Anne J. Stolarz

Murder-suicide suspected in deaths elderly Lowell couple

August 8, 2011

LOWELL — A murder-suicide this weekend of two senior citizens in this quiet rural community left neighbors filled with shock and disbelief.

Police Chief John Shelhart said an 84-year-old man and his 84-year-old wife were found shot dead in their home in the 300 block of Eastland Circle Sunday afternoon after their adult children came to check on the couple’s well-being.

Shelhart said it appeared the man first shot his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease, in the head then proceeded to shoot himself. Shelhart said the couple was last seen alive Friday at a family gathering.

“It happened either sometime Saturday or early Sunday before the newspaper came,” Shelhart said.

Shelhart said family members were shocked by the discovery. They said the couple did not appear depressed during the Friday gathering, though they had experienced some recent financial setbacks.

The couple’s 401K ran out in July and they were heavily invested in the stock market and suffered serious losses during the economic downturn.

Robert Potter, who lives across the street from the couple, said he would often see the husband working outside in the flower bed.

“They seemed like nice people. We always talked,” Potter said. He said he was shocked when he heard the news.

“It just don’t happen here, something like that,” he said.

Neighbors Paul Mayer, Carl Skinner and Edna Miller were gathered at the mailbox in the subdivision of nicely manicured single family homes and townhomes talking about the events of the weekend.

They said Sunday police vehicles lined the street and blocked both entrances to the neighborhood largely populated by senior citizens, leaving them a bit frightened and wondering what might have occurred.

“I always found him to be a very polite guy,” Mayer said.

“He was a good neighbor,” Miller said.

“A very good neighbor,” Skinner added.

They said they were shocked and saddened to find out what had occurred in their quiet neighborhood.

“It’s an experience you don’t want to see or hear about again,” Miller said.

Obituary:

JOHN AND ANNE STOLARZ LOWELL, IN John and Anne Stolarz of Lowell, passed away Sunday, August 7, 2011. They are survived by their children: Janice (Jerry) Keilman of Lowell and Mark Stolarz of Fair Oaks; grandchildren: Sarah Ammons, Karalyn (Clint) Skinner, Mike (Danielle) Keilman, Marc (Julie) Keilman, Joshua Stolarz, Amy Dixon, and Sabrina and Dustin Stolarz; 10 great-granchildren; John's siblings: Anne Matusik and Walter Stolarz; and Anne's sister, Mary Hubbard. They were preceded in death by their son, Wayne; John's siblings: Stanley, Frank, Joe and Victoria Wojtan; Anne's siblings: Alex, Edward, Eugene and John Lukas. John and Anne were members of St. Edward Catholic Church in Lowell. He was a member of VFW Post 802 in Hammond and she was a member of their auxiliary. John owned John's Electric and Anne enjoyed cooking and being a loving mother and grandmother. They both enjoyed traveling and their cottage on Koontz Lake. A memorial visitation will be held Saturday, August 13, 2011 from 9:00-11:30 a.m. at Sheets Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 604 E. Commercial Ave. in Lowell with a Memorial Mass at 12:00 p.m. at St. Edward Catholic Church. Father Ted Norquist officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to Alzheimer's Research.

Dawn Marie Fital

Dawn Marie Fital

Body of Missing Michigan Woman Found in a Suitcase in Indiana

By Marlena Baldacci, CNN
June 17, 2011 6:43 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- An extradition hearing will be held Friday for the boyfriend of a Michigan woman whose body was pulled from a swamp in Indiana, authorities said.

Divers found the body of Dawn Marie Fital, 45, stuffed in a suitcase Thursday.  Her legs, arms and head were bound with duct tape, said Rob Arnold, a spokesman for the Lake County police.  The 45-year-old had been missing since Monday.

Her boyfriend, Greg Noack, 44, was taken into police custody in Merrillville, Indiana, near where her body was discovered.  Michigan prosecutors have charged the suspect, who is being held in Indiana, with murder.  He will appear for an extradition hearing at the Lake County magistrate court jail Friday morning.

Police believe he killed Fital in Michigan, then drove across state lines, where he dumped her body in Indiana.  There is no word on when Fital's body will be returned to Michigan.  An autopsy has been scheduled for Saturday.

UPDATE:

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJBK) - Dawn Marie Fital, 45, became famous as a pool playing sharpshooter. An autopsy report released this weekend reveals she was suffocated. Police say her boyfriend, Greg Noack, 44, murdered her, stuffed her body in a suitcase, and dumped it in a pond 200 miles away in Indiana. Noack was arraigned on murder charges in Ypsilanti Saturday. He's the one who told police in Merrillville, Indiana that Fital was missing.

Visitation for Dawn Fital will be held Monday from 4-8pm and Tuesday from 2-8pm at the Ochalek-Stark Funeral Home, 218 East Main St., Milan. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11am at the same location.

Rosemary Comanse

Husband Charged in Fatal Hammond Shooting

May 17, 2011

CROWN POINT | Lake County prosecutors have charged James Comanse, 48, with murder and battery in Sunday's shooting of his wife, Rosemary Comanse, "Rose."

Police were called about 3 p.m. to the 1100 block of West 177th Place in Hammond, where Rosemary Comanse, 47, was found dead from a gunshot wound.

Court documents filed Tuesday state witnesses told police James and Rosemary Comanse had been separated for about a year.

James Comanse was visiting the home Sunday, is believed to have gone up the stairs, and after about five minutes, others present at the time heard a loud boom, police said.

Police were told Comanse also struck another family member in the head with a gun before the gun could be taken away.

Police found Rosemary Comanse's body in an upstairs bedroom.

An autopsy found the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head at close range, court documents state.

Police confirmed the couple's son, James "Jimmy" Comanse Jr., pleaded guilty in 2009 to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Marcus Ponce.

The younger Comanse, 29, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the crime.

Obituary

ROSEMARY COMANSE, HAMMOND, IN. Rosemary Comanse (nee Serrano), age 47, of Hammond, passed away Sunday, May 15, 2011. She is survived by four children: James R. Jr., Brian A., Erik R., and Alyssa B. Comanse; five grandchildren: Tristin, Alyze, Mariah, Jayden, and Illiana; mother, Josephine Anaya; five sisters: Yolanda, Margaret, Rita, Violet, and Inez; and nieces and nephews. Visitation will be at Fife Funeral Home, 4201 Indianapolis Blvd., East Chicago on Friday, May 20, 2011 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. Cremation to follow. Rosemary was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and sister. In lieu of flowers, donations to the family appreciated.

Christian Choate

Christian Choate

Dad, Stepmom Charged in Murder of Boy Found Under Concrete Slab

By Ruth Ann Krause, Chicago Sun-Times Media
May 11, 2011

Locked in a dog cage naked or chained to a bed frame, 13-year-old Christian Choate wouldn’t make much noise because if he did, the beatings would get worse.

The boy, found buried in a shallow grave near his former mobile home one week ago, had been abused for two to three years, police said.

Murder, battery, neglect of a dependent and criminal confinement charges were filed in Lake County, Ind. Tuesday against the boy’s father, Riley Lowell Choate, 39, of Hammond, and stepmother, Kimberly Leona Kubina, 45, of the Black Oak section of Gary. They will appear for initial hearings Wednesday morning.

Witnesses told police that Choate would slap Christian in the face after family members alleged Christian had molested a male relative. The beatings, which were witnessed by other children, grew more severe as Choate and his now ex-wife argued and Choate took it out on Christian, court records state.

When the family lived in the 7200 block of Polk Street in Merrillville, Choate and Kubina would lock Christian in a room in the basement. After the family moved to the Colfax Mobile Home Park in Black Oak, Riley put Christian in a dog cage bought from a neighbor and secured with seven locks. A witness told police Christian lived in the dog cage at their home in the 5900 block of West 36th Avenue every day for more than a year, until his death on April 5, 2009.

During that time, the boy’s parents would have his 17-year-old sister chain him to a bed frame that was leaning up against a dresser. The girl told police she was responsible for feeding Christian, taking him to the bathroom, forcing him to exercise or physically punishing him for failing to follow orders. She told police Choate would abuse her if she didn’t perform her duties properly.

“He needs to be locked up. He’s a dog,” Kubina told the other children, court records state.

Some beatings videotaped

As the beatings escalated, Christian would be denied food and confined naked except for a diaper, sometimes gagged with a sock and duct tape. The other children would try to sneak him food. Ice-cold baths twice a week would prompt his screams. The boy’s hands and feet began to turn purple from being tied to the bed frame.

The girl said she would strike the boy and once choked him until he turned blue, and used her stepmother’s video camera at Kubina’s direction to record the beatings. Those recordings were later recorded over, the girl said, but police searched Kubina’s home in Kentucky and recovered several computers, digital cameras, cell phones and other electronic storage devices.

On the day before Christian died, he refused to eat. His father became enraged and punched him in his head with full force several times before throwing him back in the cage, authorities said. On April 5, 2009, the girl told police she woke up and tried to feed her brother some cereal, but he refused, so she slapped him across the face twice and put him in the cage. She continued to check on him and eventually noticed he wasn’t breathing and called her stepmother and aunt, who had gone to pick up one of the other children who got in trouble at school. The girl said she attempted CPR on Christian with an air mattress pump.

At Kubina’s direction, the girl told police, she wrapped Christian in a yellow blanket, put him inside two black plastic bags and secured them in duct tape. Authorities alleged that Kubina and Choate buried the boy under a shed across the street from his former home in Black Oak. Police found the body under a layer of concrete, covered with lime and a Bible resting on his chest.

Cage meant for a dog

After the boy died, Kubina told the children Christian had run away, but a witness recalled Kubina asking Choate if he thought they would get caught. “What are you talking about?” Choate responded as he played racing games on the computer. “You know, the thing about Christian,” Kubina is quoted as saying.

Kubina told the children that Christian running away “is a family thing and we’re going to work through it. This goes to the grave,” court documents said.

Christian’s mother, Aimee Estrada, said she left Choate after he began abusing her. Choate had custody of their two children in July 2005, and Estrada said she was not allowed to visit her children after last seeing Christian in 2005. She contacted police May 1 after learning from her daughter that Christian had died.

Lori Wingard, the Choates’ former neighbor at Colfax Mobile Home Park, said Kubina approached her about buying the dog cage for $15. Wingard had sold her Alaskan malamute and the new owners weren’t taking the cage with them. When she learned the cage was used to confine Christian, Wingard said she cried and cried. “I had no idea,” she said.

On Tuesday, Choate pleaded not guilty to earlier charges of removal of a body from a death scene, failure to notify authorities of the discovery of a dead body and failure to report a dead body.

From the Huffington Post:

The extent of that homeschooling was revealed in some letters found by DCS. When other children were out playing, Kubina would give Christian paper and tell him to write....In a still more disturbing twist, the Northwest Indiana Times reveals some of the assignments his stepmother gave:

Kubina wrote topics on top of some of the pages including, "Why do you want to play with your peter? Why do you still want to see your mom? Why can't you let the past go? What does it mean to be part of a family?" DCS records state.

'I want to die': Chilling letters of boy, 13, 'kept in dog cage and beaten to death by parents'

Christian's Biological Mother

Aimee Estrada, Christian's abused mom, was BLOCKED from seeing the children for years.  See the information on it here.  (SHE DID NOT GIVE UP CUSTODY OF HER CHILDREN, AN INDIANA JUDGE GAVE THE ABUSIVE FATHER, WHO WAS NOT HER HUSBAND, CHILD CUSTODY). She is currently seeking custody of the daughter, who is in the custody of the stepmother's family.

Mariah Dawson

Toddler died at hands of abusive mother

July 8, 2010

CROWN POINT | After her toddler's death last September, Maya Levee Willis allegedly told the child's former baby sitter the 19-month-old succumbed to a seizure.

But in pursuing murder charges against the 31-year-old Willis, police claim a substance found in the dent of a wall in Willis' apartment matches the child's DNA profile.

Lake County prosecutors charged Willis, of East Chicago, on Tuesday with murder, two counts of battery and four counts of neglect of a dependent.

According to a seven-page probable cause affidavit filed in Lake Superior Court, Willis is charged with repeatedly abusing and finally killing her daughter, Mariah Dawson, one of four children born to Willis by as many men.

The court document depicts Mariah as an unwanted child who, in her resemblance to her father, drew her mother's rage.

An autopsy report shows the child died of head injuries and blunt force trauma to the body. Contributing factors included vaginal and rectal injuries consistent with sexual abuse, according to the pathologist's report. Multiple old scars covered her body.

East Chicago Police Chief Gus Flores said Wednesday the allegations are among the worst to have crossed his desk.

Flores described Willis as almost 6 feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds.

"This is among the saddest, most disgusting cases I've ever read," Flores said of the documents prepared to launch the case.

"I can't imagine the hell this poor child lived through," Flores said about the child's injuries. "She appears to have been old enough to know what was happening to her."

The child's condition came to light when police were called Sept. 30, 2009, to the emergency room at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, where the child was declared dead, the court documents show.

The child is described as covered with bruises, scars and marks all over her body, including a big bump on the back of her head, a laceration to the lower lip and a cut and bleeding gum line.

Further examinations revealed vaginal swelling, anal trauma and a distended abdomen.

In statements to police, Willis said the child fell in a hallway and began crying. Willis said she later noticed the child's left side was "paralyzed looking." The child appeared to stop breathing in the car as she drove to the hospital, she told authorities.

Willis denied causing any of the fresh injuries, though she is alleged to have admitted to disciplining the child by "popping her on the hands and legs with a plastic spaghetti or pasta scooper and with a short piece of belt."

Police recovered two belts with similar markings to ones found on Mariah's back, the court documents state.

Willis is alleged to have explained burn scars on the child's back and head to a set of hot curlers falling on the child.

Willis later changed her story by telling investigators the child's fatal injury stemmed from a fall from a bunk bed.

Willis' remaining three children are in state custody, according to court documents.

Arlena Roby

Gary Man Convicted in Hammer Murder

June 18, 2010

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - Jurors have convicted a Gary man of bludgeoning his mother to death with a hammer. Lake County deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary says 34-year-old Rasson Roby struck his 59-year-old mother, Arlena Roby, a minimum of 18 to 24 times with a hammer. A Lake Criminal Court jury found Roby guilty Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter in his mother's February 2007 death.

He was initially charged with murder, but the judge gave jurors the option of convicting him of the lesser charge. Judge Diane Boswell banned Roby from his trial because he had been disruptive earlier, and he did not take the stand. Roby has a history of mental illness and told police he attacked his mother with a hammer in her Gary home because she "got into his personal space."

UPDATE:

A Gary man was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for beating his 59-year-old mother to death with a hammer in 2007. the Northwest Times of Indiana reports.

A Lake Criminal Court jury found Rasson Roby, 34, guilty last month of voluntary manslaughter for Arlena Roby's death. Roby originally was charged with the more severe crime of murder, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser charge.

Arlena Roby was found dead in her Gary on Feb. 1, 2007, police said.  Deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary told the jury during the trial that Rasson Roby struck his mother a minimum of 18 to 24 times with a hammer.

Mya Lee

Mom's boyfriend accused of murder in toddler's death

June 24, 2010

CROWN POINT | A Chicago man is facing murder and other multiple charges in connection to last year's death of a Hammond toddler left in his care.

A probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday alleges Stacey M. Daniels, 30, told police he struck his girlfriend's daughter, 21-month-old Mya Lee, with a brush causing the girl to lose her balance and hit her head.

The child died at 7:25 a.m. July 24, 2009, at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital from what the Cook County Medical Examiner's office determined a homicide resulting from child abuse, the affidavit states.

An autopsy found the girl suffered brain edema, a subdural hematoma and multiple scalp hemorrhages. Her legs showed signs of bruising of a type doctors said is not typical of bruising suffered by toddlers, including a large hematoma on her right thigh.

Daniels is charged with murder, two counts of battery and three counts of neglect to a dependent.

Daniels is alleged to have told police he was at his girlfriend's apartment in the 2200 block of Woodhollow Avenue in Hammond, where he stayed off and on, when the child was injured on the morning of July 23, 2009.

Daniels reported Mya as still asleep about 7 a.m. when her mother left for work leaving the child in his care, the affidavit states.

Daniels said the child woke up crying about 7:05 a.m. and continued to cry, which he said was not unusual. He was trying to get the girl ready to leave to stay with a babysitter when he picked up a hairbrush and tapped the girl on the thigh as she walked away from him, he told police.

The child lost her balance, fell, hit her head on the floor, and started to cry, he said.

Daniels said he put the child back in her crib and left the room after which he heard "a shaking sound" coming from the bedroom. Re-entering the bedroom, Daniels said he found the girl unresponsive and shaking uncontrollably before going limp.

Daniels is alleged to have told conflicting stories of how the child hit her head.

The child's mother told police she had gotten up at 5:50 a.m. to get ready for work and had asked Daniels to take the child to the babysitter for the day.

She reported the child as healthy and uninjured that morning but for a braid that had been pulled from her head when it got caught in a shopping car.

Leon Walker

Leon Walker

Boy's mother hoped new beginning was near

Woman entered church program, then came news of son's brutal death

May 4, 2010

BY LORI CALDWELL, (219) 648-3258

GARY -- Turquoise Walker thought she had a plan that would mark the start of a new beginning for herself and her two sons.

But that changed Wednesday night when 5-year-old Leon Walker arrived at the hospital, covered with welts and bruises, dead from a broken neck.

The boy's father, Leon Burns, 28, and his girlfriend, Rochell Johnson, 32, have been charged with murder and neglect in the beating death of the boy. Police say the boy was bound and tortured in the hours before his death.

Burns has a formal appearance in Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray's court at 8:30 a.m. May 11. He's scheduled for a hearing on June 29.

Johnson has a May 14 court date.

Turquoise Walker, 26, cloistered in a church program for three weeks, is hurt, angry and confused about her loss.

"We planned this baby, we were engaged, we'd been together for six years. I was with this man throughout the all and all, the hard times and the good times. This was his first born," she said Monday from the Good Samaritan Mission home where she is part of a Christian Discipleship program.

"I read that he said he went too far. Yes, you did, you went too far when you beat him daily. What person in his right mind would do that?" she said.

Veteran investigators say the injuries they saw are some of the most brutal they've ever seen. Police accuse Burns of tying the boy's hands and with electrical cord and hitting him with a belt.

Johnson was at the Glen Park home the couple shared during the beatings, court records state. She heard the boy beg to be untied and heard his screams as he was punched. After he fell quiet, the couple called for an ambulance.

Leon died when his cervical spine was snapped. Police said he had a deep ligature mark around his neck.

Walker said she and Leon Burns were a couple for six years, then split. She had been living in Wisconsin, but Leon spoke with his father regularly. Last year she decided to come back to be near her family.

Her grandmother was taking care of Leon and her other son in East Chicago.

"I haven't seen my son in nine months. I've been on my own trying to make my own way; it's been one thing after another," she said.

Little Leon was "energetic. He loved his brother, he was always willing to help. He had the most beautiful smile," his mother recalled.

Mission Pastor Jim Watson said Turquoise Walker had crafted a colorful beaded key chain and a heart to mail to Leon for his sixth birthday on Monday.

"Within an hour of when she was going to the post office to mail the gifts, the police were here," Watson said.

"She came here so she could become the mother she needs to be. She thought her child was safe," Watson said, describing Walker as "fragile" in the aftermath of Leon's death.

Burns was supposed to keep the boy for a weekend visit, but when Walker's grandmother started calling to bring Leon home, "and it was one excuse after another," Walker said.

"Now we know why," she said.

Today Walker will make funeral arrangements for her son.

"I have no idea how to plan one," she said.

Watson said his church is handling the funeral costs. Anyone who wishes to donate in Leon Walker's memory to the program that helps women like his mother can send donations to the Good Samaritan Mission, P.O. Box 64580, Gary, Ind. 46401.

Beverly Thompson

Beverly Thompson

Dyer man charged in wife's slaying

Liquor store owner, worker accused of murder

April 13, 2010

DYER | Burdened by thousands of dollars in recent gambling debts, the 61-year-old owner of a south suburban liquor store enlisted the help of an employee Friday to kill his wife in their Dyer home and make it look like a burglary, prosecutors alleged Monday.

Douglas A. Thompson, 61, of 632 Hillside Drive, and his employee Reginald Coleman, 56, of 1945 Hart St. in Dyer, were charged in the death of 62-year-old Beverly Thompson. Her daughter found Thompson dead about 6 p.m. Friday in the Hillside Drive home.

Douglas Thompson, who owns Torrence Discount Liquor and Deli in Lynwood, lost more than $62,000 at Majestic Star Casino in Gary between March 10 and Wednesday, and the investigation revealed his business is failing financially, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday. The daughter told police her parents lived together but argued a lot.

Police found Beverly Thompson on an upper level landing of the home in a pool of blood, with a large wound to the back of her head. Investigators said dresser drawers and closet doors were opened, but it appeared as though nothing inside was disturbed. Kitchen drawers were pulled out, but a purse and bank bag with more then $1,100 also were left untouched, according to the affidavit.

The Thompsons own the home where Coleman lives. There, police said they found bloody jeans that are the same brand, waist size and inseam as Thompson's while executing a search warrant Saturday. The jeans were at the bottom of a yard waste bag, along with socks and a shirt, investigators said. Several pieces of Beverly Thompson's jewelry were found hidden within a heating and cooling unit in a pickup truck at the Hart Street property, according to the affidavit.

Inside Coleman's residence, a T-shirt hung over a shower rod, a pair of tan pants were inside the washing machine and a pair of tan work boots in the living room were stained and smelled strongly of bleach, investigators said. When police removed the pants from the washing machine, Coleman started to get chest pains and was taken to the hospital, where he was medically cleared, the affidavit states.

Surveillance footage from a neighbor's house shows Thompson arrived home at 3:20 p.m. Friday and his wife arrived home about 25 minutes later, police said. At 4:32 p.m. Douglas Thompson was seen driving away from the residence, according the affidavit.

The daughter told police she last spoke to her mother by cell phone about 3:30 p.m.

The Lake County coroner's office said Beverly Thompson died of blunt force trauma to the head. The cause of death was ruled a homicide.

The couple had been married more than 40 years.

Dannette Adkins

Man cleared in rape case by DNA evidence now charged in girlfriend's slaying

December 28, 2008|By Azam Ahmed

Exonerated of rape by DNA evidence in 2006, Marlon Pendleton was pardoned in October by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, clearing the way for him to receive $140,000 for his wrongful imprisonment.

But the good news didn't last long.

Last week, Pendleton, who spent almost 10 years locked up for a rape he didn't commit, was charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend, Dannette Adkins, 45. Her body was discovered in his sister's Hammond home, where Pendleton was living.

Pendleton is being held without bail at the Lake County Jail in Indiana. His criminal record also includes a separate rape conviction.

Pendleton was featured in a Tribune article this year about the heavy backlog of pardon applications sitting on the governor's desk, some that had been sitting for years. Since the story, the governor has pardoned more than 40 people convicted of felonies, including Pendleton, and a handful of other wrongfully convicted people.

Other news:

Her body was discovered in his sister's Hammond home, where Pendleton was living.

Pendleton is being held without bail at the Lake County Jail in Indiana. His criminal record also includes a separate rape conviction. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-update-pardon-bd-28-dec28,0,5479899.story

A Hammond man was charged with murder in connection with the death of a neighbor found unconscious in his home.

Dannette Adkins, 45, died at a local hospital from blunt force trauma, said the Lake County coroner's office, which ruled her death a homicide.

Police said Adkins and the suspect were romantically involved, and evidence inside the man's car led to his arrest shortly after paramedics transported her from his house to the hospital. http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/12/21/news/lake_county/docc106fb1f94c7150f862575260012e200.txt

Willie Edmond

Son confesses to stabbing dad

Gary man faces murder charge in killing of father, 78

dhinkel@nwitimes.com
219.933.4183 | Posted: Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:00 am

GARY | A man confessed to stabbing his 78-year-old father to death with a kitchen knife in their Gary home after a dispute late Monday, police said Wednesday.

The man faces a murder charge based on accusations he stabbed Willie Edmond to death in the Johnson Street home, said Detective Cpl. Edward Gonzalez. Court records identified the suspect as Glenn Edmond.

Officers found the suspect bloodied in the home after the stabbing, Gonzalez said. Willie Edmond was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m. Monday, said a spokeswoman for the Lake County coroner's office.

Glenn Edmond, who is in his 40s, had been arrested on previous domestic-related charges, but he was never convicted, Gonzalez said. Willie Edmond's wife was home when he was killed, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez could not say what fueled the dispute and the stabbing.

Glenn Edmond was in custody at the Gary police station Wednesday awaiting transfer to the Lake County Jail, Gonzalez said.

Ryne White

Man Gets 35 Years for Killing 5-Month-Old Son

Updated: Thursday, 18 Feb 2010, 7:12 PM CST
Published : Thursday, 18 Feb 2010, 7:12 PM CST

Sun-Times Media Wire

Crown Point, Ind. - A south suburban man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal beating of his 5-month-old son in a northwest Indiana apartment.

With relatives of the victim sobbing in court, Ryne Anthony Le Val White, 25, of Monee, was sentenced in Lake County (Ind.) Superior Court, according to the Lake County Prosecutor's office. He had pleaded guilty on Dec. 16 to neglect of a dependent.

Prosecutors said that on Aug. 21, 2008, White was watching his son, Ryne Anthony White Jr., while the child's mother went on a job interview. White's 9-month-old daughter from another relationship was also present at the Oak Knoll Renaissance apartment in Gary.

The child died of blunt force trauma, according to a release from the prosecutor's office. Deputy Prosecutor Judith Massa had argued for a 40-year sentence because of White's past criminal history -- two felony drug convictions in Illinois -- and because, "This was his own son, his own baby."

"This was a tragic and violent death," Massa said. "Nothing can bring this little baby back to his family but there has to be consequences.

The victim's grandmother, Quintella Logan told the court through tears that she dearly loved the grandson she would never see again, according to the release. "I just don't understand," she said.

The child's mother, Le'Neka Logan, sobbed as she said, "Nothing I can say can make it any better. Words can only go so far. I hurt every day. There is nothing I can do to get him back."

McKinley Collins

Dad's dead, mom's in jail, kids want her charges dropped

Posted: Monday, 28 September 2009 8:34AM

HAMMOND, Ind. (STNG) -- Their father is dead, their mother is in jail, and the children of McKinley and Athena Collins feel like justice is not forthcoming.

"We just feel like our mother has been railroaded," Natasha Collins said during an interview where her pain and that of her brother, McKinley Collins Jr., was palpable.

"I pray every single day that the Lord would spare any other family from what we're going through," Natasha Collins said as tears streamed down her face. "We haven't had time just to grieve our dad.''

The siblings said they'd like to see charges against their mother dropped.

Athena Yevette Collins, 51, of Hammond, who is charged with murder in the shooting death of their father, McKinley Collins, 54, had tried to reconcile with their father after she moved from Chicago to Hammond without him more than a decade earlier.

On Aug. 5, 2008, a violent argument ensued at the Collins' home. Athena Collins, who had been the victim of domestic violence in the past, told officers who showed up at the White Oak Avenue home that her husband had tried to kill her.

A knife lay near her husband's right hand. Eight hair extensions ripped from Athena Collins' head lay on the kitchen floor, and an iron with bloodstains sat in the kitchen. The gun Athena Collins admitted she fired at her husband was on the kitchen table.

Athena Collins had a large knot on her head and several knife wounds on her body, but investigators said in court records they felt the knife wounds may have been self-inflicted. She also told police her husband tried to kill her. He choked her, punched her, hit her with the iron and ripped out her hair extensions, according to court records.

Defense attorney Catherine Lake, who is seeking to suppress statements her client made, said the notion that Athena Collins would cut herself badly enough to require surgery is preposterous.

Athena Collins had a gun because the man who shot her son, leaving him partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair, had been seen a few doors down in the neighborhood.

Prior to the shooting, Natasha Collins said her mother was trying to see if the couple could make their marriage work. Athena Collins allowed him into the home, but didn't let him move all his belongings from Chicago.

After the shooting, their mom, a certified nursing assistant, traveled to Nebraska and stayed with her sister. Collins and the family were still grieving the loss of their maternal grandmother. "She was totally distraught, depressed," her daughter said. She had attempted suicide and was hospitalized.

Natasha and McKinley Collins said they have been unable to convince the Prosecutor's Office to drop the charges against their mother. In fact, beyond being told of court dates, there has been little communication between the Prosecutor's Office and Natasha and McKinley Collins.

"We were told they would take it to a grand jury, but they never did,'' Natasha Collins said of the nine months between the shooting and charges being filed.

"She always stood up for what is right," Natasha Collins said of her mother.

"This isn't justice for her. This isn't justice for us. What about the truth?"

Diane Poulton, a spokeswoman for Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, said: "Whenever a family has to deal with the fallout of a violent crime committed against a loved one it is a highly stressful time. Added to that stress is having to deal with the criminal justice system, which tends to move slowly and often in ways that do not make sense to someone unfamiliar with the system.

"The emotional turmoil caused by having a family member charged with killing another rarely ends with all of the surviving family members being satisfied with the outcome in the courts. It requires a delicate balance from the Prosecutor's Office of being sensitive to the family's needs and those of the case.''

Meanwhile, Lake and Trial Supervisor Mary Ryan will be back in court to continue with evidence in the motion to suppress Collins' statements. They have had six days of hearings thus far before Magistrate Natalie Bokota.

Candie Worthman

Man on parole in homicide arrested in killing

Gary suspect charged in fatal shooting of E.C. woman

by DAN HINKEL
dhinkel@nwitimes.com
219.933.4183 | Posted: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 12:00 am

A man accused of killing a woman early Sunday in East Chicago was arrested Tuesday when he reported to his parole officer from a previous homicide conviction, police said.

Gaylon C. Washington Jr., 31, of Gary, faces a murder charge based on accusations he shot Candie Worthman, 23, in the head early Sunday morning outside an apartment in East Chicago near Indiana Harbor, according to court documents.

Washington also faces charges of intimidation and pointing a loaded gun. Washington threatened to kill a witness to Worthman's shooting, said East Chicago Police Chief Angelo Machuca Jr. Washington was being held without bail at the Lake County Jail on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in 2003 after a murder charge was dismissed, according to court records. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to court records.

Washington was waiting at 3 a.m. Sunday outside a dilapidated apartment building in the 3400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, according to court records. Worthman arrived and argued with Washington, police said. Washington told Worthman to back down, and when she did not, he shot her in the head, according to court records.

"Words were exchanged, and it seems like he didn't like what was being said to him, and he shot her, shot the victim in the face," Machuca said.

Police found Worthman, of the nearby 3500 block of Guthrie Street, bleeding in the street, and investigators picked up a .32-caliber shell casing nearby, according to court records.

Worthman was pronounced dead at the scene, said a spokesman for the Lake County coroner's office.

Candie's death was noted as part of a violent holiday weekend in the Chicago area, in which 19 people lost their lives or critically injured.

See Candie's obituary here.

Eboni Richardson

Eboni Richardson

Baby's father, charged with murder, upset by relocation plan

Published August 29, 2009 by Post Tribune

by Jon Seidel

GARY, INDIANA -- Distraught because his 19-month-old daughter might move with her mother to Texas, Cordell Richardson took the girl and, according to police, said "nobody was going to take his daughter away" before shooting and killing her.

Richardson, 22, is charged with murder in the death of the girl, Eboni Richardson. Police said he shot her in downtown Gary on Thursday just as he was expected to turn her over to her uncle. Then he shot himself in the head.

A Methodist Hospitals spokeswoman declined to release information about Richardson's condition Friday afternoon at its Merrillville campus where he's hospitalized. He faces a maximum of 65 years in prison if convicted. The Lake County Prosecutor's Office said he is to be held in the county jail without bond.

In a charging affidavit filed in Lake County Superior Court on Friday, Gary police describe a frantic attempt by friends and family to return the girl to her mother, Shaina Hill, hours before the shooting.

Hill, of Gary, told police she gave Richardson permission to take the child, according to the affidavit.

However, Cpl. Gabrielle King said Richardson called her at 4 p.m. Thursday and said she would never see Eboni again if she didn't meet him at his house by 4:30 p.m.

She arrived with police, according to reports, but Richardson wasn't there. Richardson then called Hill and refused to return Eboni.

Hill went to the home of Jamell Campbell, Richardson's brother-in-law, and told him Richardson was refusing to give Eboni back. Campbell told police he called Richardson, who told him he didn't want to lose his daughter.

Campbell called Jerry Wheeler, Richardson's friend, and Thomas Murray, Richardson's brother. Wheeler said Richardson called him and said he had kidnapped Eboni, according to court documents.

After several phone calls, Richardson agreed to meet Campbell, Wheeler and Murray at Murray's grandfather's home in Gary. When they got there, Richardson called again and told them to meet him at Bennigan's restaurant, 500 E. 5th Ave. in Gary.

The men found Richardson's truck in the parking lot and parked next to it, police said. Richardson was seen sitting on the driver's side in the back seat, holding Eboni.

Campbell told police he was walking up to the truck, heard two gunshots and saw a flash from inside. Murray opened the back door and discovered that Richardson had shot himself in the head.

Wheeler opened the door on the other side, police said, and Eboni, who had a gunshot wound in her chest, fell into his arms. Wheeler took her, got back into the car he had arrived in, and tried to drive to the hospital with Murray. Campbell got into Richardson's truck to drive there, as well.

Police said the car carrying Eboni broke down at 4th Avenue and Monroe Street, and Campbell had to pick the men and the baby up on the way to the hospital.

Members of Eboni's family could not be reached Friday.

Reggie Johnson, Hill's neighbor, said Eboni was a happy baby who liked to dress up for church and had joined his grandchildren to play outside less than a month ago.

"They were all out here playing with the bubbles," Johnson said.

He described Hill as a "work-aholic" who took care of her grandmother. He said he never noticed a problem between her and Richardson.

"He loved that baby," Johnson said.

Contact Jon Seidel at 648-3068 or jseidel@post-trib.com.

Josiah Shaw

Gary Police say that baby Josiah Shaw’s father is a person of interest in the case of his killing during a carjacking that left his mother — Kwana Shaw — on life support after a bullet ripped through her lung, reports Lori Caldwell for the Post-Tribune.

Kwana Shaw is in critical condition from a single gunshot wound that destroyed her lung.

Her 13-month-old son is dead, shot twice — in the face and groin — by a carjacker who left the woman’s car a few blocks from the abduction, Lt. Del Stout said Tuesday.

Police believe the child’s father may have left his job at Arcelor-Mittal’s Burns Harbor plant Monday night to meet Shaw, 29, of Schererville, about 7 p.m. at a friend’s house in the Lancaster Homes complex, 21st and Virginia.

Terry Bethel, also known as Terry Noel, 34, was arrested by Portage police and members of the Gary SWAT team shortly before midnight Monday at his Portage home. Police called him a “person of interest” in the shooting.

Mom sues boy's father, uncle

July 17, 2009

By Lori Caldwell, Post-Tribune staff writer

GARY--A civil lawsuit filed Thursday accuses young Josiah Shaw's father and uncle of conspiring to kill him and wound his mother.

Kwana Shaw, who was critically wounded in the Jan. 28, 2008, shooting, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Lake Superior Court seeking compensation for the loss of her 13-month-old son and the cost of her physical and emotional recovery.

"My goal is to get justice for Josiah Shaw and Kwana Shaw in any form available. We're looking for someone to be responsible," Miller attorney Darnail Lyles said.

The child's father, Terry Bethel, also known as Terry Noel, of Portage, had scheduled a visit with Josiah and knew where he and his mother would be that afternoon, the lawsuit states.

Kwana Shaw identified Bethel's brother, Joe Noel, also known as Sean Noel, in a photo line-up as the masked man who ran up to her outside her friend's Lancaster apartment, shot her and fled in her car with Josiah in the back seat.

Minutes later, police found the vehicle a few blocks away. Inside, Josiah had been shot in the face and groin and died a short time later.

The lawsuit alleges the brothers worked together to incapacitate Kwana and kidnap the boy "to batter and cause the death of Baby Shaw." Lyles notes nothing was taken from car during the theft.

No criminal charges have been filed. Detectives have presented a case to prosecutors who want more evidence.

"It sits in a stack of files gathering dust," Lyles said. "We're looking for someone to be responsible."

Merrillville attorney Scott L. King, representing Terry Bethel, said he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Days before Josiah was killed, Bethel had been ordered to begin paying child support. The child's family reported Bethel made threats to them.

Terra Haselberger

Hammond Couple Found Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide

June 26, 2009

HAMMOND | A young man and woman were found dead in their rented house on a quiet Woodmar street Thursday afternoon in what police described as an apparent murder-suicide.

Investigators said Terra Haselberger, 22, suffered gunshot wounds to her neck and face, and Jeremy Fields, 31, was found with a single gunshot wound to his head at 6930 Chesapeake Place shortly before 4 p.m.

A large-caliber pistol lay on the floor near Fields' body, detectives said.

Neighbors reported an older sister of Haselberger, who has lived with couple in the home for the past two years, found them after Haselberger failed to return to her job as a receptionist at a nearby chiropractic clinic after lunch, police said.

Family members who gathered at the scene along the Erie-Lackawanna bike trail across from Elmwood Cemetery at 169th Street declined to talk about Haselberger, who grew up in Dyer, or Fields, who was from Valparaiso, except to say that he was unhappy with his recent inability to find work.

Neighbors said Haselberger also worked at a part-time job at a Hobart restaurant to make ends meet. But there were signs of trouble between the couple, they said.

Police were called to the couple's home on a domestic disturbance report on New Year's Eve, when neighbors said Fields chased Haselberger down the street firing a pistol.

Haselberger sought refuge at a neighbor's house, but then declined to tell the responding officers who was threatening her and they left on another call, said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified by name.

"I spend all my time with my boyfriend, who I love more than anything in this entire world," Haselberger recently wrote on her MySpace page, which featured photos of the couple with new tattoos of each other's names. "And pretty soon I will be his wifey!!!"

"And I also have an amazing family," she wrote.

Obituary

TERRA L. HASELBERGER HAMMOND/ FORMERLY OF DYER, IN Terra L. Haselberger, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009. She is survived by mother, Brenda Haselberger; one brother, Matthew Haselberger; two sisters: Rachel and Nicole Haselberger; grandparents; Lorraine Kraatz and Charles (Nadine) Haselberger; many aunts, uncles and cousins; one nephew, Nathan Daniel Haselberger; preceded in death by her father, Daniel in 2001; and grandfather, Roger B. Kraatz Sr. in 2007. Funeral services will be Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at the Fagen-Miller Funeral Home, 1920 Hart St. Dyer, IN. Interment Memory Lanes Cemetery in Schererville, IN. Relatives and friends may meet with the family on Monday, June 29, 2009 from 3:00-8:00 p.m. Terra was an employee of Hofferth, Family Chiropractic, where she served as an Office Manager. She enjoyed summer, going to the beach, helping others, whether young or old, her smile made you feel loved and welcomed. Her vibrant personality, contagious laugh, love of her family will be forever missed and cherished. Our lives will never be the same due to this tragic loss. Terra graduated in 2004 from Lake Central High School. Donations to the family would be appreciated

Cassandra Isom

Cassandra Isom

Three Dead After Standoff In "Non-Violent City"

August 7, 2007

Gary, Indiana police say a standoff at an apartment complex ended overnight with a woman and two teenagers dead and a suspect in custody.

The standoff and deadly shootings took place overnight in Gary's Lakeshore Dunes apartment complex. A neighbor dialed 9-1-1 to report shots fired while a police officer was following-up outside the apartment building more shots came from inside and so began a three-and-a-half hour stand-off.

But Gary's police chief said Tuesday that he believes the suspect killed his family before the stand-off started.

Shattered glass and broken hearts outside a Gary apartment complex where police believe a man took the lives of a mother and her two children. A neighbor told police the last words he heard uttered inside.

"He heard a small child scream 'Daddy don't do that, daddy don't do that!" He then heard another shot," said Gary Police Sergeant Tom DeCanter.

The victims are identified as 40 year old Cassandra Isom, her 17-year-old son Michael Moore and 13-year-old daughter Ciandre Cole.

Their relatives released a statement saying "Cassandra Isom was an excellent mother, a kind a generous person. She loved people, her family and friends."

The suspect is a 41-year-old out-of-work security guard. The victims' relatives said they're aware of no signs that trouble was brewing in the household. But just after 10 o'clock Monday night neighbors report hearing several shots fired.

"A lot of gunfire, it sounds like fireworks," said neighbor Dave Caster. "I stepped out and it was crazy. It sounded like you were in Vietnam."

The first police officer on the scene called for back-up then helped evacuate another family. SWAT officers surrounded the building but not before they say the suspect fired several shots in their direction. For more than three hours, police waited.

"We weren't aware of the complete situation and didn't want to risk firing until we knew what was going on," said DeCanter.

Gary police said they believe the suspect killed the woman and children before the stand-off started. It ended when police fired tear gas into the home. They went in and found the mother and her children in the living room. Police tasered the suspect in a back bedroom and they said several weapons were at his side.

Gary's mayor said the type of violence that claimed this family has infected communities across the country.

"The majority of our murders are not gangs and thugs they are domestic like last night's. That's why I continue to say Gary is not a violent city," said Gary Mayor Rudy Clay.


See posts for her dear children Michael Moore and Ci'Andria Cole.

Michael Moore

Death Penalty Trial: Jury Selection Begins For Kevin Isom in 2008 Indiana Murders of 3 Family Members

October 15, 2010

Prosecutors in Lake County, Ind., will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his family last summer.

Prosecutors say Kevin Isom shot his wife and her daughter and son inside the family's apartment in Gary on August 7, 2007. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 40-year-old Cassandra Isom, 17-year-old Michael Moore and 13-year-old Ci'Andria Cole.

According to a court affidavit, Isom allegedly told investigators that he shot his family because his wife was going to leave him. He also said she had been supporting the family on her own and that he had not been working.

Now Isom also faces four attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting at police officers who had responded to a hostage situation at the Lake Shore Dunes complex, where Isom allegedly killed his wife and stepchildren.

"Every death is traumatic to a police officer, but the death of children perhaps hit them more. For the officers who came under fire, it brings home the danger they face," said Gary Police Cmdr. Sam Roberts.

"We have to send a message to the public that we cannot allow anyone to harm our officers," added Gary Police Det. James Bond.

Isom is currently being held at the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Ind.


See posts for her dear mother Cassandra Isom and sister Ci'Andria Cole.

Ci'Andria Cole

Stepfather Ignored Girl's Plea

August 8, 2007

A former security guard ignored the cries of his 13-year-old stepdaughter late Monday night and shot his family to death in their small Miller apartment, police say. For three hours, a man identified by police sources as Kevin Isom, 41, kept the city's SWAT team at bay outside his Lakeshore Dunes apartment building while a negotiator repeatedly tried to reach him on a phone.

When police finally charged into the residence, they found Isom's wife, 40-year-old Cassandra Isom, and her children, 16-year-old Michael Moore and 13-year-old Ci'Andria Cole, dead on the floor.

Authorities allege Isom killed his family after his wife threatened to leave him because he was not working and she was paying all the bills.

Attorneys seek delay in Lake County's lone death penalty trial

Lake County public defenders Herbert Shaps and Casey McCloskey are asking for more time to prepare the county's only death penalty case.

In reporting their progress to the court Friday, Shaps told Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. four more months are not adequate to meet the current trial date of May 2, 2011.

The public defender's office was ordered in November to take over representing murder defendant Kevin Isom, 45.

Isom is accused of fatally shooting his wife, Cassandra Isom, 40, and her two children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, on Aug. 6, 2007, at the family's Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in Miller.

Stefaniak had ordered the public defender's office to take over Isom's defense after Isom sought to replace the law firm of Thiros & Stracci in the wake of the death of trial lawyer Nick Thiros in October.

At the time, Stefaniak told Isom the chances of obtaining a refund from the Thiros firm and finding a new private lawyer to take on a death penalty case were minimal and declared Isom indigent.

Stefaniak said he thought it necessary to move the case forward in the interest of the victims' family.

Stefaniak on Friday took the question of continuing the trial under advisement until a hearing Feb. 25, 2011 when the public defenders also are expected to report on other trial issues.


See posts for her dear mother Cassandra Isom and brother Michael Moore.