Green then grabbed the girl and drowned her in the bathtub, prosecutors said. He would later tell police that "it
was so bad, I had to turn away." He showered in the same tub and went to pick his stepsons up from church. When
they got home, he held the brothers at knifepoint and stabbed the youngest one in the abdomen. Somehow, Beach said,
the boys did what their mother could not and persuaded Green not to kill them. The youngest brother did all the talking. His
older brother testified that he was too scared. "We're too little to die," the younger brother, now 10,
testified he told Green. "We won't tell anybody about it." They also told Green that they loved him.
After Green told the boys he would spare their lives, he told them he had something to show them. He took them into
the bedroom and showed them their dead mother. "I killed your mom because I loved her to death," Beach said
Green told the boys. They then saw the body of their sister face down on the bloody floor of the bathroom. Her hands
were bound behind her back with duct tape. The older boy said Green ordered him to retrieve his pills, forcing him
to walk through the blood that covered the bathroom floor. Green then left, he said, after making the boys hug him
and promise not to call the police until he was gone. The boys testified Green told them he was going to kill himself.
"You know how I told you to say, 'See you later' and never 'Bye?' " the older quoted Green
as saying. "Well, this is goodbye."
'They still made me send my kids
to him'
Mother of slain children says she sounded alarm about abuse repeatedly
By LINDSAY WISE
and ERICKA MELLON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 20, 2010, 9:48PM
HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Mohammad
Goher is charged with capital murder in the deaths of his three kids.
A woman whose estranged husband shot and
killed their three children while they slept in his Harris County apartment on Sunday says no one heeded her warnings that
her husband was dangerous.
"I have documents of everything, all the abuse, and I showed it to everyone,
but no one believed me, and they still made me send my kids to him every weekend," Norma Martinez said in a
statement read by Tayseir Mahmoud, a board member at An-Nisa Hope Center, a nonprofit that operates a shelter for battered
women.
Martinez and the children had been living at the shelter since March, Mahmoud said. The children
would visit their father every weekend in accordance with a court-ordered visitation schedule, she said.
"She's been married to this man for 15 years, and she's gone through a lot of domestic abuse," Mahmoud
said of Martinez, who was too distraught to speak publicly on Monday. "Since three years ago, she's been trying to
tell people her story and raise awareness of what's gong on and nobody really took her seriously."
Martinez's
husband, Mohammad Goher, 47, is charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of son Saeed, 12, and daughters Saeedah,
14 and Aisha, 7.
The children were at the heart of a bitter custody dispute that dragged on for years as their
parents' marriage deteriorated.
In May 2006, Goher was convicted of assault of a family member and
placed on deferred adjudication, district attorney's spokesman George Flynn said. Official records indicate
Goher, who was intoxicated, beat his wife with his hands and fists, leaving her bruised and injuring her right hand.
In 2008, Goher took the children to stay with relatives in Pakistan and refused to tell his wife where they were,
said Christina Diaz, the vice president of operations for An-Nisa. Diaz said Martinez, who's Hispanic, sought help from
the FBI, consulates and embassies. She finally reunited with the children about six months ago after An-Nisa volunteers helped
her locate them in Pakistan.
Custody hearing
Martinez filed for divorce in February. She planned to request
joint custody at a divorce mediation on Friday, Mahmoud said. "She was not asking for sole custody of the children,"
Mahmoud said.
But Goher apparently feared he might never see his children again. He'd threatened to kill or
hurt himself if he lost visitation, said attorney Syed Izfar, who was appointed by a court to represent the children in the
mediation.
About four weeks ago, Goher called Manzoor Memon, the editor in chief of a monthly journal and weekly
radio show serving Houston's Pakistani community.
About four weeks ago, Goher called Manzoor Memon, the editor
in chief of a monthly journal and weekly radio show serving Houston's Pakistani community.
"He wanted
me to help him to get his family back," Memon said. He said Goher suspected his wife had a relationship with another
man, who planned to marry her.
Volunteers with the An-Nisa Hope Center denied any improper relationship existed
and said Memon's involvement just made a fraught situation worse. Mahmoud said Memon's wife "claims to be some
kind of psychic" and told Goher the judge would grant full custody to his wife.
Memon said his wife is psychic,
but she never made any predictions to Goher. "She had told him that you need to get your act together otherwise you'll
lose your kids," Memon said.
Memon and his wife visited Goher's apartment on Saturday and Goher agreed
to discuss his situation on Memon's radio show on Sunday. Memon said he called Goher that morning to confirm his appearance
on the show, but no one picked up the phone.
'They were scared'
Goher is accused of shooting the children
to death in their beds at about 9 a.m. Sunday before turning the gun on himself at his apartment in the 13000 block of Homestead.
Goher survived and was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he remained unconscious on Monday, said Harris County
Homicide Sgt. Ben Beall.
One of the children's former teachers recalled that Saeedah expressed fear that she
and her younger siblings had to spend the weekends with their dad.
"She really liked being with her
mom. They were scared to go with their dad," said Jodi Fisher, a math teacher at Schindewolf Intermediate in
the Klein Independent School District. "They loved him, but they were scared."
Quiet and reserved
Even so, Saeedah told her teacher that her younger sister and brother did enjoy going to their dad's place.
"The reason she went was to protect them," Fisher said.
Saeedah never mentioned if her father was violent,
Fisher said, but the girl would tear up at times talking about her family.
"But I never ever thought anything
like this would happen," said Fisher, who taught Saeedah last school year and her younger brother, Saeed, this school
year.
Both children were quiet, Fisher said, but they always asked for help with their work and were very bright.
"They were two of the best kids," Fisher recalled. "Very reserved, but, oh my goodness, they were so
sweet."
Saeedah was a freshman at Klein Collins High School this year and was on the track team. Saeed was
a seventh-grader at Schindewolf, and Aisha was a second-grader at Lemm Elementary.
Vicki Bevan, Saeedah's track
coach at Klein Collins, said the teenager didn't have track experience but called her over the summer to ask to join the
team.
"She just said she wanted some normalcy in her life, and she felt like being part of a team could bring
that," Bevan recalled.
Reporter Allan Turner contributed to this report
Dallas-area
man gets life for fatal baby beating
Aug.
20, 2010,
DALLAS
— A Dallas area man has been convicted of fatally beating his 4-month-old daughter and sentenced to life in prison. A
Dallas County jury found 24-year-old Franzwa Miller of Mesquite guilty of capital murder Friday. Testimony revealed
that Lea Miller was slapped unconscious in June 2009. The Dallas Morning News reports that doctors who treated the baby
said she had old rib fractures, a broken arm, a skull fracture, bleeding in the back of her eyes and brain injuries. The
infant's mother, Alesha Dean, testified that Miller once broke a spatula beating Lea with it. Dean said he forced her
to keep the baby in a crib in the bedroom closet. Twenty-year-old Dean said she didn't intervene because she feared
Miller. Defense attorneys contend that Dean, not Miller, killed the baby. She faces trial in Lea's death. Dallas mother, 19, bit 5-week-old son all over his body, police say
12:03 AM CDT on Saturday, August 28, 2010
By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com
A 19-year-old Dallas mother couldn't get her
infant son to be quiet. So, police say, she bit him all over his body. Danielle Patrice Lewis faces a felony
charge of injury to a child. She was being held at the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail Friday. According
to police documents, Lewis took her 5-week-old son to Children's Medical Center Dallas on Aug. 17 about 9 p.m. The boy was treated there for "human bite wounds to both shoulders, upper back,
middle back, left buttocks and left thigh." The boy also "sustained contusions and visible bruising
to his back and buttocks area and slight abrasions to his genital area," the documents said. While at
the hospital, Lewis said she did not want her child, who is expected to recover, and left the hospital about 3 a.m. the next
day. Officers arrested Lewis at her home in the 3000 block of Larry Drive near La Prada and Oates drives in Far East Dallas, police said. During an interview at Jack Evans Police Headquarters, Lewis "admitted to biting the
[baby] to get him to be quiet," the documents said. Relatives of Lewis could not be reached for comment.
Her attorney, Henry Wade, declined to comment. Child Protective Services has placed the boy in foster care,
agency spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said Friday.
Boy Dies after Father's 'Discipline' Updated: Monday, 12 Jul 2010, 7:02 AM CDT
Published : Monday, 12 Jul 2010, 7:02 AM CDT HOUSTON - Tea-karrous Jackson had not spent much time with
his biological father until his mother allowed the boy, nicknamed T-K, to stay with the man and his half-sisters during the
summer.
"Last time when I talked with him, I remember his telling me he loves me and I love him too. And
I asked him was he having fun and he was like, yeah, and he was playing with his sisters," says Jackson's mother
Lucy Adams.
But over the last two weeks, Adams says she could not contact the father, Alex McGowen Duncan, and
became concerned for T-K.
On Sunday morning, Adams learned that Duncan allegedly killed the boy inside a southeast
Houston apartment, during seven hours of punishing physical discipline late on Saturday and early on Sunday.
Houston
police Sgt. Brian Harris says Duncan inflicted the lethal blows.
"As part of the discipline, he would make
the child get down on his knees and hold his hands out in front of him. If those hands were lowered at all, he would then
do what he call chest boxing and deliver a series of blows to the child's chest," says Sgt. Harris.
Man Convicted Of Killing Three Children Heading
To Death Row (Edinburg, TX)
-- A south Texas man convicted of killing and beheading three young children has been sentenced to death.
A Hidalgo County jury sentenced 29-year-old John Rubio Thursday afternoon after deliberating for a few hours.
Rubio told the jurors quote, "I'm sorry it had to come to this," and the judge later told him that if he wanted
forgiveness, it would have to come from a higher source.
The same jury convicted Rubio of capital murder
on Monday for the horrific murders of three-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John E. Rubio and two-month-old Mary Jane
Rubio, who was Rubio's biological child, back in 2003.
Rubio's common-law wife, Angela Camacho,
is already serving three life sentences for her role in the murders.
The two say they killed the children
because they believed they were possessed.
| IANS | Man killed in bizarre custody plot
| |
| 2010-07-16 19:00:00 | | A Dallas man died
while executing a twisted plot to win custody of his child, police said. According to investigators,
20-year-old Dwayne Lamont Moten hired a friend to shoot him, intending to blame the crime on his wife's boyfriend and
gain custody of his three-year-old son, Dwayne Jr., myfoxdfw.com reported Friday. '(This)
was two individuals trying to frame a third individual,' Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse said. Janse said the plan was that Jacob Wheeler, also 20, would shoot Moten but only injure him. However, the bullets that struck Moten Saturday mortally wounded the forlorn father. 'He drove a short distance before he realized he was shot a little worse than he had planned and got out
of his car, and was screaming for help,' Janse said. Witness Michael Brown said he did what he could to help. 'Only thing we seen was this young man stopped in the middle of the street, and he got out hollering,
'Man, I been shot. Somebody help me,'' Brown said. 'When
he hit the ground there was no more conversation going.' Moten soon
died from his injuries. Wheeler is charged with murder and for an unrelated aggravated robbery charge. He remains in jail
on a $750,000 bond. Police said both Moten and Wheeler had a criminal
history and had been convicted of felonies. 'There's legal ways
to get custody of a child and taking a bullet, and ultimately dying, is definitely not one of those ways,' Janse said. |
|
|
Cops: Man killed crying girl
during World Cup game ( McALLEN,
Texas — A man accused of fatally beating his 2-year-old stepdaughter when she wouldn't stop crying as he watched
a World Cup game has been charged with capital murder. McAllen Police Sgt. Joel
Morales says 27-year-old Hector Castro was charged Monday night after his Saturday arrest. Morales says Castro is being held
on $1 million bond. Police Chief Victor Rodriguez says Castro told investigators
that the toddler wouldn't stop crying while he was trying to watch the U.S.-Ghana matchup Saturday. Rodriguez says the child was severely beaten and suffered several broken ribs. Police said a screw or bolt
was forced down her throat in an apparent attempt to make it look like she choked to death. McAllen
is near the U.S.-Mexico border at the southern tip of Texas.
Prosecutors: 4-Yr-Old
Raped and Killed 29 Jun 2010, 6:06 PM CDT
HOUSTON - An emotional day in court in the trial of a mother who's daughter prosecutors say was
sexually assaulted, beaten and killed. You may remember the four-year-old was diagnosed with herpes three weeks before
she died. Dozens of the four year old's autopsy photos were shown to jurors. They were very graphic pictures of
her fractured skull. Snapshots of more than eighty bruises on her little face, mouth and body were also shown and photos
of evidence the four-year-old was sexually assaulted. Abigail Young cried uncontrollably at the sight of the first autopsy
photo of her daughter. She broke down again as the doctor who performed Emma Thompson's autopsy explained the trauma to
the four-year-old. According to prosecutors Emma died that night in June of last year after she was raped and beaten
by her mother's boyfriend Lucas Coe. "The defendant's relationship and love for Lucas Coe far outweighed
the love for her daughter" says prosecutor Tina Ansari. Three weeks before little Emma's death the four year
old was diagnosed with genital herpes. Young's attorney says her client, who was a nurse, thought her daughter contracted
herpes through non-sexual contact with other kids. "After you hear all the evidence, after you see the evidence
you're going to agree Abby didn't do anything wrong" says defense attorney Julie Ketterman. Prosecutors
say young realized she too had herpes. They say she lied to CPS and to doctors at Texas Children's Hospital even
when the married mother of three was asked questions about if she had a boyfriend who could have hurt her daughter. Prosecutor
Tina Ansari say this was Young's reply 'No. No. I'm married still'. The day before Emma died a neighbor
says she saw blood on the four-year-old's underpants and asked Young about it. She allegedly told the neighbor her daughter
had fallen on the ladder in the pool. The day Emma died, Coe was allegedly at Young's house with her kids while
she ran errands. Young supposedly received a phone call to come home because her four year old had fallen. Defense attorney
Julie Ketterman says this is what happened that night in June of last year after Young arrived home. "She's
running to the house. Luke's carrying Emma out. Young starts driving Emma to the hospital. Couple blocks down Emma's
slumped over. She pulls the car over. She pulls her baby out of the car. She puts her on the ground. Why isn't Emma moving?" The
four year old wasn't breathing either. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where she was pronounced dead. Abigail
Young's trial is expected to last at least two weeks. Lucas Coe's trial is set to get started in September. Both are
charged with injury to a child.
5-Year-Old
Girl Dies After Alleged Child Abuse
June 24, 2010
EL
PASO, Texas -- A 5-year-old Anthony ny girl has died from injuries that authorities believe were inflicted by her mother.
The child had bruises across her body, bleeding on her brain, and at least one broken rib
when she arrived unconscious at Providence Hospital in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday.
District Attorney Susana Martinez
says the girl also had more than a dozen puncture wounds, what appeared to be a human bite mark on her ankle and scratch marks
on her chest.
The girl's mother, 27-year-old Jessica Barron, remains held at the Dona Ana County jail on $100,000
cash bond. She is expected to be charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death, which carries a life in prison sentence
if she's convicted.
Earlier, Barron was charged with tampering with evidence in the case.
Staff Report
NewsWest 9 MIDLAND COUNTY - A Midland County grand jury hands down indictments against a teen couple accused
of child abuse. Iris Rodriguez and Joseph Charles, both 18, were arrested in May. They're
facing multiple counts of child abuse charges. Investigators say the couple is responsible for badly beating Rodriguez's
19-month old son. Charles is accused of sexually assaulting the woman's two year old daughter. He was also
indicted on aggravated sexual assault. Both are still in jail.
Sanger man faces capital murder charge in 3-year-old boy's death
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. ramirez@star-telegram.com A 26-year-old Sanger man was booked into
the Denton County Jail early Thursday on suspicion that he sexually assaulted and killed the 3-year-old son of his girlfriend as he
baby-sat the toddler. Curtis Leon Copeland, alias X and Chaos, was arrested late Wednesday
at a Denton hospital while he was visiting a relative, Denton County authorities said Thursday. Copeland was in jail
Thursday in lieu of $525,000 bail, according to Denton County jail records. He faces a charge of capital murder of a person
under 6 years old. The toddler who doctors found with a head injury, a broken vertebrae, a broken hip and other
bruises died Wednesday at a Fort Worth hospital, a Denton County official said Thursday. He is not being identified
because he could be a sexual assault victim. Before his arrest, Denton County Sheriff Department authorities had been
searching for Copeland after he failed to show up for a polygraph test on Wednesday. Copeland was at Denton Regional
Hospital on Wednesday visiting his grandfather who was scheduled for bypass surgery, said Tom Reedy, a spokesman with the
Denton County Sheriff’s Department. Copeland was arrested on an outstanding warrant on suspicion of unauthorized
use of a vehicle, but he was later booked into the Denton County jail about 1:41 a.m. Thursday on the charge of capital murder,
records showed. Armed with a warrant, authorities searched his home in the 6500 block of Private Road 6601 and recovered evidence, Reedy said. The location is between Krum and Sanger. Reedy did not provide any details. Copeland
is accused of sexually assaulting the boy and killing him. Copeland began baby-sitting the toddler and his 1-year-old
brother last week when their 19-year-old mother called the Sanger man to say that he needed to watch them while she had another
baby, authorities said. The boyfriend reported that the boy had fainted on Tuesday while he was baby-sitting him, Reedy
said Thursday. On that day, the toddler’s mother had her baby, Reedy said. “We had asked him to take a
lie detector, and he didn’t show up,” Reedy said Thursday. The boy died about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday
at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s Web site on Thursday. An autopsy was scheduled
on the child to determine a cause of death. Hospital officials alerted Denton County authorities about the injuries, Reedy said. When the boy fainted,
the boyfriend went to a neighbor’s home and asked them to call 911, Reedy said. The boy was taken to Texas Health
Presbyterian Hospital Denton, and then transferred to the Fort Worth hospital. In an initial interview with authorities,
the boyfriend said that the toddler’s mother had told him that the boy had fallen down some stairs. Child Protective
Services is investigating the case and they have taken custody of the 1-year-old child and the newborn boy, Reedy said. No
charges have been filed against the mother, but the investigation continued, Reedy said.
Parents arrested after bruises found on dead 3-month-old
March 30, 2010
11:14 AM
By JARED TAYLOR, The Monitor
MERCEDES — Police arrested the mother and father of a 3-month-old baby boy who showed signs
of abuse after he died at the hospital.
Mercedes police officers responded to a call of an unresponsive baby Sunday
morning at a home on the 500 block of Ohio Street, said Police Chief Olga Maldonado.
The baby was rushed to Knapp
Medical Center in Weslaco, where he died upon arrival.
Preliminary autopsy results show the baby did not die from bruises
found on his behind and legs, Maldonado said.
The baby’s father, Luis Escaldon, told police the baby
got the bruises after he repeatedly spanked the child on Saturday.
Escaldon was arrested Sunday
on injury to a child and sexual assault charges — after the child’s mother, Brenda Luna, told police that he had
raped her earlier that morning.
Because Luna also knew her baby’s spanking caused bruises but did
not contact authorities, police arrested her on one count of child endangerment — a state jail felony.
Escaldon and Luna — both are Mexican nationals — were set to face the
felony charges during an arraignment Monday evening in Mercedes Municipal Court. Bond information was not immediately available.
The couple’s four other children — the oldest is five years old — were turned over to Child Protective
Services investigators, Maldonado said.
Injury to a child that does not cause serious injury is a third degree
felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. If the final autopsy results implicate Escaldon for
killing his baby, his criminal charges could escalate to murder.
Denton County Father: DUKE WATROUS Victim(s): Ashley Watrous (10 years) Date
of Death: Dec. 2009 Custodial father charged in shooting death.
Web Posted: 02/25/2010 12:00 CST A
statewide increase in child abuse and neglect-related deaths resulted in 280 fatalities last fiscal year, a 31 percent increase
compared to the previous fiscal year and the highest since the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services began keeping
records in 1998. The largest increase was seen in Harris County, where child deaths from abuse or neglect rose 90 percent
compared to 2008, according to the department's annual Data Book that was released recently. Harris County's
67 deaths accounted for nearly a quarter of the state's deaths in the 2009 fiscal year, which was from Sept. 1, 2008,
through Aug. 31, 2009. “Certainly in Harris County we have the largest child population with over a million children,
but we don't know why the number of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect has almost doubled in one year,” said
Estella Olguin, a Harris County Child Protective Services spokeswoman. Of the state's 10 largest counties, all but
Tarrant County experienced increases last year, according to the report. The report also showed 12 more Texas counties reported
a child death from abuse or neglect in 2009 than in 2008. In Bexar County, 13 children died of abuse or neglect-related
fatalities. The Bexar County deaths included an 11-month old girl who sustained head trauma, a 22-month-old girl who suffered
blunt force trauma, and a 12-year-old boy injured while wrestling a teenager. Olguin said the Texas Department of Family
and Protective Services is analyzing the statistics to see if they can figure out the basis for the increase, not only in
Houston, but statewide. However, she said they may never know. Patrick Crimmins, a CPS spokesman in Austin, said the
increase in fatalities cannot be attributed to the agency's method of reporting child deaths, which has remained unchanged
since 1998. To be included on list, the child must be under age 18, and “a CPS investigation must have confirmed an
allegation of abuse or neglect that proved fatal” at the hands of a parent, relative, caregiver or another person living
in the home — not a stranger. Crimmins said that not all child deaths are considered criminal. “A
child drowning could result in a neglect finding because of a lack of supervision, but that doesn't mean that a parent
would be charged with a crime,” he said. The spike comes despite minimal increases in the state's child population
and in the number of child abuse investigations. Olguin said statewide intake cases increased less than one percent
in fiscal year 2009. But what Olguin said she has noticed is that “the severity of the abuse we're seeing
is greater.” She also said most cases in Harris County also involved some sort of substance abuse. “It's
not new, but it's been increasing over the past few years,” she said. “The reports of abuse have not necessarily
increased, but the type of abuse is more severe. We're seeing children being stabbed, starved.” Crimmins dispelled
the notion that the increase may be tied to the economy. Making such a claim, he said, would be “pure speculation,”
adding the department has no data to prove otherwise. The numbers in the department's annual Data Book were unacceptable
for Vickie Ernst, chief operating officer for San Antonio-based ChildSafe, which provides services to child and adolescent
victims of sexual abuse. “The abuse and neglect of child fatalities are just sickening for all of us,” she
said. Jane Burstain, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, released a report in December
based on comparable federal data from 2007 that she said hold true with recent findings. In the report, she said Texas has
a higher death rate per capita when matched to other states. She said the reasons could be related to three issues: that other
states are undercounting rates, and high poverty and high teen birth rates She said children in families with an annual
income of less than $15,000 are 14 times more likely to be abused and 44 times more likely to be neglected compared to children
in families with an income of $30,000 or more. Burstain said states like Texas with a teen birth rate at or above 53
per 1,000 teen girls had nearly one additional child death per 100,000 children compared to states with lower teen birth rates. She
said two legislative changes in 1998 began requiring inquests in the deaths of children age 6 and younger to determine if
there was abuse or neglect. She suggested the state can help prevent child deaths by investing in policies that help
families living below the federal poverty line with services they need, such as health care, day care, and food stamps. “If
you don't pay on the front end you're going to pay on the back end,” Burstain said. “And one of the back-end
costs is there will be more deaths from child abuse and neglect.”
April is National
Child Abuse Prevention Month and to honor it, Alliance For Children, Tarrant County Children’s Advocacy Center program,
partnered with several businesses and local city officials to raise awareness of child abuse
by displaying blue lights around the county. The city of Southlake kicked
off the campaign April 1 with a ceremonial “blue” tree lighting. The blue lights represent the more than
5,800 children who were confirmed victims of child abuse in Tarrant County in 2008. Nine of those cases
ended in death as a result of abuse or neglect.
GARLAND - In 2008,
there were 14,858 confirmed cases of child abuse in Texas. In 2007,
220 children died in Texas.
In 2008, 213 children died in Texas
DFPS Case Worker Assistant Tracy Miller said
Texas has named April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“That is the month where we are allowed to actually
go out and talk to the newspapers and radio because we are limited by what we can do, what we can say and who we can talk
to,” she said.
The purpose of the month is to educate people and prevent it from happening, Miller said.
“Our goal is to ultimately have less numbers every year,” she said. “My goal and the other volunteers
of the Children’s Advocacy Center is to make people aware that it is going on right here in the community. You just
don’t hear about it as often as other crimes.”
With over 70,000 confirmed cases of abuse in Texas last
year alone, Miller said the abuse can have a very high cost.
“Two hundred and thirteen of those died from
abuse,” she said. “And that is all different types of abuse, some of them even by sexual abuse. It is really tragic
and horrific to think about that but it is actually happening here, in your very own community.”
Almost 30,000
children live within the county, Miller said, and in the fiscal year of 2008 there were 1,346 reports of abuse — 348
were confirmed cases of abuse with 149 children removed from their homes and placed in foster care.
Luckily within
that year no young lives were lost due to abuse, Miller said.
But that is not the case for this fiscal year, which
began Sept. 1, 2008, and ends Aug. 31, 2009.
“We had no child deaths in Guadalupe County from August ’07
to September ’08,” she said. “Unfortunately we have had some since September ’08.”
SAPD:
Mom Killed Baby With Knife, SwordOtty Sanchez Charged With Capital MurderPOSTED: Sunday, July 26, 2009 UPDATED:
3:36 pm CDT July 28, 2009
SAN ANTONIO -- Stuffed animals, flowers, and handwritten signs adorned the
lawn in front of the home where police said a mother killed her child early Sunday morning.
The parents of a 3½-week-old
boy, Scott Wesley Buchholz Sanchez, were talking about restarting their relationship hours before the child's death, said
the baby's paternal grandmother.
The child's mother, 33-year-old Otty Sanchez, decapitated and stabbed her son
with a knife and two swords, ate parts of his body and attempted to kill herself, said San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus.
Sanchez stabbed herself in the torso and sliced her own throat, McManus said. Sanchez was recovering at University Hospital, where she was charged by proxy with capital murder. Bail
was set at $1 million.
McManus said that the attack happened one week after the baby's father moved out of the home
at 351 Wayside Drive. McManus wouldn't say if the breakup was a motive for the slaying.
The child's paternal
grandmother, Kathleen Buchholtz, said Otty Sanchez showed no signs of any emotional problems when she saw her and the baby
on Saturday evening. The child's parents had spoken of restarting their relationship, Buchholtz said.
"I'm
heartbroken about it, " she said. "That's all I can say. Heartbroken. I just don't understand it."
The child's aunt and two cousins, ages 5 and 7, were in the house at the time of the killing, but none of them were
harmed, police said.
McManus said that Sanchez told officers that "she was hearing voices" and that the devil
made her kill her child. Police said Sanchez was found sitting on a couch screaming, "I killed my baby! I want to die!"
The police chief said that the crime scene was so horrific that officers at the scene were disturbed and severely affected
by the slaying and may need counseling.
"There are a
few officers who have had issues since that scene," McManus said. "There were some unspeakable atrocities associated
with this crime. You just don't sit it in this business that
often."
Alicia Castelli
Four children with a connection to Lorain are recovering from one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect
that child protective services in Dallas has seen in recent history, an official there said Friday. Three children are
believed to have spent a minimum of nine months locked in a Dallas hotel bathroom, and officials say they believe the children
were beaten and starved. There are also indications the 11-year-old girl has been the victim of repeated sexual abuse for
several years, authorities said Friday. “We’ve had some very severe cases in Texas,” said Marissa
Gonzales, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Dallas. “This is probably one
of the worst we’ve seen in quite a while.” Abneris Santiago, 30, of Dallas, has been charged with injury
to a child and was being held on $50,000 bond in the Dallas County Jail pending a Sept. 4 court appearance. Alfred Santiago,
37, of Dallas, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and sexual abuse of a child continuous and was being
held on $125,000 bond in the county jail pending the September court date. The Santiagos have the same last name but
are not married. They have a 1-year-old daughter together, and Alfred Santiago is not the father of the other three children. In
early July, Abneris Santiago called her brother, Abner Santiago of Lorain, and told him she was having “troubles”
with her boyfriend and was afraid of him, said Senior Corporal Gerardo Monreal with the Dallas Police Department. Abner
Santiago and his wife, Sonia, drove to Dallas to check on his sister and the children and arrived early in the afternoon on
July 2. “He came down that weekend to check on the kids,” Monreal said. “He went to her workplace,
and they called police to do a welfare check on the kids.” When Alfred Santiago, who is unemployed, let police
into the room at Budget Suites, officers found the baby in a crib. She was healthy and in good condition, police said. They
also found the bathroom door locked. “When they opened the bathroom door, they found the three children very underweight
and emaciated,” Monreal said. “They called an ambulance and (the children) were taken to Children’s Medical
Center.” Monreal said the children’s malnourishment was “life-threatening.” “It’s
sad what one human can do to another,” Monreal said. The children spent 10 days in the hospital before being released
and placed together with the healthy baby in a foster home, Gonzales said. The 10-year-old boy has since been re-admitted
to the hospital, but Gonzales wouldn’t comment on his condition. Gonzales said the children were “literally
skin and bones” and told stories of being forced to live in the locked bathroom and being starved. “The
children relayed to us that they had to stay in the bathroom all the time,” she said. “The youngest would sleep
in the bathtub, and the other two would sleep on the floor. They were only allowed the leave the bathroom when the mother’s
boyfriend was taking a shower …’’ she said. “They were very underweight — so much so that they
couldn’t keep food down when they were first offered it. They had to be fed intravenously for the first several days.
They were also very dehydrated.” In addition, the 10-year-old boy had recent bruising and injuries and had signs
of older injuries as well. The girl told authorities she’d been repeatedly raped by the boyfriend and forced to perform
oral sex on him, Gonzales said. “We’re not exactly certain, but we believe it’s been going on for
quite a long time,” Gonzales said. “It’s hard for children to keep track of that. We suspect it could be
as long as three years.” Gonzales said the family has been living in Dallas since they left Florida in 2006, but
there are no records the older children have attended school during the past three years. Gonzales also believes the family
has been moving from hotel to hotel. Abneris Santiago was working at a barbecue restaurant near the hotel and left the
children with her boyfriend when she was at work. “(Abneris) claims she’s the victim of domestic violence
and was afraid of him and that’s why she never spoke up,” Gonzales said. “She said she would try to give
them food when she could. The children talked to us about hiding food in their pockets or shampoo bottles because they didn’t
know when they’d get food again.” The children have told authorities they’ve been living in the bathroom
since October, but Gonzales said it’s unclear whether they’ve been locked up since October 2008 or October 2007. “They’ve
been isolated for so long, it can be difficult to pinpoint how long it’s been going on,” she said. Ruth
Leon said she began receiving the letters from her daughter, Abneris Santiago, shortly after her daughter’s arrest earlier
this month in Texas. The letters, Leon said, offer a glimpse at what became of her daughter and grandchildren after they left
Florida without word and headed west with her daughter’s boyfriend, Alfred Santiago. In the letters, Abneris Santiago
says she felt so hopeless and ineffective that she was willing to endure “a thousand beatings.” “I
got a letter from her and she said, ‘Mom, you just don’t know a lot of things,’ ” Leon said by phone
from Fort Myers, Fla. “You don’t know how many beatings a mother is willing to take when she feels hopeless and
she can’t do much. A mother will take a thousand beatings.” Leon read from her daughter’s note. “Mom,
there’s a lot of things you don’t know. But I do love my kids,” Leon read.
Abner and Sonia as well
as Leon all want custody of the children, Gonzales said. A desperate phone call four weeks ago from Abneris to Leon
triggered the rescue of the children. Sonia Santiago and her husband, Abner, drove about 1,200 miles from Lorain. They were
on a rescue mission. “We were going down there to pick her and the kids up and bring them back to Ohio and help
them get settled out here,” Sonia Santiago said. “Obviously, when we got there it was not the case at all.” According
to the arrest affidavit, when found it was apparent the three older children suffered from “serious physical, emotional
and mental neglect.” The 10-year-old was covered in bruises. The Sept. 4 hearing may address the issue of custody,
Gonzales said. Authorities are trying to keep the children “as insulated as possible” as they begin to recover
from their horrific ordeal, Gonzales said. “What’s amazing is that in spite of all this, the children are
actually very bright and very articulate,” she said. “As saddened as we all are that they had to endure all of
that, we are very hopeful for their future and that they will, with therapy and medical attention and support from adults
in their lives, be successful … It’s going to take a while for them to have a sense of normalcy.” In
an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Alfred Santiago said he was the victim in this case. He told a Morning News reporter
that he was protecting his infant daughter from his girlfriend’s children, that their mother locked them up and that
the children refused to eat “mountains of food” he prepared for them. Messages left Friday with members
of Abneris Santiago’s family were not returned. Jamison, Abneris Santiago’s lawyer, said its hard for people
who haven’t endured abusive relationships to understand the predicament his client was in. “Obviously people
are going to believe she should have done something,” he said. But, Jamison said, she was trapped and there was
“nothing she could do.”
After not-guilty verdict, dead boy's silence haunts abuse case 12:00 AM CDT on Friday, July 3, 2009
Being
only 19 months old and, more significantly, being dead, Irvin Hernandez could not take the witness stand to tell what happened
to him November before last. All jurors had to work with was the undisputed fact that the little boy was alone
with his mother's 20-year-old boyfriend when he was fatally injured. They had clinical descriptions of
a dead baby with a violently traumatized head: fractured skull, bleeding in his brain, retinal hemorrhaging and a bruise in
the shape of a human handprint across his face. They had police testimony that the boyfriend, Adrian Lopez,
gave conflicting stories about what happened to Irvin. At one point, Lopez told detectives the toddler fell
down the stairs. Later, he changed his story to say he and the child accidentally "collided," causing Irvin to bump
his head against the wall. The jury had doctors tell them neither of these scenarios could be true. This
isn't an injury a child gets from falling down or bumping into a wall, they testified. This is the kind of violent impact
you see in a car wreck or, say, when an adult man slams a little baby in the head with all the strength he can muster.
CPS aware of abuse prior to infant's death
09:03 PM CDT on Thursday, June 25, 2009
By DARLA MILES / WFAA-TV
ARLINGTON
- Accused of killing his son, an Arlington father was arrested Thursday. Jason Antoine Farrington was told
by Child Protective Services to stay away from his son, Jayden, back in March. He was suspected of abusing his son. CPS said
they didn't know the child was under his care until he died. Jayden four months old when Arlington police
say he died at the hands of his 25-year-old father. "Injury to a child is a first degree felony case,
which is the same as murder," said Tiara Ellis Richard, an Arlington police spokeswoman. On Wednesday,
Farrington was babysitting the infant at Cobblestone Apartments on Stoneleigh Court in Arlington. Around noon, he called 911
because the child was unresponsive. "He came into the hospital with very, very severe injuries, some
internal injuries and head injuries," said Marissa Gonzalez, a CPS spokeswoman. "And, he was not able to survive
them." Farrington was already under investigation for suspicion of child abuse. In March, Jayden had
two skull fractures and a broken rib. But there were four adults living in their apartment at the time, and investigators
could not determine conclusively who had hurt Jayden. But, CPS said Jayden’s mom worked with them on their investigation.
"At the time, she was very cooperative and she appeared to be very concerned about her child," Gonzalez
said. "She indicated she was going to do what was necessary and not allow him to have contact with the father."
CPS said they had a safety plan, but the mom didn’t follow it. "Obviously, now
we know she was allowing him to have contact with the father," Gonzalez said. "Just how much is what we need to
investigate." A family friend told News 8 that Jayden’s mother didn’t believe that any father
could hurt his own son. Farrington is being held at Arlington City Jail. No bond has been set. Arlington police
said he may also face charges in the March incident
Saturday, June 13, 2009
WILLIAMSON COUNTY Father gets life for killing toddler
A Williamson County jury on Friday sentenced Sergio Barcenas, 23, to life in prison. He will
be eligible for parole in 30 years. On Thursday, he was convicted of murder in the May 2008
death of his 21-month-old son, Christopher. A medical examiner determined the child died of a skull fracture, according to
court documents. Barcenas' wife, Elizabeth Arellano, 22, faces charges of injury to a
child by omission. She is accused of failing to seek medical care for Christopher after learning of his injuries. Her case
is set for trial later this year.
Mar. 13, 2009 Jury finds WR man guilty in child abuse caseBy Becky Purser - bpurser@macon.com
 PERRY — A Houston County jury convicted a Warner Robins man of aggravated assault for placing his girlfriend’s
child in scalding water estimated at 135 to 140 degrees, a prosecutor says. After deliberating 5 1/2
hours Thursday, jurors also found Jamie Jackson, 23, guilty of aggravated battery and cruelty to children charges for also
beating the 4-year-old, Chief Assistant District Attorney Jason Ashford said. But the jury acquitted Jackson of an aggravated assault charge, the prosecutor
said, in relation to injuries that ruptured the boy’s liver and required a surgeon to remove part of his intestine. The
child abuse came to light Nov. 20, 2006, when the boy was taken by ambulance to Houston Medical Center near death. The
child, now 6, had second- and third-degree burns that were five to seven days old, had bruises from head to toe, was
dehydrated, hypothermic and malnourished, Ashford reminded jurors during closing arguments Thursday. Also,
the boy had a shoe imprint on his chest, the prosecutor said. “This child was a throwaway
child and he came this close,” Ashford told jurors as he pinched his fingers to indicate inches, “this close to
literally being thrown away.” Ashford told jurors that the boy was the victim of beatings by both Jackson and
his mother, 22-year-old Jamie Smith of Warner Robins. He noted that Smith pleaded guilty to cruelty to children for failing
to get the child immediate medical attention and was sentenced to five years in prison. But the child said Jackson was
the one who placed him in the tub of nearly boiling water, Ashford noted. The water heater was set high. Also, in a
video interview played for jurors, the boy said that it was Jackson who hit him with his fists. Ashford argued that
Jackson was responsible for the bulk of the injuries to the child. Robert Surrency, an assistant public defender representing
Jackson, urged the jury not to become “lynch-mob-Bob” jurors and be “stampeded” into a guilty verdict
by the prosecution that showed jurors “flashes of a brutally injured child.” Although the injuries to the
child were brutal, the defense argued that does not mean the blows were administered by Jackson. Surrency told jurors
that Jackson admitted to disciplining the child but never to intentionally injuring him. The defense attorney also argued
that Smith was the “real villain” and Jackson the “patsy.” After the verdict was reached Thursday
night, Ashford expressed gratitude to jurors. He also had something to say about Jackson. “We called him a coward
in court,” Ashford said. “What he did to this 4-year-old is unforgivable.” The child, who is in foster
care, has permanent scarring and still has nightmares but continues to recover and wants to be a doctor when he grows up,
Ashford said.
January 19th, 2009 A Texas man who
was accused of throwing sulfuric acid on his girlfriend’s four children has turned himself in. Tracy Lynn Escobedo, 27, was in the Cooke County jail after surrendering about 3:40 p.m., Sheriff Michael
Compton said. He said Escobedo did not have an attorney. Escobedo is charged with four
counts of injury to a child for his alleged involvement in an incident Wednesday that left the four children, ranging in age
from 14 years to 18 months, badly burned. The children remained hospitalized Sunday. Compton
said Escobedo called Sherman television station KXII on Sunday to say he was going to turn himself in and the station filed
the surrender. “There were no problems,” Compton said. “Why he chose
to do it the way he did, I can’t say.”
BALCONES HEIGHTS -- A little girl is in the hospital with severe injuries, and her is mother
under arrest for abusing her. According to Balcones Heights Police, bright red bruises covered a 3-year-old
girl's back, and her mother, Vanessa Portales, tried covering them up with make-up. Sergeant Robert Acosta
from Balcones Heights Police said, "The injuries were severe to where the body was covered completely in bruises, there
was scratches, there were burns." Investigators said they believe the child was beaten at an apartment off
Fredericksburg Road. Neighbor Timothy Rowan said Portales gave him a different story about her daughter's injuries "She came and knocked on my door. She asked me if I could take her to the hospital," said Rowan. "She
said the child had fallen and injured the left side of her face." Detectives said the 23-year-old mother confessed
what happened after doctors found old fractures under the child's new wounds. According to investigators, the mother admits
the child was complaining about another injury and she got tired of her daughter making a fuss. Portales is currently
charged with injury to a child. The little girl's step father is facing similar charges since police said he
knew about the abuse and didn't report it or make it stop. On Wednesday evening, Portales was at the Magistrate's
Office. She's expected to be booked into Bexar County Jail on a $50,000 bond. |
Nacogdoches child dies after
being child abuse victim
Feb
12, 2009 11:29 PM EST NACOGDOCHES, TX (KSLA) - A Nacgodoches toddler is dead after fighting for her life for several days in a Shreveport
hospital. Authorities say Kaylin Bromley was a victim of child abuse. She was transported to Schumpert on Monday night,
with blunt injuries to the head and neck. Tonight (2/12), she was removed from life support. Her mother's
boyfriend, Tyrone Roberts, is in jail in Nacogdoches for first degree felony charges of injury to a child. Roberts originally
told authorities the little girl fell off a horse. Doctors and investigators disagree. "There's a possibility
that those charges will be upgraded and could include the possibility of capital murder because of her age: being under six
years of age," says Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerss. Kaylin's body will be transported back to Texas
for an autopsy.
Austin police seek couple
in child sex assaults © 2009 The Associated PressJan. 29, 2009, 3:24AM
AUSTIN
— Arrest warrants have been issued for an Austin couple whom police are seeking for allegedly videotaping and photographing
themselves sexually assaulting two children, including a toddler, according to authorities. Police are
searching for Mariana Garcia, 23, and Adrian Navarro, 29. In one video, Garcia, was seen holding a girl "that appears
under the age of 2" while Navarro, assaulted the child, according to arrest affidavits. "It was shocking,"
said child abuse unit Detective Joel Pridgeon in an online story Thursday for the Austin American-Statesman. Police
said Wednesday that they are still trying to determine the identity of the children and do not know their whereabouts. "We
know those children exist. They are here in Austin, not on the other side of the world, so there is a greater urgency now
that we know those kids are close by," said Pridgeon. Navarro is charged with promotion of child pornography and
aggravated sexual assault. His bail is set at $250,000. Police have charged Garcia with aggravated sexual assault, and her
bail has been set at $150,000. Police said in court documents that they seized pictures and videos after getting permission
to search the couple's apartment in an investigation of a burglary case last week. They had been looking for stolen property,
but instead found more than 500 pictures and 15 videos of child pornography, the affidavits said. Both could face life
in prison if convicted. Slaying suspect charged
beforeShooting suspect earlier had been charged with domestic violenceBy DALE LEZON and JENNIFER LEAHY Copyright
2009 Houston ChronicleJan. 30, 2009, 8:50PM
Grandmother, Elaine Walker, who authorities said was killed
while trying to protect her daughter. Daughter and granddaughter than kidnapped by estranged boyfriend
A man accused of killing his estranged girlfriend’s mother before shooting himself had been charged with domestic
violence days earlier, after he beat the daughter, officials said.
Elaine Walker died trying to protect her daughter, authorities said, when Roydrick Jiles burst into the daughter’s
southwest Harris County townhome Thursday night. Jiles was found shot
in the head at his mother’s apartment complex late Thursday. He was listed in critical condition late Friday at Ben
Taub General Hospital. Authorities said that after he shot Elaine Walker,
Jiles abducted his estranged girlfriend, Auriel Walker, and their 17-month-old daughter. Auriel Walker escaped with the child,
then alerted authorities about 8:30 p.m. She said she wasn’t
sure why Jiles shot her mother. Auriel Walker said she had recently refused to see or talk to Jiles after he beat her Jan.
24. Elaine Walker had been living her daughter since that day, Auriel
Walker said. “She told me Wednesday night when we were going
back to the house, ‘I’ll protect you if anything happens,’ ” Auriel Walker said. Auriel Walker said she was asleep when Jiles began beating on her door in the 13200 block
of Old Richmond on Thursday. “I tried to put a chair in front
of the door, but it didn’t work. He got in. And Mom was just standing there. He just shot her,” Auriel Walker
said. The gunshot struck the mother in the chest. Auriel Walker said
Jiles forced her into his car at gunpoint, then drove to his mother’s apartment in the 6300 block of West Airport. During
the drive, he said he wanted to shoot himself because he was upset that he had beaten her, Auriel Walker said. He told her
wasn’t going to hurt her or the baby. “She was a good woman,”
she said. “She didn’t deserve | Father Arrested After
Wife Fatally Shot, Kids InjuredChildren Listed In Stable ConditionPOSTED:
9:13 am CDT April 30, 2008 UPDATED: 2:13 pm CDT May 1, 2008 MESQUITE, Texas -- Police said
a man who fatally shot his wife and injured her two children in a Mesquite home Wednesday morning is in custody. Police
said Monique Turner, 31, and her children, Michael Turner Jr., 11, and Najye Heath, 7, were found in a house in the 1600 block of Sam Houston
Road at about 7 a.m. after gunshots were reported coming from Candice Court at 6:24 a.m.
Neighbor Carlos Vazquez called 911 after he
heard the shots. "It was three at once and then a short pause and then two after it," he said. The children
were taken "It was three at once and then a short pause and then two after it," he said. The children were
taken to Children's Medical Center in Dallas and underwent surgery while their mother was taken to Baylor Medical Center Dallas. Monique Turner was pronounced
dead at 7:50 a.m. "This is a level of evil that I don't think we can really describe," Mesquite
police Lt. Steve Callarman said. Both of the children were out of surgery by late Wednesday afternoon and were in stable condition, Callarman
said. An 8-month-old infant who was also inside the home at the time of the shooting was not hurt. Police said
Michael Turner, 29, returned to the house and confessed to the shootings. He drove up to the house while
paramedics were treating the victims at the scene and was arrested in connection with the shooting, Callarman said. "As
to why he came back to the scene to turn himself in, I don't think it had anything to do with remorse," Callerman
said. A neighbor who flagged down officers said she received a phone call from Turner saying he had shot his family.
Friends said the relationship between Michael and Monique Turner was rocky. "There might have been some problems
in the relationship but I never thought it would amount to this," family friend Sheronnie Pearl said. Police said
they charged Turner with one count of murder and two counts of attempted capital murder. He also has arrest
warrants our of Tyler, Duncanville and Smith County. |
| rest In Peace |
|
| Jonathan |
 Mar 27, 2008 11:36 pm US/Central porting
Bud Gillett DESOTO (CBS 11 News) ― Police arrested a DeSoto father after his 12-year-old son was taken to, and later died at, Charlton Methodist Hospital
in Dallas.
Wednesday afternoon the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the
death of Jonathon Potts a homicide due to blunt force trauma.
According to detectives, Jonathon was hit with an
extension cord and a stick. Terrance Andre Potts, 40, Jonathon's father, told DeSoto police he gave his son 20 to 30 licks.
DeSoto police charged Potts with murder - a first degree felony. He is being held on one million dollars bond.
Jonathon Potts and his father Terrance were riding in a car when his father says the child went into some sort
of distress. Terrance Potts stopped at the Speedy Market Fina Station on the corner of E. Pleasant Run Road and The Meadows
Parkway and paramedics were called.
The following is a transcript from the emergency call.
Dispatcher:
Is your son able to talk to you at all?
Caller: Jonathon
Dispatcher: Sir, I need you to talk to me. Is your son
able to talk to you at all?
Caller: No. He is not responding ma'am. He's lying here laid out.
Dispatcher:
Okay. Is he in the car or outside of the car?
Caller: He's sitting in the car. He's sitting in the car.
When paramedics arrived at the scene around 10:25 a.m. Tuesday they found the 12-year-old unconscious and unable to
breathe. Before rescuers could get the child to the hospital he went into cardiac arrest, but was revived.
Ken
Miller told CBS 11 News that Potts was his 'spiritual associate' in a 12-step program. Miller says he was taking his
morning walk Tuesday when he saw Potts pulled over at a local convenience store, on the phone to 911, and 'working on'
his son.
"He was talking on the mobile phone, but he was looking inside of the car," Miller explained.
"I saw him take the child out of the car and lay him down; he was still on the phone."
Paramedics called
DeSoto police after noticing injuries on the 12-year-old's back. When the child arrived at the hospital doctors said they
saw 'looped marks' on his back and dried blood that appeared to be fresh. The boy also had 'extensive' bruising
from his lower back to his buttocks.
Jonathon Potts was pronounced dead at approximately 1:20 p.m.
Police
learned some information after talking with Terrance Potts. "The father did indicate to investigators that he had disciplined
his son, spanked his son, the night before," said Lt. Mike Sullivan with the DeSoto Police Department.
Jonathon's
mother told police her son was spanked because he did not come home the day before he died.
Authorities arrested
Potts at the hospital. Initially he was charged with felony injury to a child, but those charges were amended to murder Wednesday
afternoon.
Terrance Potts has two other daughters, ages 11 and nine. Because of the nature of the charges against
their father, the girls have been taken into custody by Child Protective Services.
Officials say there had been
no prior CPS history with the family and a hearing concerning the girl's future will be scheduled.
Grief counselors
were on hand at DeSoto East Middle School, where Jonathon Potts attended classes, for both students and their parents.
Police tell CBS 11 News that the investigation in the death isn't necessarily over and that more charges may be
filed. (© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
January 19th, 2008
In San Antonio, Texas, police arrested Christopher James Cowan, and his wife, Danelle Cowen
after police received a report from salon workers that their two-year-old daughter was abused. They’ve been charged with injury to a child.
Salon employees told police the family came in for hair cuts. They saw a large bruise on the girl’s
face and abrasions and burn marks on her wrists. The employees told the girl’s father that he should take
her to the hospital because she looked sick. He told them the toddler was “fine as long as she was walking.”
Danelle, the stepmother, told them that the little girl had been punished for soiling her pants and that she put a
hot sauce in her mouth as punishment.
After the family left, the salon workers called the police who went to the Cowen’s home to investigate. First, they
said the little girl injured herself and was not abused. Then child protective services took her to the hospital
for a medical screening. Doctors said her injuries indicated child abuse.
Christopher Cowen finally confessed that he’d been having trouble potty training the little girl. He said
that Danelle had tied up the child with shoe strings and spanked her with a belt as punishment
| Rest in Peace |
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| Sarah and Amina |
Relative of murdered Dallas girls: “This was an honor killing;” father abused daughters
By Michelle Malkin • January 6, 2008 07:04 AM
 Funeral services–both Christian and Muslim–were held Saturday in Dallas for murdered teen sisters Sarah and Amina Yaser Said. Their father, wanted for capital murder in the case, remains on the loose. Dallas Morning News reports on family reaction–including remarks from the girls’ mother, brother, and great-aunt, who is convinced
that the double slayings are honor killings and detailed the daughters’ abuse at the hands of the father:
Before the service, the girls’ mother and brother issued a public appeal for Mr. Said to surrender. Patricia Said
said her husband needed to be brought to justice so that her “girls can rest in peace.” She said that she and
her son would remain in hiding until her husband is captured.
“I just want him to pay for what he did to my girls,” Mrs. Said said.
Islam Said has previously disputed widespread rumors and media reports that his Muslim father’s religion may have
been the reason for the killings. Some have speculated that the deaths may have been “honor killings,” a practice
in which a man kills a female relative who he believes has somehow shamed the family.
Patricia Said mourned the loss of her daughters at a Baptist service Saturday at Rahma Funeral Home.
Irving police have said that they are exploring all possible motives for the slayings. Police have acknowledged that the
family had some previous domestic problems.
Gail Gartrell, the sisters’ great-aunt, said Saturday that Mr. Said had physically abused the two girls for
years. Around Christmas, the girls’ mother – Ms. Gartrell’s niece – had fled because of Mr. Said’s
threats to kill the girls after he learned they had boyfriends, she said.
“She ran with them because she knew he would carry out the threat,” Ms. Gartrell said. “This was an honor
killing.”
She said her niece returned after Mr. Said told her that he would move out so they could reconcile. Within a few days,
she said, the girls were dead.
The Ft. Worth Star Telegram also reveals details about the missing father’s marriage to the girls’ mother. They married when she was 15 and
he was 30:
Details emerged Thursday about the days leading up to the fatal shootings of the Lewisville teens, who were found Tuesday
evening in a taxi that police believe was driven by their father.
Patricia Said and her daughters quit their jobs at a Kroger grocery store in Lewisville just before Christmas, a company
spokesman said.
Patricia and Yaser Said were wed in February 1987 when she was 15 and he was 30, Tarrant County marriage records show.
The two have had addresses in Euless, Bedford, Grand Prairie and Arlington, public records indicate.
Yaser Abdel Said filed a missing-person report Dec. 26. He hoped police would help track down his wife, according to a
report by KDFW/Channel 4.
The incident marked one of the domestic problems that investigators believe may have led to the killings of Sarah and Amina
Said.
Friends of the girls have said their father didn’t approve of them dating.
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