Carmen Ramos

Shooter Sentenced to 40 years in Prison for Killing Kids' Mom

Updated: Monday, 11 Jul 2011, 6:15 PM EDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Thomas Manjarez was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison for the April 2010 killing of Carmen Ramos, the mother of his three children.

In June, Thomas Manjarez pleaded guilty to the death of Carmen Ramos.

Manjarez, 36, shot Ramos in April of 2010 and police in Texas arrested him in January.

Ramos, 33, was found face down in a pool of blood with multiple gun shot wounds inside her home at 1307 Huestis Avenue in Fort Wayne.

She had called police to her home multiple times to file charges for domestic assault, and had a protective order against Manjarez prior to the murder. But that order expired in early April, just days before the murder.

It was emotional in the Allen County courtroom Monday. Denise Spila, Ramos' sister, was there with more family members looking for justice. Spila thinks Manjarez deserved more time behind bars.

"I wish he got more time," said Spila. "I would have loved for him to be put away for life. Because she (Ramos) is never coming back so why should he have a life?"

Manjarez' mother Doreen Ramirez was also at the sentencing. She thinks her son got what he deserved.

"He's not a monster. He just made a bad decision," said Ramirez. "They will never forget, but God-willing they can forgive."

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors changed his charge to voluntary manslaughter.

Manjarez will also spend an additional 10 years on probation.

Alyssa Johnson

Formal Charges Filed in Baby Death Case

LaDawn Johnson is facing three charges

Wednesday, 15 Dec 2010, 10:51 AM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The Allen Co. prosecutor has filed charges against LaDawn Johnson; she's a suspect in the death of her four-week-old baby.

Prosecutor Karen Richards has filed three felony charges against Johnson: Battery, Neglect of Dependent Resulting in Death, and Neglect of Dependent Resulting in Bodily Injury.

According to the Fort Wayne Police Department, around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, officers were called to the 5700 block of Fairfield Avenue where LaDawn Depree Johnson,25, arrived with her deceased infant.

One-month-old Alyssa Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.

Police arrested LaDawn Johnson later that day.

After conducting an autopsy on the baby Thursday, the Allen County Coroner reported the child died as a result of a skull fracture with subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding around the brain.

Police said a home in the 7900 block of Serenity Drive is also possibly related to the investigation.

Alyssa's death is Fort Wayne and Allen County's 26th homicide for 2010.

Update:

Indiana woman gets 40 years in daughter's death
Updated: May 16, 2011 3:03 PM EDT

FORT WAYNE - A northeastern Indiana woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the beating death of her 4-week-old daughter.

The Journal Gazette reports that Allen County Judge John Surbeck sentenced 26-year-old LaDawn Johnson on Monday in the December death of her 29-day-old daughter, Alyssa. An autopsy found the infant died from a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain.

A jury convicted Johnson last month of battery causing death, neglect of a dependent causing death and neglect of a dependent causing injury in the child's death. During her trial, Johnson's 6-year-old son testified that he saw his mother punch the baby in the stomach repeatedly and heard her say the baby was ugly.

Jeziah King

Jeziah King

Indiana Woman Charged In Son's Oil And Vinegar Death

December 29, 2010

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indiana woman accused of feeding her young son olive oil and vinegar until he stopped breathing and died and then hiding his body more than a year has been formally charged.

Latisha Lawson, 31, of Fort Wayne faces two felony counts of battery and three felony counts of neglect of a dependent, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday in Allen County Superior Court. The document also provides details from an interview with Lawson's 10-year-old daughter, who was also allegedly neglected.

DNA results are still pending to definitively determine whether remains found Dec. 21 at a home in which Lawson was living are those of her 3-year-old son, Jezaih King. An autopsy found the cause of death for the young child found in the house to be asphyxia due to compression of the neck.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Lawson told authorities that Jezaih died more than a year ago after she gave him three doses of oil and vinegar and then held his mouth shut for 10 minutes until he stopped struggling.

No attorney for Lawson was listed in court records Wednesday. She was being held in the Allen County Jail on $130,000 bond. An initial court hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

During an initial interview, Lawson said she believed her children were possessed by demons, according to police. She also said she could not take Jezaih's temper tantrums.

Police said she told them she gave both children doses of oil and vinegar, but that she left her 10-year-old daughter alone when she spit it out.

According to the court document, the daughter told police how Lawson put Jezaih's body on a couch and called her over to say goodbye to her brother. The girl said her mother then placed Jezaih on a bed and told her to pray over her dead sibling.

A former roommate told police Jezaih died in an apartment on Nov. 19, 2009, according to court records.

Lawson was taken into custody on Dec. 21. Someone tipped off authorities about where she was after media reported that Fort Wayne police were looking for a missing family of three. Lawson's daughter was placed in protective custody.

UPDATE:

June 24, 2011

FORT WAYNE - A Fort Wayne woman who forced her 2-year-old son to drink a concoction of olive oil and vinegar because she thought it would exorcise a demon from him has been sentenced to 62 years in prison for his murder and other charges.

Latisha Lawson was convicted in May of the 2009 death of toddler Jezaih King, who died from asphyxia due to neck compression and suffocation. The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne reports that Lawson was sentenced Friday to 62 years in prison for murder, neglect and battery charges.

Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull said Friday that children look to parents to protect them and keep them safe, but Lawson did neither.

Lawson's roommate is scheduled to stand trial later this year on neglect and battery charges.

Quinton S. Lewis

Quinton S. Lewis

Parolee arrested in man's April slaying

Charles V. Lawrence had served 14 years for a woman's 1995 killing.

March 2, 2011
By Ellie Bogue
of The News-Sentinel

A Fort Wayne parolee convicted of shooting a woman nine times in 1995 was in court Tuesday for the first day of his trial in the April killing of a 29-year-old city man.

Charles V. Lawrence, 35, watched as the jury was selected for the trial in the April 24 slaying of Quinton S. Lewis in a Kekionga Drive apartment building. Lawrence, released from state prison in February 2010 after serving 14 years of a 30-year sentence for a 1996 attempted-murder conviction, is being tried on charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a violent felon.

Lewis was gunned down at 2 a.m. in an apartment building at 4320 Kekionga Drive, in the Indian Village Garden Apartments complex off Engle Road. Police found him lying in the hallway, and medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police were called at 10 p.m. April 23 for a reported domestic violence, when Lawrence's sister, Tekella Lawrence, said Lewis – who lived with her – had battered her before leaving in her car with her cell phone, a probable-cause affidavit said.

According to testimony Tuesday, Tekella Lawrence said she had been involved with Lewis for 11 years.

According to her, the two had argued over her plans to go out for the evening, and Lewis hit her in the mouth with a liquor bottle.

According to Deputy Prosecutor Steve Godfrey, police records show it wasn't the first time the two had fought.

In addition to calling 911, Tekella Lawrence contacted her sister Louise and brother Charles, who along with several other friends went to Tekella's apartment.

According to testimony from Louise and Tekella, the visitors stayed about 20 minutes and left.

Charles Lawrence stayed about five minutes longer. Louise told the court that her brother didn't seem angry over the incident.

Godfrey pointed out that police records said when Tekella was questioned about the events of the night, shortly after they happened, she had said her brother had stayed with her to protect her. Louise Lawrence and Charles' fiancée, now wife, Sanya Perry Lawrence, both denied this in their testimony.

While Louise Lawrence and friends headed out to a club, Sanya Perry Lawrence testified she and Lawrence went to the Burger King on Bluffton Road, where they argued. He got out of the car on Bluffton Road and she returned to their apartment on Fairfield Avenue.

She couldn't sleep, but after 10 minutes, Lawrence called her and said he would be home shortly and apologized for their earlier disagreement.

Godfrey questioned this in court, and pointed out to Sanya Perry Lawrence that according to police records, shortly after the shooting she had said Lawrence was with her all night.

Tekella Lawrence testified that after people left her apartment she smoked marijuana and took two Vicodin.

She said she awoke to hear a popping noise that sounded like fireworks. She moved from the bedroom to the living room, where she noticed the door to her apartment was slightly cracked open; she closed the door. She lay down on the couch, and when she awoke it was to the knock of the Fort Wayne Police Department.

UPDATE

April 11, 2011

A 36-year-old Fort Wayne man convicted of murder for the fatal shooting of his sister’s boyfriend was sentenced Monday to 90 years in prison.

Charles V. Lawrence Sr. maintained his innocence in the death of Quinton Lewis and said he plans to appeal his conviction.

Lawrence, who was on parole for attempted murder at the time of Lewis’ death, was convicted by a jury early last month.

The murder case was built largely on earlier statements by Lawrence’s siblings to police, which put him inside his sister’s apartment at the time Lewis was shot in the face with a .45-caliber pistol.

But prosecutors battled those same witnesses’ subsequent stories from the witness stand, all putting Lawrence somewhere else at the time, even at different places at the same time. At varying times Lawrence’s sisters said he was with them, or not with them, and his wife said he was with her, and then not with her.

Prosecutors played a portion of interviews his sisters had given police, and Lewis’ girlfriend – Lawrence’s sister – said Lawrence promised to stay with her that night.

On the stand during the trial, that sister, Tekella Lawrence, said her brother left her apartment after he, another sister, his then-fiancée and another friend came over to check on her after Lewis battered her in the face.

Lewis, 29, left with her keys, cell phone and car and when he returned early the next morning, someone fired a gun as he opened the door, shooting him in the face. The shooter then followed him down the stairs and shot him in the top of the head, killing him, according to testimony.

The gun used was later found in a wooded area at Kekionga Middle School by a group of students out on a nature walk with their teacher.

Defense attorney Donald Swanson argued during the trial that there was no physical evidence tying Lawrence to the shooting inside the Kekionga Drive apartment. Other than his cross-examinations of the state’s witnesses and his opening and closing statements, Swanson presented no additional defense of Lawrence.

(This was a difficult post, as the victim was also a perpetrator).

Darlene E. Day

Darlene E. Day

Kinslow arrested for May murder, rape

Kinslow was also arrested for rape in 2002

Updated: Wednesday, 18 Aug 2010, 6:21 PM EDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - On Tuesday detectives with the Fort Wayne Police Department arrested Edward Kinslow, 50, in connection with the May 18, 2010 murder of Darlene Day. At approximately 3:35 pm. officers located the suspect, Edward Kinslow, at his home on 4606 E. Washington Blvd. Kinslow was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Allen County Jail on charges of murder, felony murder, and rape.

Fort Wayne Police said they were tipped off when friends of Day called the department.

"A friend of Miss Day contacted the department because they had not seen her in a few days and they were concerned," said Raquel Foster with the Fort Wayne Police Department.

The coroner said that Day died from blunt force trauma to the head. The investigation revealed that Kinslow and the victim were long term acquaintances. Kinslow had been identified as a suspect early in the investigation and was brought in for questioning. Through further investigation, detectives were able to develop probable cause to make the arrest.

Kinslow had also been arrested for rape in July of 2002. He had been watching television with a woman. When the woman tried to leave, he forced her to have oral sex with him and then intercourse. Kinslow told her that he would kill her if she didn’t do what he said.

The 50-year-old was released from prison May 9, 2010, just nine days before police say he raped and killed Day. Kinslow was scheduled to be released in August of 2010, but got out on parole early. According to the Indiana Department of Corrections, Kinslow was also released from prison August 7, 2009. But he was sent back because of a parole violation.

This investigation is ongoing with the Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Coroner’s Office and Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Jeffrey Spence Jr.

Jeffrey Spence Jr., 28, killed June 27

Spence was fatally stabbed during an argument with his brother while at a party at the man's home at 421 E. Pettit Ave., police said. Spence was taken to a hospital around 11:20 p.m., when police were called, but died shortly after midnight of wounds to the chest. His brother, Jeremy A. Spence, was arrested on a preliminary charge of aggravated battery after admitting to stabbing his brother because he had been shutting the door to his home without consent, according to police. Witnesses said heavy drinking played a role. Jeremy A. Spence pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received 30 years in prison, with 10 years suspended.

Also:

A Fort Wayne man has been arrested in connection with his brother’s stabbing death Saturday night.

Jeffery Spence Jr., 28, died shortly after midnight Saturday of a stab wound to the chest, the Allen County Coroner’s Office said in a statement. The death was ruled the county’s 17th homicide this year. Spence was taken to a hospital in critical condition after police were called to a home at 241 E. Pettit Ave. about 11:20 p.m. Saturday on a report of a stabbing.

Based on the initial investigation, police believe that Spence was visiting a resident of that home. An argument between Spence and the resident turned physical and Spence was stabbed during the fight, police said.
The victim’s brother, Jeremy A. Spence, 27, was arrested and taken to the Allen County Jail on a preliminary charge of aggravated battery in connection with the stabbing, police said Sunday.

Police were first called to the house at 11:08 p.m. when a neighbor reported a disturbance. Jeremy Spence and a woman, who both live at the house, were arguing loudly, said neighbor Rick Papazian, 56.

"There seemed to be something going on between the two of them," Papazian said. He heard glass bottles break and decided to call the police.

According to daily activity logs, police left the scene at 11:17 p.m.  "I was about ready to call the cops again because there was a lot of commotion going on," Papazian said.  Shortly after that, he heard the female neighbor calling for help.

Police spokeswoman Raquel Foster said the police were called, and the woman flagged down a nearby police officer.  Neighbors said they called the police twice in the past several weeks for disturbances at the house.

Papazian said the neighbors had always been loud, but things seemed to get more out of control this summer.  "There’s nothing like this that ever happened around here before," said Papazian, who grew up on the block.

Leroy Johnson Jr.

Johnson Found Guilty in Brother's December Murder

He could face 67-123 years in prison when he's sentenced June 1

April 29, 2010

Crime-scene technicians collected 25 shell casings in Leroy Johnson Jr.'s apartment, scattered around the 27-year-old man's bullet-riddled body Dec. 16.

A pathologist removed several bullet chips from Johnson's brain and body, and technicians found several more scattered in walls and floors in his apartment and a neighboring one.

After deliberating nine hours, an Allen Superior Court jury found Johnson's brother, Brandon L. Johnson, 22, guilty of murder, attempted murder and battery. He could face 67-123 years in prison when he's sentenced June 1.

As Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Stineburg explained it to the jury, the shooter “absolutely unloaded” a hail of gunfire inside the small, one-bedroom apartment at 4054 Wayne Trace for, according to two days of witness testimony, seemingly no good reason. Four bullets went into Leroy Johnson in the melee, and another six went into his friend, Clifton Davis, critically injuring him as he hid behind a bathroom door.

That door stood propped in the center of the courtroom Wednesday, where Brandon Johnson – Davis' best friend – was being tried. With blood smeared on it and 20 bullet holes in it, the off-white door served as critical evidence of the crime that took place in the apartment.

“We do know what this is,” said Stineburg in his closing arguments to the jury, mocking the phrase witnesses said Brandon Johnson shouted before firing round after round.

“This is murder. The defendant murdered his own brother. The defendant tried to kill Clifton Davis.

“We do know what this is, and it's the defendant's guilt.”

No motive is known for what triggered Brandon Johnson's shooting spree that mid-December day. No one could offer insight into why he would put a “mini assault rifle” to his brother's head and send a bullet ripping through Leroy Johnson's brain, or why he would send another through the other side of the man's head and another through his groin that ruptured the femoral artery – all three fatal shots.

No witness could understand why Brandon Johnson would then pump 20 more shots through the bathroom door that Davis had scrambled to hide behind, six bullets entering him and at least five more, after pummeling through the door, spiraling through the bathroom wall and into a neighboring apartment.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors and Brandon Johnson's defense attorney, John Bohdan, mocked the phrase that witnesses attributed to the younger Johnson before they say he fired: “You know what this is,” although both acknowledged they really didn't at all. In fact, none of the six people inside the apartment who testified knew what it was.

Bohdan argued that no one in the apartment that day, not even Davis, saw Brandon Johnson pull the trigger, despite every person testifying he saw Brandon Johnson with the 18-inch assault rifle used in the crime. Police never found the rifle.

Bohdan also pleaded to the jury that none of Brandon Johnson's DNA or fingerprints were found in the apartment, though every visitor testified to him being there. Bohdan even hinted that two other people supposedly in the apartment that day curiously were not called as witnesses by the prosecution.

“On this evidence we still don't know what this is,” Bohdan said during his closing.

Deputy Prosecutor Steve Godfrey, in his own closing, said just the opposite, daring the jury to come up with any reason any witness could have to lie, citing how all those who testified had remained in the courtroom because they were emotionally invested in the case's outcome.

“Who talked to police after this happened? Who was hiding?” Godfrey said, referring to multiple witness accounts of Brandon Johnson being found by Fort Wayne Police SWAT holed up in an apartment attic two days later. “Does that sound like an innocent person?”

No, a jury ultimately decided.

Amel Tarver

Suspect arrested in deadly shooting

By Megan Hubartt

Published: January 4, 2008

A Fort Wayne man has been arrested in a shooting last week outside a home on the city’s near-north side that left one man dead.

Cory J. Gray, 28, of the 3400 block of West Jefferson Boulevard, is accused of shooting 31-year-old Amel D. Tarver after Tarver yelled at Gray to get off a woman he was attacking outside 1509 Cass St. about 4:15 a.m. Dec. 27, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Gray was arrested early Thursday.

The woman, Theresa Aranda, was living at the Cass Street home with her four children. She had been dating Tarver for about three months, court documents said.

Tarver, whom Aranda called Mel, lived at a home in the 1600 block of Cass Street but was staying at her house the morning he was shot, she said.

According to the court documents, Aranda told police her 12-year-old son woke her up early Dec. 27 and told her that Gray was outside the house trying to take the tires off her car.

Aranda told police she confronted Gray, and he attacked her, knocking her to the ground and choking her. There was redness on her neck, court documents said.

When Tarver came out of the house and yelled at Gray to get off her, Gray pulled out a gun and fired several shots toward the house where Tarver was standing, court documents said.

Gray then turned the gun toward Aranda, but she ran toward the house and Gray ran to his vehicle and left, the documents said.

When police arrived at the home they found Tarver lying on the kitchen floor, bleeding from his head, court documents said.

Tarver was taken to Parkview Hospital in critical condition where he died Saturday, Allen County Coroner Dr. E. Jon Brandenberger said.

An autopsy Sunday determined that he died of gunshot wounds.

His death was declared the 27th homicide in the county in 2007.

All but one occurred in Fort Wayne.

Gray is initially charged with aggravated battery, strangulation and unlawful possession of a firearm by a violent felon. He is being held in the Allen County Lockup without bail.

http://rightsformothers.com

Mardale Totten

Stabbing was self-defense; man ID'd

Police believe the stabbing was the result of a domestic dispute

September 28, 2009

Fort Wayne Police said the fatal stabbing of a city man at 4 a.m. Saturday by a woman he knew was inflicted in self-defense, although ruled the city's 16th homicide.

The woman, who had been taken into custody after police said she stabbed 30-year-old Mardale Totten in the neck at an apartment at 708 Oaklawn Court, in Chapel Oaks complex, was interviewed, then released without being charged, according to Office Roy Sutphin of the Fort Wayne Police Department.

“We don't release people when we know they killed somebody,” said Sutphin. “And we just don't release people who could be a danger to the public.”

After interviewing several witnesses and the woman, Sutphin said police believe the stabbing was the result of a domestic dispute between Totten, who has a prison record for violence, and the woman. What the domestic dispute exactly entailed, Sutphin would not comment.

“The investigation is ongoing, but for the moment, until proven otherwise, we're going on the aspect that it was along the lines of self-defense,” Sutphin said.

Totten's death was ruled the city's 16th homicide of 2009 by the Allen County Coroner's Office.

On Saturday, police responding to the Oaklawn Court address found Totten unconscious and bleeding. He was treated at the scene before being rushed to a local hospital, where he later died.

Sutphin said that because the woman has not been charged with any crime, police are not required to release her name.

When Totten was 18, he was convicted of stabbing his uncle, Marquas K. Smith, to death in 1997. He served 10 years of a 15-year sentence for aggravated battery before being released in 2008, according to the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Denise A. Barrone

Denise A. Barrone

Teen pleads not guilty in killing

He's charged in June 27 stabbing death of his aunt.

July 8, 2009

A 17-year-old boy entered a preliminary plea of not guilty Tuesday after being charged with murder in the stabbing death of his aunt last month.

Aaron Lloyd Randolph, of the 3000 block of Schele Avenue, is accused of killing Denise A. Barrone, 48, his mother's twin sister, after a fishing trip June 27.

Allen Superior Court documents say Randolph had thoughts of killing and had been planning to kill his aunt for some time. Once he and his aunt returned to her house at 334 Dalgren Ave. after fishing, he acted on his plan, according to the probable-cause affidavit.

He pulled out a knife and stabbed Barrone while she was in her bedroom, the affidavit said. When she tried to escape by breaking out the window in the front door, he pulled her back in and continued to stab her. He then punched and kicked her several times, and grabbed a large sword and struck her numerous times on the back of the head and neck, the affidavit said.

Her death was ruled the city's 13th homicide.

Randolph is being held without bond. His next court appearance is 8:30 a.m. July 21 to set his trial date. Conviction on a murder charge brings a minimum 45-year sentence, according to the Indiana Code. Randolph is considered an adult because anyone over age 16 charged with murder faces an automatic upgrade for the charge.

Case status: Barrone’s 17-year-old nephew, Aaron Lloyd Randolph, was charged as an adult with murder. Police said the teenager was upset because his aunt had yelled at him. The two had gone fishing at Franke Park the same day. Randolph told police he “had been planning to kill his aunt for some time.” A trial date for Randolph has not been set.

Obituary

Denise Ann Barrone, 48, passed away Sunday, June 28, 2009 at her home in Fort Wayne.

Born in Fort Wayne, she worked as a nurse with Riverbend Healthcare and Lifecare Center for 11 years. She was a member of Broadway Christian Church and a U.S. Army Desert Storm veteran.

She is survived by her sisters, Diane (Jack) Randolph, and Linda O'Hair both of Fort Wayne; nieces, Jennifer (Jon) Schie, and Melissa Stockman both of Fort Wayne; nephews, Aaron Randolph, and D.J. O'Hair both of Fort Wayne. Denise was preceded in death by her parents, Ronald and Dorothy Barrone.

Funeral service is 2 p.m. Monday at D.O. McComb and Sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home, 1140 Lake Ave. Calling from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.  Memorials may be made to the Christian Children's Fund or ASPCA.

Ana L. Casas

Man kills wife, 3 kids after argument over chores

Police say the couple's three daughters -- ages 10, 4 and 20 months -- were strangled

December 15, 2005

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (AP) -- A man accused of killing his family told police he beat and strangled his wife and killed their three young daughters after the couple argued about household chores, according to court documents.

Police found Simon Rios, 33, on the front porch of his home after getting a suicide call early Tuesday. Inside, they discovered blood in the living room and Rios' wife and their three children dead in a bedroom.

Rios pleaded not guilty Wednesday to four preliminary counts of murder and two counts of moving a body. He was jailed without bond.

Autopsies showed the girls -- ages 10, 4 and 20 months -- had all been strangled. Their mother, identified as Ana L. Casas, died of a blow to the head and strangulation, the coroner said.

Rios told police he and his wife argued after she arrived home from work about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a probable cause affidavit. He said he hit her with a steel pipe, then strangled her with an extension cord, the affidavit states.

He then strangled one of the girls with his hands and used an extension cord to kill the other girls, according to the affidavit.

Neighbor Nancy Gater said Simon Rios worked at a factory but had lost his job this year.

The bodies were found a day after authorities searched the neighborhood for clues to the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl. Police spokesman Mike Joyner said that police did not find a connection between the cases when they questioned Rios, but that he is a possible suspect.

Rios had a previous conviction in Allen County for misdemeanor domestic battery in 2003, but friends said they had seen no signs of trouble in the family.

Michael Guzman, who described Rios as a friend, said he had never heard Rios raise his voice to his children or speak ill of his wife.

"Everybody who knows him loves the guy," he said.


See posts on her dear children Liliana K. Rios Casas, Katherinne G. Rios and Thannya Karolinna Rios.

Liliana K. Rios Casas

Liliana K. Rios Casas

Indiana Man Held in Death of Wife, Kids

December 14, 2005

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A man found standing on the front porch of his home faces murder charges for allegedly killing his wife and three daughters -- at least two of whom were found strangled inside the family's home.

Simon Rios, 33, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on four counts of murder and two preliminary counts of moving a body. He was being held without bond in the Allen County Jail.

Allen County Coroner E. Jon Brandenberger said an autopsy found that Rios' wife, Ana L. Casas, 28, had died from blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. One of the couple's three daughters, Katherinne G. Rios, 4, had been strangled, he said.

Autopsies on the two other victims, Liliana K. Rios Casas, 10, and Thannya Karolinna Rios, 20 months, were expected to be performed Wednesday.

Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Robin Thompson said Simon Rios is accused of killing the four following an argument that she said was detailed in a probable cause affidavit.

Officers found the bodies inside the home early Tuesday after being called to the house to investigate reported suicide threats.

Neighbor Nancy Gater said Simon Rios worked at a factory but had lost his job this year and spent some time in Mexico. She said the family had moved to the house about four years ago.

The discovery of the bodies came a day after police and the FBI searched homes in the south side neighborhood for clues about 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez, who disappeared Thursday on her way to a nearby school bus stop.

Thompson said police did not believe the cases were related.

Hundreds of Hispanic residents flocked to St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Tuesday night to hold a prayer vigil for the four victims.

"God wishes little children to grow up, become teenagers and adults," said Bishop John D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese as the Rev. Jack Overmyer, St. Patrick's pastor, translated his comments into Spanish.

"We mourn for these little children and their mom, and we pray they're in the hands of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and we ask God to protect our families," D'Arcy said.

Adolfo Puebla, who said he is the godfather of the youngest girl, said Rios and his family attended a birthday party Puebla and his wife hosted Saturday. They left laughing and with no signs of trouble, he said.

Puebla said his children often played with the three girls.

"We are shocked," Puebla said. "It's really hard for me and for my wife. I don't know how I can describe it."


See posts on dear mother Ana L. Casas and sisters Katherinne G. Rios and Thannya Karolinna Rios.

Katherinne G. Rios

Katherinne G. Rios

Indiana Man Murders Wife and Kids after Arguing About Housework

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 12/15/2005

About 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, police received a suicide call from the south side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Arriving at the scene, officers found Simon Rios, 33, on the front porch of his home. Inside, they discovered a puddle of blood on the living room floor. Fearing the worst, police searched the rest of the house and found Rios’ wife, Ana Casas, 28, and their three children lying dead in a bedroom.

Rios told police that after he got home from work about 1:30 a.m., his wife had started arguing with him about doing chores around the house. Rios got angry, grabbed a steel pipe, and hit his wife in the head with it. Then he grabbed an extension cord and strangled her with it. He then grabbed his 20-month old baby daughter Thannya Karolinna and strangled her with his bare hands. He used the extension cord to strangle his other two daughters, 4-year old Katherinne and 10-year old Liliana. After killing his family, Rios carried the bodies of his children into the bedroom and placed them on the bed. He then dragged his wife’s body into the bedroom.

Just one day earlier to their grisly discovery of the murders, police and the FBI had searched homes in Rios’ neighborhood for clues about the disappearance of 10-year old Alejandra Gutierrez, who had disappeared a few days earlier on her way to a school bus stop nearby. So far police have not found a connection between the two cases, but because of Rios killing his family, they will now consider him a suspect in Gutierrez’s disappearance.

Friends and acquaintances are shocked and saddened by the murders and say that saw no signs of trouble in the family before the killings. Nancy Gater, a neighbor of the Rios family, said that the family had moved into the house about four years ago. When Simon lost his job earlier this year, he went down to Mexico for a while. Adolfo Puebla, the godfather of Rios’ youngest daughter, said that the Rios family had attended a birthday party he and his wife hosted Saturday. According to Puebla, the Rios family left happy and laughing. Michael Guzman, who calls Rios a great friend, said that he had never heard Rios even raise his voice to his children, and he had never had anything bad to say about his wife. "Everybody who knows him loves the guy," Guzman said.

According to court records, Rios was convicted in 2003 of a misdemeanor battery charge, but it is not clear who the victim of that assault was. The court at that time ordered Rios to stay away from the victim, but that order was lifted in July 2003. In court Wednesday Rios pleaded not guilty to four preliminary counts of murder and two counts of moving a body. Prosecutors have not indicated that they will seek the death penalty.

See posts on dear mother Ana L. Casas and sisters Liliana K. Rios Casas and Thannya Karolinna Rios.

Thannya Karolinna Rios

Thannya Karolinna Rios

Four Life Terms Provide Finality in Rios Case

Killer breaks silence with tearful apology

Rebecca S. Green | The Journal Gazette
October 7, 2007

Simon Rios wept openly as he confessed a “deep sorrow in his heart” for murdering his wife and three young daughters in December 2005.

Before Allen Superior Judge Fran Gull sentenced Rios to four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Rios told his wife's family, who had come from Mexico for the hearing, he found the love of God in jail.

“I'm sorry,” he said through an interpreter. “I am very sorry. The only thing that keeps me upright is the hope to be with the ones I love the most in my life.”

Standing next to his attorney, Rios' shoulders occasionally shuddered with sobs. His statements, to the grief-stricken family of his murdered wife, his dead daughters' grandparents, an immigrant community and a city, came after nearly two years of waiting - and the courtroom seemed charged with a tense sorrow.

Family members who traveled from Mexico, police officers who handled the case, victims' advocates who helped others cope with grief all filled the rows of seating. They listened to Rios speak, his words translated into English by three interpreters - one sitting next to him and two sitting amid the family and friends.

But the 35-year-old Mexican national's impassioned apology, which moved many in the courtroom to tears, did nothing to change the mind-set of Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards, who looked toward the weeping Rios and consigned his soul to hell.

“You will not be seeing your daughters in heaven again,” Richards said. “You will be joining the devil in hell the day you die.”

Richards recounted for the court the scene she found in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, 2005, after being called by police to Rios' South Calhoun Street home. She described the permanent memories of seeing Ana Casas-Rios, 28, and their three daughters, Liliana, 10; Katherinne, 4; and Thannya, 20 months, dead inside their home.

Having served in the prosecutor's office for nearly 27 years, Richards said she had hoped she had seen everything.

“But I had not,” she said, her own voice quaking with emotion. “I will never forget that until the day I die. … We reserve the death penalty for the most horrible crimes and the most horrible people. This is that crime and that is that man.”

Rios pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to four counts of murder and two counts of moving a body from a violent or suspicious death. He has already been sentenced in Delaware County to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 100 years, for the rape, child molesting and murder of 10-year-old Alejandra Gutierrez.

Alejandra was a classmate of Rios' daughter, and on the morning of Dec. 8, 2005, Rios abducted Alejandra from her south-side bus stopand drove her to rural Delaware County where he sexually assaulted and killed her.

He confessed to her murder and drew a map to her body - frozen in the snow at a gravel pit - after police arrested him in connection with the deaths of his family members just five days after he took the girl.

Up until the Aug. 31 hearing, Richards sought the death penalty against Rios, dropping it in exchange for his guilty pleas.

That decision, Richards said, came only because Ana Casas-Rios' deeply religious family did not want Rios executed.

And she wanted Rios to understand, without a doubt, that had it been up to her, his sentence would be different.

“You, more than anyone I have ever met, deserved to die,” Richards said.

Richards found it ironic that Rios' life was spared by the very people from whom he took so much. And she openly wrestled with the idea that he would receive treatment while in prison for his depression - a sadness she said was brought on by his own actions - while the family would likely receive little, if any support, when they return to Mexico.

She then turned to the translators interpreting the hearing for the Casas family and asked them to stop translating before she described in great intensity and detail, the last few minutes of his children's lives. Addressing Rios, she peppered him with questions about what his children might have seen or felt as he strangled each one.

“You were their father,” she said.

Richards' wish for Rios was for him to close his eyes, see what he did and be haunted by it.

Her statements stood in contrast to those offered by Rios' court-appointed attorney, Michelle Kraus.

Also struggling to contain her emotion, Kraus spoke of Rios' childhood poverty in rural Mexico, his deep sense of remorse and his new-found faith - bringing the Rev. Paul Bueter to testify for Rios. Bueter, the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in Warsaw, has counseled Rios in jail.

“Simon's life is worth saving,” Kraus said. “He did a horrible and inexplicable thing. When a parent takes the life of a child, we have to know something went wrong.”

Having traveled from Mexico to be present at the hearing, Ana Casas-Rios' brother, Marcos, said nothing could justify Rios' actions, which not only killed his family, but also damaged many lives around him and in the community at large.

As he walked back to his seat, he broke down and wept.

Also speaking on behalf of the victims was Adolfo Puebla, a family friend and godfather of Thannya. Speaking at times directly to Rios in Spanish, Puebla said he loved Rios' daughter as his own but never saw the person Rios truly was.

Before Gull passed sentence, Rios offered one last statement through an interpreter, one last tearful apology, this one to the community that he said welcomed him with open arms.

“I saw an opportunity (in Fort Wayne) and a way to fulfill my dream,” he said. “But I allowed the forces of evil to take over. I will always regret it.”

Kraus held his hand as Gull sentenced him to a lifetime in prison for the murders and to six years in prison for moving the bodies from the scene.

After the hearing, Kraus said she wanted to offer Rios support, particularly because his own family, who had tried unsuccessfully to make it from Mexico for the hearing, was not present.

Rios had always wanted to take responsibility for his actions, from the moment of his arrest, and had even wanted to plead guilty, even when the death penalty was still on the table, Kraus said.

Monday's hearing allowed him to take that responsibility, she said.

“I believe in forgiveness,” she said. “I believe in God's forgiveness. He wants to live in a way that asks for forgiveness. If he continues to seek forgiveness and repentance, I believe God will forgive.”

Later Monday, at a news conference in her office alongside Chief Criminal Prosecutor Steven Godfrey, Richards said the plea agreement offered the Casas family something the death penalty could not - finality.

As part of his plea agreement, Rios waived all rights to appeal his sentence.

“With this, at least, it's over,” she said.

UPDATE

Mass Murderer Simon Rios Dies In An Indiana Prison

The News-Sentinel
By Jeff Neumeyer

FORT WAYNE, Indiana - Mass murderer Simon Rios dies in an Indiana prison, marking the end of a story that brought terrible pain and suffering to the Fort Wayne community.

Rios was found hanging after 12-30 a.m. Thursday in his cell at the Pendleton Reformatory.  There were indications the torment he caused others, became a burden too great to bear.  Attempts to revive Simon Rios failed, and he was pronounced dead before 1-30 a.m. at the Pendleton Correctional Facility.

Prison officials say there were no signs of foul play, and in fact, he left behind a suicide note.  His lawyer says he'd been beaten up before in general population.  Michelle Kraus/Rios' Lawyer: " He got sent back to segregation, segregation was very lonely for him, and the note would indicate that he was very lonely.  His demons just got the best of him."

Karen Richards/(R) Allen County Prosecutor:  " I think it's very mistaken at this point in time to, in any way, view Mr. Rios as the victim here."  Rios abducted, raped and murdered 10-year old Alejandra Gutierrez in December 2005.  Five days later, he killed his wife, and three young daughters in their Fort Wayne home.  Neumeyer: " Rios himself summoned police to the scene, he was waiting on the front porch when police got there. The crimes had a tremendous impact on the Hispanic community."


See posts on dear mother Ana L. Casas and sisters Liliana K. Rios Casas and Katherinne G. Rios.