Eternity Brame

Eternity Brame

Appeals Court Affirms Sentence for Gary Baby Puncher

January 11, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS | The Indiana Court of Appeals on Friday refused to adjust the 35-year prison sentence for a Gary man who punched an infant while walking along Fifth Avenue in Gary, causing her death.

Christopher K. Washington, 21, pleaded guilty in September 2009 to felony battery in connection with the death of 5-month-old Eternity Brame.

According to court and police records, Washington was walking with his girlfriend's children, ages 5 and 6, and Brame, the daughter of Washington's girlfriend's sister, along Fifth Avenue toward Fillmore Street on Oct. 4, 2007, when Washington punched Brame several times.

Upon reaching Brame's aunt's home, Washington put Brame in a bed and didn't tell anyone what happened, according to court records. An autopsy showed the child died of a lacerated heart and liver, and a depressed skull fracture from several blows to her head, chest and back.

At the time of the incident, Washington was 18 years old and just three months out of the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center.

Washington asked the appeals court for a reduced sentence claiming the 35-year term was inappropriate in light of his character and nature of the crime.

In a 3-0 decision, the Court of Appeals emphatically rejected Washington's request, pointing out that he received less time than the 50-year maximum sentence and agreeing with the trial court that Washington's actions were "brutal."

"Washington struck a defenseless infant with his fist several times, causing her death, in the presence of other young children," Senior Judge John Sharpnack wrote.

The court said Washington's juvenile record, including crimes equal to robbery and intimidation for an adult, history of substance abuse and repeated probation violations, also weighed against a sentence reduction.

Obituary:

BABY ETERNITY UNIQUE BRAME Gary, Indiana Age 4 months, passed away on Wednesday, October 4, 2007. Eternity was born May 7, 2007, in Gary, Indiana. She was a well loved daughter of Kortisha R. Spencer & Eugene J. Brame. She departed from many family members, mother, Kortisha Spencer; father, Eugene Brame; brother, Eugene Brame Jr.; sister, Tyaisha Brame; great-grandmother, Louise Johnson; grandparents, Linda (Larry) McJefferson, Janice Brame, Ronald Overton, James Bobo; 5 aunts, Rose Bobo, Tiffany Spencer, PaTrisha Brame, Jamie Kimbrough, Jermil Kimbrough; 5 uncles, Jermaine Kimbrough, Antione Brame, Dewon (Kim-berly) Brame, William Lewis, and Louis Spencer; godmother/ cousin, Mozell Quarles; and all her loving cousins, great-aunts, great-uncles, other relatives and friends who reside in Gary, IN, and many different cities. Visitation Sunday, October 14, 2007, from 12 noon to 8:00 p.m. with family hour from 6 - 8:00 p.m. at the Guy & Allen Chapel, 2959 W. 11th Ave. Funeral service Monday, October 15, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. at Old Path COGIC, 2117 McKinley Street. Pastor Lynnell Walters officiating. Interment Oak Hill Cemetery. Professional services rendered by: Guy & Allen Funeral Directors, Inc. Published in Post-Tribune on October 14, 2007

Eva B. Groves

Man Sentenced in "Granny" Stabbing

Published : Wednesday, 03 Jun 2009, 4:29 PM EDT

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) -- - A central Indiana man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for stabbing his grandmother to death.

36-year-old Gregory Lee Galloway had been found guilty but mentally ill of murder in the October 2007 death of 84-year-old Eva B. "Granny" Groves in the mobile home they shared in Hillsboro, about 40 miles east of Indianapolis.

Henry Circuit Judge Mary Willis sentenced Galloway on Tuesday and noted his long history of mental problems.

Family members said they had repeatedly sought treatment for Galloway, who was diagnosed with disorders related to schizophrenia.

Susan Moulder

Susan Moulder

Carmel police puzzled over apparent murder-suicide

October 7, 2007

Carmel - Police are puzzled by an apparent murder-suicide involving a couple who were about to get married. There were no signs of violence or any other warnings to indicate trouble with the relationship.

A graduate of Purdue University and Carmel High School, 29-year-old Susan Moulder lived to travel and loved music. She posted her interests on her MySpace and Facebook pages. There are also messages on those pages of congratulations for her recent engagement, as well as pictures of Moulder and her fiance, 36-year-old Jason Broadwater.

The two lived together in a Carmel home for the past three months. They died there together. Police found their bodies Friday. Investigators say it was Broadwater who pulled the trigger in an apparent murder-suicide.

The case comes as a surprise to police, who say they've never been called to the home before for domestic problems. Police say the two attended neighborhood functions and were well liked.

Broadwater was a nuclear technician for the Care Group at the Heart Center. His family declined to talk, but wrote in his obituary that he "cherished patient care."

Moulder offered no indication of problems or second thoughts on her MySpace site, only excitement over their impending nuptials. Her last entry, dated October 2, three days before her death, simply states, "Engaged!"

Police say they found two guns in the home, including one located next to Broadwater.

Toxicology tests will be conducted, but investigators may never know why the lives of a couple with such a promising future came to such a tragic end.

April Jones

Murder victims remembered at Jeffersonville vigil

October 4, 2007

BY STEPHANIE MOJICA

April Jones went out to Priya’s Bar and Grill Friday night to enjoy time with her brothers. Hours later, she and her 25-year-old brother were murdered just steps from the police station, and the other sibling nearly killed.

About 50 people showed up to the Jeffersonville restaurant’s parking lot Wednesday night to remember Jones, 21, her brother Dyjuan Latendresse, 25, and the continued recovery of Johnathan Jones Jr., 17, who is at University Hospital in Louisville after sustaining four gunshot wounds.

Latendresse and Derek Lawson, 25, got into an argument inside the Quartermaster Court bar early Saturday, according to Clark County Superior Court No. 1 documents. The altercation moved outside and got physical. April Jones tried to stop Lawson, a former friend of Latendresse’s, from shooting her siblings. Lawson allegedly shot Jones to death, then shot Latendresse and Johnathan Jones Jr. as they tried to run away, records say.

Louisville activist Christopher 2X led the Wednesday night vigil, which featured prayer, music, testimonies from other families of murder victims and calls for people not to take their pain out on themselves or others.

Christopher 2X — who has worked to comfort more than 100 families of homicide victims in the Louisville area — was also the person Lawson called when he wanted to turn himself in to Jeffersonville police.

Before accompanying Lawson to Jeffersonville, he notified the victims’ families to assure them this act did not lessen his support toward them.

“You can’t put together a textbook to stop violent crime,” Christopher 2X said at the service.

Christopher 2X, along with April and Johnathan Jones’ father, John, said they felt sorry for Lawson’s family. Lawson — who is being held with no bond on two counts of murder and one attempted murder charge — could go to prison for 110 to 180 years if convicted.

Lawson and Latendresse grew up as friends, but had a series of altercations with each other and run-ins with the law over the years, according to court records. Despite any of Latendresse’s flaws, violent crime was not the answer, John Jones said.

“He had a heart just like everybody else has a heart,” Jones said. “I’m still in shock.”

Jones was involved in Latendresse’s life since he was a toddler, and said he was blessed to have spoken to him as well as his own daughter hours before they died. Latendresse called Jones “Pops” in a phone conversation, and Jones said everyone was excited to go out for “open mic” night at Priya’s.

“The killing has got to stop,” Jones told the crowd. “I appreciate you all’s support.”

After the service, Jones remembered his daughter as a driven young woman who was working toward becoming a nurse and left behind a 1-year-old daughter.

They just came here to have a good time,” Jones said.

As for Lawson, Jones said he did not know enough about the reported conflicts to comment, but did add he felt “sorry” for him.

“He took two lives, one the precious innocent life of my daughter,” Jones said.

Funeral services are expected to be held Friday for both victims.


See post for dear brother Dyjuan Latendresse here.

Dyjuan Latendresse

Lawson nets 80 years for double murder in Jeffersonville

Families pack court amid controversy over plea

December 4, 2008

By MATT THACKER

The Jeffersonville man who pleaded guilty to killing two siblings outside Priya’s Bar and Grill in Jeffersonville was sentenced to 80 years in the Indiana Department of Correction on Wednesday.

Derek Lawson, 26, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one count of attempted murder, all class A felonies, for the shooting deaths of Dyjuan Latendresse, 25, and April Jones, 21, and for trying to kill their younger brother, 17-year-old Jonathan Jones Jr. in September 2007.

Clark County Superior Court No. 1 Judge Vicki Carmichael had the option of choosing a sentence ranging from 20 years to 80 years in prison under the terms of the plea agreement.

Carmichael said in court that anything less than 80 years, as recommended by the state, would “diminish” the crimes.

Lawson received 20 years for the death of Latendresse and 30 years each for the death of April Jones and shooting of Jonathan Jones Jr. Each sentence will run consecutively.

Linda Jones, the mother of the three victims, testified that following the shooting was the “most devastating time of my life.” The mother of Latendresse’s two children also testified and asked the judge to consider the effect on her children growing up without a father.

Jonathan Jones Jr., now 18, burst into tears just before he was called to testify. Jones was shot five times during the same incident. He appears to have physically recovered, but said he missed most of his senior year of high school while healing.

“This is something I’ve got to live with the rest of my life,” he said. “Just because you fear someone don’t give you the right to kill them.”

At the hearing, Lawson’s mother, Mary Lawson, described her son and Latendresse as childhood friends. But she said a rift began to grow between the two of them after they suspected Latendresse of searching through their dresser drawers when the two were in high school.

She claims that in 2003, Latendresse stole Lawson’s gun and cell phone and then later shot him twice in the buttocks.

“He almost lost his life that day. My son almost lost his life that day,” Mary Lawson said.

The defense also argued that Latendresse and others broke into Lawson’s house in 2006 and tied him up and kicked him and shot another person in the house. Lawson’s mother claims her son became terrified to even go in Jeffersonville, the city where he grew up.

The defense also claimed that Lawson’s parent’s house was shot about 18 times for “revenge” following the fatal shooting.

“He feared Dyjuan Latendresse, and he had a reason to fear him,” Lawson’s mother said.

Derek Lawson apologized in court to the Jones family and his family and said he was “sincerely sorry” for what happened.

Patrick Renn, Lawson’s attorney, asked for 20 years in prison, which was the minimum sentence allowed.

He argued that the shooting was a “single criminal episode that occurred at one time” rather than serial shootings.

Deputy Prosecutor Bill Grimes argued that Lawson may have had a feud with Latendresse, but that “two innocent” victims also were shot.

Renn found fault with the judge’s decision to include Lawson’s previous arrests as aggravating factors. He said that since Lawson has not been convicted of any other charge, those arrests should not be considered. He also argued the fact that there was a “long-running feud” and Lawson was scared for his life supported a lighter sentence.

“I’m satisfied [about] what happened,” the victims’ mother said after the hearing.

Not everyone in the family was appeased, though.

Jonathan Jones said after the hearing that he still did not agree with the manslaughter charge and said the shooting was not done in “sudden heat.”

“All it was hate and envy,” he said. “Ain’t nothing going to change what happened.”

On Monday, the family held a press conference with several Louisville media outlets in the office of Louisville civil rights activist Christopher 2X. The family told the media that they opposed any plea agreement and wanted the case to go to trial.

Between Lawson’s family and the victims’ family, there were at least 50 people who came to the hearing. At least a dozen security officers were called to the courtroom area to make sure there were no problems.

Grimes addressed the audience in the courtroom when speaking about the importance of the fact that Lawson cannot appeal his conviction under the terms of the plea agreement. The sentence can be appealed.

“Eighty years is a long time,” Deputy Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said after the hearing. “This will ensure he spends virtually the rest of his life in prison.”

With Indiana’s good-time credit rule, Lawson could serve less than 40 years. He also received credit for nearly a year and a half that he has already spent in prison.

Mull said he was “disappointed” that the family chose to hold the press conference. He said the family was contacted after the plea agreement had already been filed because both sides only had a “small window of opportunity” to file it.

Lawson did not plead guilty until the first day of his trial after the jury had already been seated. Lawson originally faced two counts of murder.

After the sentence was read, Lawson told the judge he intends to appeal the sentence. Renn said they may file a motion to correct error in Superior Court No. 1 within the next 30 days, based on his argument that Lawson’s arrests should not have been counted as an aggravating factor. They also could go directly to the Indiana Court of Appeals.


See post for dear sister April Jones here.