The killing of Donna Slater: an update

Pascagoula, Mississippi, July 8, 2009 - Further to my earlier posts about the arrest of Johnny Townsend and Joe Loggins on charges of the death by stabbing of 46-year-old Donna Slater on March 5, 2009, the Associated Press reports that a third person, Nancy Scott, has been arrested and charged with her murder. Ms Slater, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair, was found dead on the kitchen floor of her home. She had been stabbed in the neck during an apparent robbery.

For earlier reports, see WKRG-TV and here.

Arrest made in the murder of Chicago Heights woman 16 years ago

Chicago Heights, Illinois, July 7, 2009 - Police have arrested 45-year-old Van Buren Hutchinson on charges of murdering and raping 25-year-old Jeanette Reeves, a disabled woman who went missing in December 1992 from Chicago Heights and was found dead in April 1993 in the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan. As reported by the Southtown Star, Hutchinson, a private contractor who became a suspect in 1995, was arrested in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday and is being held in a South Bend jail. According to a detective with Michigan's Allegan County sheriff's office, Hutchinson is refusing extradition from Indiana to Michigan.

The story in full is here.

Attempted murder charges

Salem, Massachusetts, July 6, 2009 - According to the Associated Press, Kristen LaBrie, who is accused of witholding life saving cancer treatment from her dying son, Jeremy, who was autistic, was charged on Friday with attempted murder and other related charges. From the article:

LaBrie's son, Jeremy, was 9 when he died in March. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2006.

Prosecutors say LaBrie canceled at least a dozen appointments for chemotherapy treatment and did not fill at least half the prescriptions her son had been given.

As reported in the Boston Globe, Ms LaBrie, who had custody of Jeremy between October 2006 and February 2008, was arrested on Sunday night, and was scheduled to be arraigned yesterday.

Jeremy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006. He died days after his father, Eric Fraser, took him to a hospice.

If convicted of attempted murder, LaBrie faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison.

Guardian charged with beating death of 12-year-old boy

Update: According to this report in the Chicago Tribune, A Will County judge has set Kevin Johnson's bail at $5 million. Authorities say no other family members showed up Friday for the bond hearing for 43-year-old Fred Johnson II, who is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery of a child and unlawful restraint in the beating death of Kevin Johnson.

Crete, Nebraska, USA - According to the Chicago Tribune, Fred D. Johnson 11, 43, was charged last Thursday (May 15) with fatally beating 12-year-old Kevin Johnson, his adopted son, over three days in July last year. Kevin Johnson, who was intellectually disabled, died on July 20, two days after he was taken to hospital unconscious.

According to the charges, Fred Johnson struck Kevin on his head and body between July 15 and 18, causing the boy's death. Fred Johnson is also accused of tying the boy to a bed frame with straps.

According to the article, at the time of Kevin's death, Fred Johnson, who took custody with his wife of Kevin and his three brothers after their adoptive parents died, was being investigated by the Dept. of Children and Family Services because of allegations of abuse. He has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery of a child and unlawful restraint. He was also charged with criminal neglect of a person with a disability for allegedly not taking one of Kevin Johnson's brothers to a doctor for needed medical attention, said a spokesman for the state attorney's office.

After Kevin's death, his brothers were removed from Fred Johnson and his wife's care, along with five other children. They are now in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

The full story can be read here.

Plea of reckless homicide in connection with daughter's death

Lebanon, Indianapolis, USA - According to the Indy Star, Elizabeth Fairfield has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the 2007 death by of her 14-year-old daughter, Brittany Fairfield, who died from overdosing on pain medication.

The agreement calls for Elizabeth Fairfield, 38, to be sentenced to time served, released from jail and placed on two years of probation after her hearing May 18 in Boone Superior Court, defense attorney Thomas Farlow said.

Fairfield on Friday admitted failing to secure medication from her 14-year-old daughter, Brittany, Farlow said. In exchange for Fairfield's guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of murder and neglect of a dependent. Murder carries a maximum prison sentence of 65 years, neglect a maximum of 20 years.

As conveyed at this blog in earlier posts, Brittany, who had Down syndrome, was found dead in the family's home on June 14, 2007. The coroner later ruled that she had died from an overdose.

Ms Fairfield has been in jail since a grand jury indicted her in November.

An earlier report is here.

Beating death of toddler

Wildwood, New Jersey - 31-year-old Damian Garcia Rodriguez was arrested last Thursday and charged on Friday with beating to death 2-year-old Caden Rivera, who had cerebral palsy. According to the Star Ledger, Rodriguez was babysitting Caden at the home of his girlfriend Jennifer Bowen, who is also Caden's mother.

When the boy's mother, Jennifer Bowen, came home, she saw that her son was unconscious and turning blue.

Bowen and Garcia Rodriguez took him to Cape May Regional Medical Center, where he died Thursday from a blunt force trauma injury to the abdomen, an autopsy revealed.

Garcia is being held without bail in prison.

See also Toddler beaten to death in Woodbine

Second Baltimore preacher charged with homicide

Baltimore, Maryland, USA - Following last Friday's news that 32-year-old Kevin Pushia, a Baltimore preacher, had been charged with killing 37-year-old Lemuel Wallce, who was blind and developmentally disabled, so he could collect his life insurance, the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday that another Baltimore preacher, 31-year-old James Omar Clea has been arrested and charged in connection with his killing; he is suspected of been involved in hiring a hit man to kill Mr Wallace:

Baltimore police, in conjunction with South Carolina law enforcement officials, arrested James Omar Clea III, 31, of the 2800 block of Bookert Drive in Cherry Hill about 3 p.m. at a hotel in Orangeburg, S.C. Clea, who was charged with first-degree murder, is suspected of being involved in hiring a hit man to kill Lemuel Wallace, who was last seen alive Feb. 4, according to police.

Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police are investigating Clea's involvement in the killing, as it is unclear who fired the bullet that killed Wallace.

As reported by United Press International last Friday, Mr Wallace was found with gunshot wounds to his head and back on Feb. 4 in a public Baltimore bathroom. Kevin Pushia, who was an ARC of Baltimore volunteer responsible for his care, has been charged with taking out life insurance policies on Wallace adding up to nearly one million dollars and then paying to have him murdered.

According to WBAL TV a bail review for Pushia was postponed yesterday (Monday) because he is currently undergoing medical treatment in jail for unknown reasons. The man hired to kill Mr Wallace has not been identified.

The killing of Donna Slater: an update

Grange Grove, Texas - Further to my post of March 10 about the stabbing death of 46-year-old Donna Slater, WKRG-TV has reported that 44-year-old Johnny Lee Townsend and 41 year old Joe Anthony Loggins have been charged with her murder. According to the report, Ms Slater, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair, knew her killers and them into her house; their intention, it is said, was robbery:

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd didn't say what led to their arrests, but he did say, "She (Slater) knew them and they were let into the house."

Byrd believes the two may have done some work around (Slater's) house in the past. When asked if Townsend and Loggins have prior criminal records, Byrd said, "They do, but I'm not at liberty to disclose that."

The sheriff said both were on probation, but wouldn't say for what. Byrd said, "Robbery was the intent here, the motive. I can't go into anything else other than the murder took place after the robbery."

Authorities said Slater's purse was stolen and later found on a nearby road.

Townsend and Loggins, who appeared before a judge last Thursday, were denied bond and are both being held in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center.

Ms Slater, who lived in the home with her teenage son, whom her parents now hope to raise, was found by her father, who lives next door.

An earlier report is here.

Homicide at Denton State School

Denton, Texas (May 16) - The death on Friday (May 13) of a 53-year-old woman living at the Denton State School for adults with developmental disabilities has been ruled a homicide, according to the Associated Press. Janice Campbell died in a Fort Worth hospital of a closed head injury suffered on March 3 after being pushed by another resident and falling on the floor. According to a state official, the incident was an accident.

According to the Denton Record Chronicle, the incident will be investigated by the aging and disability department and the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, which would decide if a local law enforcement investigation is necessary.

The state is considering a major overhaul of the state school system after an investigation last year found hundreds of cases of abuse and neglect, including at Denton.

Danieal Kelly update

Philadelphia, PA - The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the preliminary hearing for Danieal Kelly's mother, Andrea Kelly, and Julius Murray, a child welfare worker, both of whom who have been charged with homicide in connection with Danieal's death, resumed yesterday before a Philadelphia judge.

Prosecutors are expected to take today and tomorrow to present evidence to convince Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan that Kelly, 39, and Julius Juma Murray, 51, a private child welfare caseworker assigned to ensure that the Kelly family received needed services, should be tried on homicide charges in the death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly.

As reported in an earlier post by FRIDA, Andrea Kelly is charged with murder in connection with the death by thirst, starvation and neglect of Danieal, aged 14, who had cerebral palsy. Murray, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, worked for a private social services company under contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. He was assigned to visit the Kelly house and ensure Danieal was safe but prosecutors allege that his visits were so rare Danieal's siblings did not know who he was.

Although nine people were charged in connection with Danieal Kelly's death, only Andrea Kelly and Murray are having preliminary hearings. Lawyers for Andrea Kelly and Murray argued that they deserved the right to a preliminary hearing because they, unlike other defendants, were charged with homicide.

For earlier reports, see:

Parents charged in starvation death sue Philly
A Timeline of Neglect
9 charged in starvation death of teen

Missing Colarado teen's body has been found

Colorado Springs, Colorado - KKTV reports that the body of 19-year-old Judilianna Lawrence, an African American teenager with learning disabilities who has been missing since Friday morning, has been found on Old Stage Road. Known as "Judi" to her friends and family, authorities have arrested 21-year-old Robert Marko, a Fort Carson solider whom Ms Lawrence met through Myspace, in connection with her death. Marko is presently in the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office with-out bond.

Rest in peace, Judilianna.

See also: Learning-Disabled Teen Missing; Soldier Named 'Person of Interest'