Cody Stanfield

Cody Stanfield

Memorial for Son by his Dear Mother

This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Cody Stanfield. He was born in Indiana on July 06, 2004 and passed away on October 12, 2004 . We will remember him forever. Cody was my dream come true. He was a fraternal twin and the preemie of the two.

From the beginning he was a strong little boy with a beautiful defined face and a quiet spirit within him. He was born with the help of a procedure known as Invito Fertilization. Because of medical reasons this was my only hope of ever becoming a mother. Thank God after the first procedure I found out that the two eggs that was put in took and I for the first time ever was pregnant with TWINS!

Around four or five months I found out that they was going to be a girl and a boy. But even still until I saw their faces I knew the ultrasound could be wrong. I did pick out two names though and its funny but the two I picked just seemed to fit. The pregnancy was good up until my 29wk when I started to go into pre-term labor. I was admitted and stayed until their birth which was at 36wks.

Cody was born first weighing 4# 13 0z. What a angel! I couldn't believe this beautiful baby was mine finally. My dream came true. His faint little cry was so precious to hear for the first time.I never would have thought that his precious life would have been so short lived.

He was just two months old while in his father's care that the tragic event took place. Cody was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome, but passed away from blunt force trauma from being tossed onto our couch after being shook.

I still cannot believe that he is gone or that my precious baby boy suffered and died in that manner. I feel violated that my son was taken from me and I will never get to see him grow up with his twin sister, or to see him get married and start a family of his own. I feel betrayed that a man I loved and shared my life with would do this type of crime to his own child and to me and our family. I did not just lose a son, but a family and a husband.

My life will never be the same now. Every holiday, anniversary of my pregnancy events and his birthday will be a constant reminder of the loss of his life. How do I explain to his twin sister what her own father did to her twin brother? And how can I really go on......I have been in shock ever since that night I saw my son at the hospital.

The pictures are hard to look at of him like that. But my family and I took them in hopes that we could help people see what danger shaking a baby can do and to try to help spread awareness in that a life may be saved. If anyone having trouble coping with a crying baby or just being a new parent comes upon this memorial site and gets touched by it or helps them in anyway, then my son's life will not be in vain. Since this happened I have divorced and gotten counseling to help with my loss. His father plead guilty to battery and got 5 yrs but he only did 1 year and 9 months for it! I can't believe that's all he had to serve for killing our son.

Even though Cody was here for such a short time his presence and sweet spirit touched everyone who came in contact with him. His big smile made you grin and when his little fingers would grasp yours...you would melt. At Cody's funeral, it was said that his life was....."Born on Earth to Blossom in Heaven". That he is.

How beautiful.

Shereese Barksdale

Mom Arrested in Newborn's Death

October 15, 2004

The mother of a two-week-old infant has been arrested on a preliminary charge of murder after an autopsy showed the girl had been physically abused, Indianapolis police reported today. Tonya Barksdale, 34, of the 900 block of East Saratoga Drive, was taken into custody late Thursday after being interviewed by homicide detectives. Internal injuries were discovered by pathologists conducting an autopsy Thursday of her daughter, Shereese Barksdale, born Sept. 28. There had been no external signs of injury.

Nancy Young

Man Charged With New Albany Double Murder

(NEW ALBANY, Ind., October 10th, 2004, 6:00 p.m.) -- Family members say rage over his grandmother's new boyfriend may have caused a southern Indiana man to snap this week. Casey Brown is charged with two counts of murder after police found Nancy Young and Will Slone dead in Young's New Albany apartment. WAVE 3 Investigator James Zambroski has the story.

"What motivates anyone to do something of that nature, especially kill somebody, I don't really know," said New Albany Police Chief Merle Harl.

New Albany Police continue to investigate what went on inside a Willow Run apartment this weekend. Nancy Young and her boyfriend, Will Stone, were found murdered off Grant Line Road.

"After trying the door, Sgt. Miller was trying to gain entry into the apartment by going through a window. That's when a young man came to the door and wanted to know what they were doing, what they wanted," said Chief Harl.

That man, police say, was Casey Brown, Young's 24-year-old grandson.

"When he was asked where Miss Young was at, he said he didn't know. He said come on in and check. The sergeant went in, realized he had a crime scene, possible homicide. Came back out, handcuffed the individual," said Chief Harl.

Casey Brown is charged with two counts of murder. He faces arraignment on Monday. Brown's cousin says he may have just snapped.

"My uncle, you know, pampered him, you know, until he died. And when my uncle died, he was just crushed. He was just crushed. And he just couldn't accept that, another man being with his grandmother," said Curtis Young, Nancy Young's nephew.

As the family gathered for an annual reunion picnic planned weeks ago, they shared fond memories of their departed loved one.

"When we cooked, she'd smell the food cookin' and come over and knock on the door and say, 'Well, where's mine?' and get her a plate or something," said James Young, Brown's cousin.

"We had a restaurant; I'm a chef by profession. She would come there and try to cook. She couldn't cook a lick," remembered Curtis Young about his cousin Nancy.

Meanwhile, New Albany Police continuing putting it all together. So far, Brown has not made a statement to police.

"He has interviewed, they interviewed him for a lengthy amount of time yesterday, about three hours, and he never admitted to anything," said Chief Harl.

Casey Brown is being held in the Floyd County Jail pending arraignment on Monday.

The double homicide is the second in New Albany in three weeks. On September 16th, police say Kerry C. Wilson escaped from a Louisville halfway house and murdered Vicki Hunt, his ex-girlfriend and her friend, DaJuan Clark.


To see post for dear friend Will Slone, please click here.

Will Slone

Suspect Arraigned In Murder Of Grandmother, Boyfriend

(NEW ALBANY, Ind., October 11th, 2004, 3 p.m.) -- A 26-year-old New Albany man charged in the stabbing deaths of his grandmother and her boyfriend last week was in court Monday. Casey Brown pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder.

Police found the bodies of 64-year-old Nancy Young and 48-year-old Will Stone on Saturday after getting a call from a concerned relative.

Floyd County Coroner Greg Balmer said both died of multiple stab wounds and had been dead for several days. "We think it happened last Tuesday or early Wednesday."

James Young, Nancy Young's nephew and neighbor, said Brown had lived in Nancy Young's apartment for about two months.

He said he and Nancy Young's other relatives and friends had been worried about her because they had not seen her for several days.

Still no word on a possible motive for the murders.



To see post for dear friend Nancy Young, please click here.