Darrick Shelton

Darrick Shelton

Far-Eastside infant had been beaten to death

August 25, 2011

The Marion County coroner ruled that a 10-week-old boy found dead last week at a Far-Eastside apartment had been the victim of a fatal beating, police said today.

Police found the boy naked and on the floor of an apartment in the 9800 block of Gatewood Court at about 11:30 a.m. Friday, according to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report.

The boy, whom police did not identify by name, was not breathing when officers arrived. Medics took him to Community Hospital East, according to the report, but life-saving efforts were not successful.

The coroner found that the boy died of "multiple blunt force traumatic injuries" that cut off oxygen to his brain, Sgt. Linda Jackson said today. The death was ruled a homicide.

The boy's mother, Brianna Shelton, 22, was at the apartment when police arrived.

UPDATE:

Mother Arrested In 2-Month-Old Son's Death
Briana Shelton Faces Murder, Neglect Charges

August 27, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis woman was arrested in connection to the death of her 2-month-old son, police said.

Homicide detectives were called to an apartment complex near 21st Street and Mitthoeffer Road just after noon Friday on a report of a child not breathing.

When detectives arrived, they found the naked infant lying on his back on the living room floor.  The baby's mother, Briana Shelton, 22, was at home at the time.

The Marion County coroner ruled that the infant died of multiple blunt-force traumatic injuries.  Shelton was arrested Saturday on murder and neglect charges, police said.

Jasper Simpson

Jasper Simpson

Toddler's Death Ruled Homicide

Police: Officers Found Child Not Breathing At Apartment

INDIANAPOLIS -- The death of a 22-month-old boy in Shelbyville has been ruled a homicide.

Officers were called to the Martin Estates Apartments, on the city's north side, late Monday evening, Shelbyville Police Chief Bill Elliott said.

Medics found Jasper Simpson was not breathing and began CPR on the child. The boy later died at Riley Hospital for Children.

The Marion County coroner ruled Wednesday that Simpson died of blunt-force injuries to his head.

No arrests had been made Thursday evening.

Update:

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Aug. 5, 2011) -- Shelbyville police have a person of interest in the death of a 22-month-old boy.

Officers were called to the Martin Estates Apartments, on the city's north side, late Monday evening, where Jasper Simpson was found not breathing. He later died at Riley Hospital for Children.

According to a police report, the boy's mother told officers her son struck his head on a trunk and got sick. She said she put him on the couch only to find him later not breathing.

The Marion County coroner ruled that Simpson died of blunt-force injuries to his head.

Shelbyville police contacted 6News on Friday after neighbor Elaine Stickle said she witnessed abuse at the home, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported.

"All of a sudden, he (a man at the home) reached over and he slapped that baby with a thud, and that baby went flying into the patio door," Stickle said. "I said, 'Was that necessary?'"

Stickle told 6News she wishes she had called police.

"That was the only time I ever saw that child being hurt up there. It just didn't register," she said.

Police said they have a person of interest but are not releasing that person's name.

They are waiting for results of a pathology report, which could take weeks, before turning the case over to the prosecutor.

Marsha Cocot

Marsha Cocot, pictured in center

Woman Found Dead in Gas-Filled Home

June 14, 2011

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Emergency workers found a woman dead from a possible homicide after arriving at a South Bend house filled with natural gas.

Police say officers went to the home to check on the well-being of a woman Monday evening after her husband attempted suicide in Elkhart with an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

St. Joseph County Sheriff Mike Grzegorek tells WNDU-TV that investigators are trying to determine how 38-year-old Marsha Cocot died and whether the gas filling the house was meant to cover up a crime.

Utility crews shut off the gas line to the home and some nearby residents were evacuated from their homes for a time until the gas dispersed.

Grzegorek tells WSBT-TV that firefighters wearing respirators found Cocot's body while searching the house.

UPDATE

St. Joseph County Metro Homicide arrested Brian Cocot, 38, on a preliminarily charge of murder in relation to the death of his wife Marsha Cocot, 38.

A Tuesday morning autopsy determined Marsha Cocot died of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma sometime before 5:00 p.m. Monday.

Marsha Cocot was found in the 19700 block of Southland Avenue in St. Joseph County after officials responded to a gas leak inside her home around 5:30 p.m.

It’s believed that Cocot intentionally caused the gas leak to cover-up his wife’s death. Neighbors close to police say Cocot dumped gallons of gasoline throughout the house and ripped open natural gas lines before fleeing the home.

Only hours before Cocot’s wife was found, Elkhart Police responded to a suicide attempt and found Brian Cocot apparently trying to overdose on alcohol and pills.

Paramedics rushed Cocot to Elkhart General Hospital. He is currently being held at the St. Joseph County Jail until the Prosecutor’s Office reviews the case for formal charging.

If there is one thing about Southland Avenue that sticks out, it’s that people mind their own business.

"There were some internal problems going on there, but it's not my business, so I left it at that,” neighbor Kurt Vogler said.

Last year, neighbors say Brian Cocot took a sledgehammer to his interior attic walls in a fit of anger. That damage can still be seen poking out of the home’s roof.

"Brian went out of his way to do things for other people. It's just that you could see the aggressive side with Marsha and his dogs,” neighbor William Pellow said.

The shock of it all came with guilt.

"Instinctively I knew better. Something kept nagging at me, telling me something was wrong and I didn't listen to what I should have listened to,” neighbor Jan Cohen said.

Neighbors say the sound of fighting coming from the home increased with time in the quiet neighborhood.

"We're living across the street and we had no clue. We were completely oblivious as we're working or watching TV or cooking dinner. All throughout, this woman is going through God knows what, with a poor excuse for a man that murdered her,” Cohen added.

If this murder can teach people anything, it might just be to take more ownership in their neighbor's business.

"I let her down; we all let her down, shame on me,” Cohen concluded.

The gas leak was not the home’s first criminal incident, St. Joseph County Police responded twice in the last two weeks in reference to threat reports.

Neighbors say the mounting tension had a lot to do with Cocot's wife Marsha and a girlfriend he kept on the side.

Emergency workers say this incident could have ended much worse.  Simply put, the gas pressure inside the home was such that firefighters believe an explosion was imminent. Such a blast would have sent debris in every direction and likely taken out other homes on the block.

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.

Vicky S. Wade

Seymour Man Accused in Beating Death of Wife

April 24, 2011

SEYMOUR, Ind. (AP) - Police say a southern Indiana man who tried to kill himself is accused of killing his wife.

Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbot told The Tribune of Seymour that 56-year-old Terry L. Wade was arrested Sunday after being released from the hospital.

Wade is charged with murder in the beating death of his wife, 54-year-old Vicky S. Wade. Police say they found her body at the couple's home after a request for a welfare check from a family member at the home.

Abbott says Terry Wade was also found at the home and hospitalized for an overdose after he tried to kill himself.  Following an autopsy Friday morning, the coroner's office has determined Vicky Wade's cause of death as a result of blunt force trauma.

Obituary

Vicky S. Wade, 54, of Seymour, passed away Thursday, April 21, 2011 at her residence.

Vicky was born July 6, 1956 in Seymour. She was the daughter of the late Doug Harmon and Anne Williams Harmon Fisbeck who survives.

Vicky was an employee of Ai-sin. She was also an Avon representative, doing fund raisers in Jackson, Jennings and Bartholomew Counties. Vicky contributed to “Kids Corner” of the Seymour Tribune. She enjoyed writing, especially short stories. One of her other enjoyments were animals.

Vicky married Terry Wade, October 29, 1983 in Hope. She is survived by her husband, Terry; a son, Travis Wade; sisters, Kristal (Sean) Hubbard and Michelle Hallett; and her mother. She was preceded in death by her father.

A celebration of Vicky’s life will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Voss Chapel. Calling will be from 4 p.m. until time of the memorial celebration Tuesday at the funeral home. Memorials may be written to the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are under the careful direction of Voss & Sons Funeral Service and Tri-County Crematory in Seymour.

Sapphyre Putney

Sapphyre Putney

Man Arrested In Beating Death Of 2-Year-Old Girl

Police: Man Had Been Baby-Sitting Girlfriend's Daughter

June 24, 2011

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ind. -- A Franklin County man has been arrested, accused of beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter to death.

Officers were called to the Big Cedar Trailer Court near Brookville on March 12 after the girl's mother said she came home from work to find her daughter, Sapphyre Putney, unresponsive in her bed.

The toddler was taken to Harrison Medical Center in Harrison, Ohio, where she was pronounced dead.

Final autopsy results recently released showed the child died of blunt-impact injuries to her abdomen resulting in a laceration to her small intestine and a pancreatic injury, police said.

Luis Antonio Gonzalez, 31, the live-in boyfriend of the girl's mother, had been baby-sitting the victim the night she died, police said.

He was arrested Thursday on preliminary charges of murder and battery resulting in death. He was being held Friday in the Hamilton County Detention Center in Cincinnati pending extradition back to Franklin County.

Also:

Grandma speaks out after arrest in toddler's death

PLEASUREVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A Henry County, KY woman is heartbroken as she learns how her granddaughter was killed and who police say is to blame. Indiana State Police arrested the mother's boyfriend for the murder of her two-year-old girl.

"She was just an innocent baby, so sweet," said Lisa Woods, victim's grandmother. "The kind of injury that she sustained was like falling from a second story window. That is not an accident."

Two-year-old Sapphyre Putney died back in March. Recently released autopsy results show she was beaten to death. Her mother is Woods' 23-year-old daughter McKenzie Simpson, who lives in Franklin County, Indiana.

Sapphyre was born with a rare genetic disorder; her right leg was only half as long as the other.

"She knew there was a difference in her, but she was never given the opportunity," said Woods. "It was taken from her."

On June 23, Simpson's live-in boyfriend, 31-year-old Luis Gonzalez, was arrested in Ohio for the toddler's murder.

"I love my daughter with all my heart, but she believes in her heart that her boyfriend had nothing to do with this," said Woods. "She has said it from the beginning that he's innocent."

Indiana State Police say Gonzalez was home babysitting Sapphyre while Simpson was at work, when she got home she found the child unresponsive in her bed.

"The arrest has been made, but I still have a lot of unanswered questions, I want to know what happened to my grandbaby," said Woods.

For now all Woods can do is think of the happier times while never letting her granddaughter's memory fade.

"The one thing I have is the peace of knowing where she's at," said Woods. "She'll never be hurt again."

Woods' two grandchildren are also Simpson's children. Woods' and her husband James are in the final stages of legally adopting both of them. As for Gonzalez, he is in the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati waiting on authorities to bring him back to Indiana.

Kevin Mote

Ax Murderer Receives 45 Year Prison Sentence

December 20, 2010

STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - Steuben County Superior Court Judge William Fee accepted the recommended sentence of 45 years for Norma Jean Mote’s murder of her husband Kevin Mote.

Unfortunately the reason why Norma Mote murdered her husband is still not clear.

The prosecutor said in all his years, he has never once been unable to figure out why a murder was committed.

Mote's defense attorney said, “The straw that broke the camel's back, I really can't give that to the courtroom.”

Judge Fee said, “We don't know what the tipping point was.”

Norma Mote did take the stand and described a volatile relationship with her now dead husband Kevin.

She talked of years of emotional and physical abuse.

She spoke of having to sleep in a hallway to separate the children from Kevin.

She said there were arguments that day over whether Kevin had smoked marijuana and other lies, all leading up to her killing him.

Kevin Mote's twin sister Karen Friedel said that Norma and Kevin's children had all been given a life sentence.

Norma Mote's sister also took the stand saying Norma faced years of abuse recalling she could never visit her sister without Kevin's approval, and that Norma always spoke with her head down.

Also:

STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - According to the Herald-Republican , Norma Mote pled guilty Monday to murdering her husband with an ax in Steuben County in December of 2009.

On December 18, 2009, police found Norma's husband, Kevin Mote, 56, dead in an upstairs bedroom of their Fox Road home and recovered an ax that the officials would later rule as the murder weapon.

Mote’s plea agreement calls for the minimum sentence under the charge of murder, 45 years.

When Mote entered the courtroom Monday morning, she wore a calm smile and waved at family members in the first row of the courtroom. She communicated silently with them a couple of times, mouthing words as she sat with the other orange-clad jail inmates.

Her court-appointed attorney, Anthony Kraus and the Steuben County prosecutor’s office proffered the plea agreement, and Steuben Superior Court Judge William Fee took it under advisement. It calls for the minimum sentence in Indiana under the charge; the maximum is 65 years and up to a $10,000 fine.

An autopsy on Kevin Mote determined a cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head resulting from numerous strikes with an ax.

Fee briefly interviewed Mote to establish preliminary probable cause for her admission.

“You called 911 to report that you had just killed your husband with the ax?” Fee asked. Mote replied in the affirmative.

“When you struck Mr. Mote with the ax do you remember these incidents?” Fee continued. Mote said yes.

Fee then asked her if she intended to kill her husband. Again, Mote answered yes.

At the time of the arrest, officers said they did not have any concrete motive for the murder, but did have a call to the residence eight years ago for domestic violence.

Steuben County Sheriff Richard Lewis said the couple's two teen-aged kids were home at the time but they were sleeping and told officers they did not hear anything.

Kevin Mote was a maintenance employee at Cameron Memorial Hospital. A hospital spokesperson said he'd been working there since 1996. A co-worker described him as a good guy who was always willing to help out.

Kraus asked for sentencing within 30 days. Mote will be in court Dec. 20 at 8:30 a.m.

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.

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.

Debra Houser

Debra Houser

Rodney Houser Guilty of Ex’s Murder

Jurors reject lesser charges

Rebecca S. Green | The Journal Gazette

Published: May 14, 2010 3:00 a.m.

COLUMBIA CITY – Rodney Houser swore he killed his ex-wife in a sudden fit of anger. But a Whitley Circuit Court jury disagreed, convicting the 44-year-old man of murder.  After two days of dramatic testimony, almost 300 exhibits and nearly four hours of deliberation, the jury decided not to convict Houser of voluntary manslaughter.

Court-appointed defense attorney Anthony Churchward conceded at the beginning of the trial that Houser is to blame for his ex-wife’s disappearance and death last November. Churchward asked the jury to convict Houser of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter because he acted in “sudden heat” as defined by state law.

But Whitley County Prosecutor Matt Rentschler argued Houser intended all along to kill his wife and therefore committed murder, stomping her to death with a pair of cowboy boots.

Police arrested Houser the day after his ex-wife went missing, after a friend told the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department that Houser had killed 49-year-old Debra Houser at her Old Trail Road home and asked for his help in disposing of the body. Confronted by police, Houser told them his ex-wife was at work and had called his cell phone that morning at 7:30, later admitting he had made the call on her cell phone himself.

Twenty-nine days later, on Dec. 15, her battered body was discovered in a Whitley County creek by detectives acting on a tip from a farmer who thought he had seen Houser’s truck in the area the day of Debra Houser’s disappearance. An autopsy revealed she died from multiple blunt-force injuries, caused by what was later revealed to be a pair of black leather cowboy boots.

Houser took the stand on Wednesday. He said his ex-wife had provoked him to a violent rage by confronting him about his failure to be home to get their son off the school bus, throwing him out of the house, insulting his girlfriend and hitting him during the argument.

But Rentschler asked the jury whether that was enough provocation to cause an ordinary person to go into such a violent rage.

“Is that provocation?” he asked. “Even if it’s true? Don’t lower the standard to his level. … Nothing takes away our God-given choice of free will. Calling (the crime) something less than murder just doesn’t fit.”  He again played for the jury a recording of a jail-house phone conversation Houser had with his girlfriend. During the call, an obviously irritated Houser describes his ex-wife as “the curse of his life.”

“I’m happy with the world and the outcome,” Houser said on the phone. “Instead of just accepting, … I decided on my own. … For once something (expletive) happened that got (expletive) changed.”

Churchward argued that the evidence clearly showed Houser became enraged that night, demonstrated by the manner in which he killed her, using his feet.

“He used what he had at his disposal at that split second when it happened,” Churchward said.  Houser seemed passive, as he had through much of the trial, as the jury’s verdict was read.

Debra Houser’s daughter and family friends hugged and cried as the jury filed out of the courtroom.  Elaine Tuttle, a 20-year friend of Debra Houser, described her as a generous and caring person but wondered whether her desire to help other people contributed to her death.

“But that’s why we all loved her so much. You always knew you could count on her,” she said. “She was the best kind of best friend I could have had.”

After the verdict, Rentschler said he believed the taped jail conversation made a difference for the jury, allowing them to see a difference in Houser’s demeanor.

“I think the jury did a wonderful job examining the evidence,” Rentschler said.

Amber Kunkle, Debra Houser’s daughter with another man, was a constant presence at the trial, sitting directly in line with the witness chair and taking it all in.

She said her mother raised her to be a strong person, and she said she felt her presence throughout the case.  “You can’t change the past,” Kunkle said, standing in front of the Courthouse. “But you can look to the future to make it better.”

Kunkle has custody of Debra and Rodney Houser’s 10-year-old son.

The boy has asked some questions about what is going on, Kunkle said, and knows that what happened to his mother was caused by his father, which will result in a long jail term.

“For right or wrong, though, he loves his parents,” she said.

With prior felony convictions for battery to his son, invasion of privacy, stalking and intimidation, Houser could face more than 55 years in prison when he is sentenced in mid-June.

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

James Dantzler

James Dantzler

Man Faces Murder Charge In Toddler's Death

Man Says Wrestling Led To Boy's Injuries

POSTED: 2:21 pm EST December 11, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A man is expected to be charged with murder after his girlfriend's son died at an Indianapolis hospital.

Bloomington police said Christopher Bridgewater, 27, told officers that he struck James Dantzler, 3, several times while wrestling with the boy.

The boy was found unresponsive in his home Thursday and was taken by medical helicopter to Riley Hospital for Children, where he later died.

Dantzler's mother, Jessica Merryman, 30, was arrested on a charge of neglect of a dependent.

Police said Dantzler suffered numerous bruises to his neck, forehead, abdomen, chest and inside his ears.

A murder charge against Bridgewater is expected to be filed on Monday.

Also:

Jessica Merryman, 30, had been jailed in lieu of half a million dollars bond since the death of her son, James Dantzler. Merryman’s boyfriend, 27-year-old Christopher Bridgewaters, is being held in jail without bond on a charge of murder. Police allege he inflicted the injuries that resulted in the child’s death. He faces life in prison without parole.
[...]

On Dec. 15, Diekhoff denied Merryman’s request to be released so she could bury her son. Six days later, Monroe Circuit Judge Marc Kellams upheld the high bond amount and sent Merryman back to her cell.

Today, appearing with Chapman, a distraught Merryman asked Diekhoff once again to reduce her bail. This time, the judge agreed to do so. “What I’m willing to do, Mr. Chapman, is to reduce it to what an A felony bond would be since she has no previous record,” she said. Merryman’s bail is now in line with the board of judges’ bond schedule: $50,000 surety plus $1,000 cash.

Merryman’s family would have to come up with $6,000 — $5,000 for a bail bondsman plus the cash bond. She was still in jail this afternoon.
[...]

Police reported that James Dantzler had more than 50 bruises over his chest and abdomen, under his chin and on his forehead. An autopsy showed the child died from internal bleeding in his abdomen and brain.
[...]

She reportedly told police James was afraid of Bridgewaters and begged not to be left alone with him, but she left the toddler in his care anyway. She called an ambulance the afternoon of Dec. 10 when she came home and realized the boy was not breathing. He died the next day at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Additionally:

December 18, 2009

Allen Dantzler weeps for his three-year-old son James, a three-year old murdered in Bloomington. While his tears fall, Dantzler vows to attend every hearing to seek justice for his son.

"If he was too much for you, why you didn't call me and give him to me?" said Dantzler, referring to the mother of his son Jessica Merryman. Merryman now sits in jail.

"He could have been here, he would have been OK. He would have been at home and safe," he tells Fox 59 News. Merryman's boyfriend, Chris Bridgewaters, is charged with brutally beating James to death.

Reports say James had more than 50 bruises on his body with extensive internal bleeding in his head and abdomen. His mother, Jessica, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death. If convicted, she could face more than 20 years in jail, but for Allen Dantzler, that's not enough. He feels she should face stiffer charges.

"I think what he got, should be the same thing she should get," said Allen. "She let it happen."

In fact, Police say Merryman was at the house and called 911 when police responded and found James not breathing at her home. She said her boyfriend Bridgewaters was roughhousing with James.

Allen Dantzler had to make the painful decision to take his son off life support last Friday. Doctors told him his son's heart would eventually give out.

"I miss him. I miss him so much. He was a happy little guy real outgoing he loved people."

Merryman had reportedly asked to get out of jail to attend her son's funeral, but Allen Dantzler said she was lying because no service had been scheduled. This angered him along with the fact she's requesting a bond reduction (though she already only has to come up with $1000 for her current $500,000 surety).

Dantzler vows to attend every hearing for both charged in his son's death. "I'll be there," he said. "I'll be doing it for him. For James."


See Facebook page created for dear James here.

John C. Hall

John C. Hall

Man arrested for murder, setting fire

November 11, 2009

Crawfordsville - A man has been arrested for killing another man and setting him on fire.

Justin Morris, 25, was arrested for killing his mother's boyfriend, 52-year-old John Hall in her home. He reportedly the house on fire to try to cover up the crime at 1502 Payton Street Friday morning. Investigators were called to the scene after firefighters discovered Hall's body inside the burned house.

"There was something in my gut and my heart that said, 'Justin did it'," said neighbor Hailey Graves.

Graves says she knows Morris, but is still trying to figure out why he killed Hall.

"Just anger. Rage, maybe?" she said.

"There was an argument between Mr. Morris and Mr. Hall and apparently it became physical and as a result, there was some head trauma to Mr. Hall," said Crawfordsville Police Chief Kurt Knecht.

Police say Morris attacked Hall and then took him into the front bedroom of the house.

"At that point, the bedroom was intentionally set on fire," said Knecht.

Hall had left his mother's house about a month ago and he found refuge across the street.

"I was shocked. I was surprised. I was disappointed," said Graves.

People who know the family say there were no obvious signals that Morris might snap.

"To my understanding, he thought that John was a good choice for his mother," said Graves.

The investigation is still ongoing and police are hopeful more questions will be answered in the coming days.

"He just did it. I guess no one really knows," Graves said. "The only truth, Justin knows. Justin knows the truth."

Jacob Lord

Jacob Lord

Man To Be Arraigned In 2-Year-Old's Slaying

November 2, 2009

SELLERSBURG, Ind. -- An Indiana man charged with killing his ex-girlfriend's 2-year-old son will be arraigned Monday.

Police say Jacob Lord was injured after his mother dropped him off at Hensley's apartment. Lord's mother told WLKY News the boy came home covered in bruises from head-to-toe.

Lord’s mother said Hensley told her the boy had fallen from a bed. Hensley later told the boy’s mother he fell down the stairs and hit his head on the chair.

Lord's mother said her son was napping at home when he had a seizure. She brought the toddler to Scott Memorial Hospital with serious injuries on Wednesday.  He was later taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, where he died Wednesday evening.

An autopsy performed Thursday in Louisville determined Lord died of an inflicted closed head injury.  Hensley, an ex-boyfriend of Lord’s mother, was arrested at home Friday afternoon in Austin, Ind. on murder and felony battery charges. He was taken to the Scott County Jail and is awaiting his first court appearance.

"He seemed nice in front of everybody else, but every time my grandson would come over and stay with him by himself he always got hurt,” said Lord’s grandmother Joyce Bowling.

The case is still under investigation.

"As we go through this investigation, if we find anybody else that bears responsibility to the crime that's happened to this child, then we're going to be presenting to those charges to the prosecutor's office and we're going to be arresting those people too,” said ISP Sgt. Jerry Goodin.

Jamison Essick

Teenager Facing Felony Charges To Undergo Examination

September 17, 2009

(BEDFORD) - A Bedford teenager that is accused of battery that eventually led to the death of his girlfriend’s 7 month old baby is set to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

17-year-old Casey Garrsion of Bedford is facing a class B felony of aggravated assault, the charges stem from the death of Jamison Essick on July 16th of this year.

Court documents showed that Essick died of multiple skull fractures consistent with blunt force trauma. According to a report in the Times Mail, Garrison was dating Essick's mother at the time of the incident.

Garrison is set to undergo the psychiatric evaluation to determine if he will be tried as an adult, and the evaluation is set to take place sometime this afternoon.

Garrison is currently being held in the Jackson County juvenile facility, but if the case is move to adult court he will be transferred to the Lawrence County Jail.

Obituary:

Jamison A. R. Essick

Dec. 11, 2008 — July 16, 2009

Jamison Allen Ray Essick, seven-month-old son of Kaitlin “Erin” Essick and Steven Allen Tolbert, died July 16 at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.

Survivors include his mother, Kaitlin Essick and her fiance, Casey Garrison, both of Bedford; his father, Steven Tolbert, Greencastle; two grandmothers; his great-grandmother; two aunts; two uncles; several cousins and other relatives; and his caregivers, Jane Mitchell and Jean Mullis.

Memorial services will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Friendly Bible Church, 730 Pearless Road, Bedford, with Tim Jenkins officiating.

UPDATE:

Teen gets 8 years for killing baby

June 4, 2010

BEDFORD — Still grieving, still imagining she hears his cries, Jane Mitchell confronted Casey Garrison in Lawrence Superior Court II and told him of the pain and devastation .

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.

Elizabeth Lepucki

Judge hands out 65-year sentence in murder case

VALPARAISO | Mark Dunn told the court Friday his sister, Elizabeth Lepucki, had stayed with her boyfriend, John Norris, not out of love, but out of fear.

Dunn called Norris an animal and described how he mistreated Lepucki before beating her so badly June 18, 2008, that she later died.

"This court should show no compassion for this sentencing," Dunn said.

Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa sentenced Norris to the maximum 65-year sentence, but suspended 10 years to be served on formal probation upon his release from prison. The sentence can be completed in half the time with good behavior and participation in various prison programs.

Norris, a Valparaiso resident who was appointed the continued use of a public defender after announcing his plans to file an appeal, said he was sorry and that he will have to live with his girlfriend's death the rest of his life.

"Beth was my best friend," he said. "I miss Beth more than words can ever express."

A jury found Norris guilty last month of murdering Lepucki. An autopsy revealed she had 46 old and new bruises on her body and died as a result of bleeding on the brain caused by blunt force trauma to her head.

Deputy Prosecutor Tammy Gregg said Friday the evidence presented during the trial was beyond horrifying and predicted Norris would continue with his violence if released from custody.

Defense attorney Dolores Aylesworth said Norris was abandoned by his father at age 3 and lived in fear from the ages of 5 to 15 with a stepfather who drank alcohol and verbally abused with his mother.

"Tragically, cycles of abuse repeat themselves," she said.

The Rev. Leonard Dubi, of St. Victor's Catholic Church in Calumet City, spoke out on Norris' behalf.

He said Norris did a good job while working as a custodian and maintenance man and is a kind person. He asked the judge for leniency.

Dubi said he did sit through the trial and did not know all the facts in the case.

While the sentence fell short of the maximum prison time sought by prosecutors and the victim's family, Lepucki's oldest daughter, Aubrey Lepucki, of Merrillville, was not upset.

"We're just glad it's over," she said. "We hope he doesn't get far with the appeal."

Norris will be back before Alexa on June 14 to stand trial on an unrelated charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

Preliminary hearings in that case are set for April 5 and May 10.

Amanda Brinker

Amanda Brinker

Brinker, 14, Died of Blows to Back of Head

Police still don’t know motive for attack

September 22, 2007

The Madison County Coroner’s Office has officially ruled the death of 14-year-old Amanda Brinker a homicide, and the lead detective in the case said the girl was struck multiple times in the back of the head with a vehicle’s jack handle.

The Madison Count Prosecutor’s Office has asked for an extra three days to file a formal murder charge against Jesse Lee Pitts, 20, of Anderson.

Pitts, who is being held in the Madison County Jail without bond, made an initial court appearance on Friday, where Madison County Magistrate Stephen Clase read the allegations police laid out in a probable cause affidavit against him.

“Do you understand how serious this is?” Clase asked Pitts, who was dressed in a black-and-white jail jumpsuit.

“Yes,” he replied.

Pitts was soft-spoken during the brief court hearing, answering Clase in single-syllable words with his hands resting on his lap. Clase gave the prosecutor’s office until Wednesday to file the formal murder count.

According to court documents and investigators, officers received a 911 call, purportedly from Pitts, saying he had found a body floating face down in the White River at Edgewater Park off 10th Street. Along the riverbank, police found Brinker’s body, which bore severe injuries to the back of the head. Detectives found her purse and Anderson High School identification card inside a trash barrel nearby. There was blood splatter on the nearby grass and leaves along the walkway next to the river.

Detectives became suspicious of the 911 call because the body had been covered and wouldn’t have easily been seen by passers-by, police said Thursday. Investigators got a search warrant for Pitts’ home in the 1600 block of Southwood Road and found a bloody shirt inside a plastic trash bag. In a car Pitts borrowed from a roommate, they found the jack handle with hair and hair follicles on it, according to court documents.

One of Pitts’ roommates, Jennifer Lawler, told investigators that Brinker, of the 2900 block of Helms Road, called Pitts before school Thursday. Pitts borrowed Lawler’s 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier and picked Brinker up at her bus stop, several AHS students told detectives.

Pitts told detectives during questioning that he and Brinker drove to Edgewater Park. The two were walking down one of the park’s paved trails smoking marijuana when Pitts hit Brinker in the back of the head with the jack handle that he carries in his car “for protection,” according to the affidavit. Pitts said he threw Amanda down from the top of a White River riverbank, and she must have then rolled partially into the river.

Detective Terry Sollars, the lead investigator in the case, said Friday that police interviewed Pitts several times Thursday over a 7-9-hour period. He said Pitts struck Brinker multiple times in the back of the head.

Sollars said that after killing Brinker, Pitts drove back to his Southwood home and told his live-in girlfriend, 20-year-old Barbara Howard, that Brinker was hurt. The couple then went back to the park for a short period of time and returned home, where Pitts called 911.

Pitts gave investigators several different accounts of what happened, Sollars said. At one point, Pitts claimed a stranger came up behind him and Brinker as they were walking and attacked them. Pitts fled, but he saw the stranger knock Brinker to the ground.

Ultimately, however, he admitted what happened, Sollars said, but still hasn’t been completely forthcoming.

“He cooperated to his degree, but not to ours,” the detective said.

Sollars said Howard could also face charges for not being fully cooperative with investigators, but that is still under investigation. When police questioned Pitts and Howard, it “brought more questions than answers (as) to how they actually located the body,” according to Sollars’ affidavit.

“I don’t think she understood the impact until she saw the body by the river herself,” Sollars said Friday.

He said Pitts still has not told investigators why he killed Brinker.

“Robbery certainly wouldn’t have been a motive, because she only would have had a few dollars for lunch or something,” he said.

Sollars said Pitts and Brinker met through mutual friends and had known each other “a few months.” He said the exact nature of the relationship wasn’t immediately known, but it was apparently strong enough that Brinker could call Pitts up early in the morning, and he would get out of bed to meet her.

“I don’t know what that means,” Sollars said.

Attempts to reach Brinker’s family were unsuccessful on Friday.

A man who identified himself as “James” during a phone call to Pitts’ residence said Howard didn’t want to talk and told a Herald Bulletin reporter to “lose this (phone) number.”

Elijah Harris

Hammond couple charged in toddler's beating death

July 31, 2007 (WLS) -- A Northwest Indiana couple is charged in connection with the beating death of a toddler.

Twenty-three-month-old Elijah Harris died last Thursday after suffering traumatic brain injuries at a home in Hammond.  The child's mother, 29-year-old Angela Burgher , and the boy's stepfather, Dennis Burgher, each face four counts of child neglect.  Investigators say the toddler also had scalding burns on his body.

The mother and stepfather remained in custody Tuesday night.

Also:

CROWN POINT | Angela Burgher unfolded a crinkled piece of yellow paper Wednesday and read her apology for the circumstances leading up to her son's death.

The East Chicago woman's son, Elijah Harris, died in July 2007 of severe trauma to the head. He would have celebrated his second birthday a month later.

"I'm sorry to my children for not making better choices and decisions for them," Burgher said Wednesday in a shaky voice.

Burgher was sentenced Wednesday to an agreed term of 10 years in prison for felony child neglect that led to Elijah's death.

The 21-year-old woman, who also has another child, pleaded guilty in April in return for Lake County prosecutors dropping five other felony charges that included battery and neglect of a dependent.

Burgher admitted to watching her husband, Dennis Burgher, strike her son, Lake Criminal Court records show. She said she also noticed blisters and burns on Elijah's body but didn't do anything to get him help.

Angela Burgher also admitted she heard a "thump" while getting ready for work and found Elijah's body crumpled on the basement floor with Dennis Burgher standing nearby.

Dennis Burgher told her Elijah fell down the stairs, court records state. Angela Burgher left for work as usual.

Emergency responders to the Burghers' home said they found bruises to Elijah's forehead, lesions on both sides of his neck and untreated second-degree burns to his buttocks and groin. He wasn't breathing at the time, police said.

Both Burgher and her now estranged husband, Dennis, were charged with multiple felonies relating to Elijah's death.

Dennis Burgher, who was Elijah's stepfather, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony neglect of a dependent.

He admitted to failing to seek medical attention for Elijah after he saw the little boy's injuries. Dennis Burgher did not admit to any abuse or violence.