JURY CONVICTS ALAN JONES OF MURDERING ERIN MAXWELL

 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/jury_convicts_alan_jones_of_mu.html

By Douglass Dowty

September 24, 2009, 4:15PM

Oswego, NY — An Oswego County jury has found Alan Jones guilty of murdering his stepsister, Erin Maxwell, by strangling her with a rope last August in Palermo.

As the verdict was announced, Jones’ head collapsed into his right arm. It was the most emotion he had shown during the 3-week trial in Oswego County Court. His mother, Lynn Maxwell, cried as she reached over the barrier from the gallery to console him.

“I love you,” Lynn Maxwell told him. “It’s just the start. We’ll appeal it.”

When the court clerk asked if all the jurors agreed with the guilty verdict, they all answered “yes” together.

The jury of 12 men said they believed Jones, 28, tightened the green rope around the 11-year-old girl’s neck, causing her death.

District Attorney Donald Dodd said he was convinced Jones knows what happened that day.

“I know that Erin Maxwell is in heaven, with all that young girl had to endure,” the district attorney said. “The defendant will get truly what he deserves.”

Defense lawyer Salvatore Lanza said he expected a guilty verdict, but said it would be appealed. “We knew if this happened, we were going to appeal it,” Lanza said. “The jury did what they could do. The jury worked very hard.”

The prosecution’s case before County Court Judge Walter Hafner centered on an autopsy that declared Maxwell was strangled, not hanged as Jones had claimed.

Former Chief Onondaga County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Jumbelic testified that rope marks on Maxwell’s neck were caused by a strangulation. She said they were too low, too horizontal and too symmetrical on the girl’s neck to be a hanging.

In hangings, Jumbelic said that the rope would have slid up her neck to the chin and would have been nearly vertical because the suspension point would have been above the girl. They would not have been symmetrical because her head would have fallen to one side after she lost consciousness.

Dodd called Jones’ story about finding Maxwell hanging from a screw in her room “not worthy of belief” during closing arguments. He also pointed out apparent inconsistencies in Jones’ four statements to police after Maxwell was found unresponsive in her bedroom.

The district attorney prosecuted Jones under the theory he acted with depraved indifference by recklessly tightening a rope around Maxwell’s neck, causing her death.

This means the jury did not find that he intentionally killed Maxwell, but acted with such disregard to her life that he was guilty of murder.

 

MORE ON ERIN MAXWELL’S STORY

 

http://topics.syracuse.com/tag/Erin%20Maxwell/index.html

FATHER SUES FRESNO CO. OVER SON’S DEATH

 

He says Child Protective Services failed boy, 10, who was fatally beaten.

 

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1635221.html

By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee

The father of Seth Ireland, the 10-year-old boy who police said died after he was repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped by his mother’s boyfriend, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Fresno County.

Fresno attorney Warren Paboojian filed the suit Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court on behalf of Joe Hudson.

The bare-bones suit is four pages long and makes several allegations of negligence against Fresno County’s Child Protective Services.

Paboojian declined to comment on the lawsuit, and Catherine Huerta, director of Fresno County Children and Family Services, declined to comment because she has not seen the suit.

Besides Fresno County, the suit also names Rena Ireland, Seth’s mother, but she is not being sued and her inclusion is because wrongful-death lawsuits must include all known heirs.

Crime and courts coverage Seth Ireland died Jan. 6, which police say was eight days after he was beaten and kicked inside his southwest Fresno home.

Rena Ireland, 41, has been charged with child abuse. Her 33-year-old boyfriend, LeBaron Vaughn, who has confessed to beating Seth, has been charged with murder. They are both in Fresno County Jail.

Hudson’s lawsuit says that Seth was a client of Child Protective Services. It says agency officials received “repeated reports of abuse and were given evidence of abuse” of Seth. But, the suit says, the county failed to protect the child and did not remove him from the home and away from Vaughn.

The reported instances of abuse occurred between June 1, 2008, and Seth’s death.

The suit also says the county “intentionally and/or negligently failed to allow [Hudson] to see his dying son in the hospital for an extended period of time after the fatal beating and before the child’s death.”

At the time of Seth’s death, Huerta said her office began looking at the family at the end of August. Hudson had expressed concerns that his son was being beaten, she said at the time.

Police also said Rena Ireland watched the beatings.

The reporter can be reached at jellis@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6320.

FOSTER MOTHER CHARGED

 

By DARCIE LORENO Tribune Chronicle

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/527212.html?nav=5021

WARREN – More than five months after the death of 21-month-old Tiffany Sue Banks, her foster mother was charged with her murder.

Bonnie Pattinson, 31, of Newton Falls, was indicted Friday by a Trumbull County grand jury on charges of murder and felonious assault in Banks’ death and was issued $1 million bond.

“We’re glad she’s arrested,” said Banks’ biological grandmother, Loretta Banks. “We’ve been waiting too long for this.”

Pattinson appeared before Judge Peter Kontos in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Friday afternoon. She was upset and cried at points during the arraignment. She’ll be back in court Oct. 1.

On April 2, Pattinson reported finding Tiffany not breathing after checking on her while the girl was napping at their 663 Center St. W. duplex in Champion. Pattinson and her husband, William, since have moved to Newton Falls.

Pattinson ran next door, a neighbor performed CPR and police were called, according to police reports.

Officer said the toddler was unresponsive and blue with marks on her body. The marks were not caused by medical treatment and intervention during the call, police reports state.

Banks died as a result of asphyxiation associated with multiple blunt traumatic injuries, according to her death certificate.

CSB had taken custody of Tiffany, who would have been 2 June 27, at birth, declaring her mother, Felicia, unfit. Felicia Banks, Loretta Banks, and Tiffany’s father, Tommy Cross, visited the baby weekly until Felicia formally lost custody in November.

They previously said she always seemed healthy. But they were concerned at Banks’ funeral when they saw bruises and marks on her body.

The baby’s death was ruled a homicide in late July.

Marcia Tiger, Trumbull County Children Services executive director, said Friday, “We’ll let the legal system run its course. We cooperated and will continue to cooperate with police and prosecutors.”

She also said it’s also been a long wait for CSB.

“We’re pleased,” she said. “We don’t know when things are turned over to the prosecutor what’s going to happen.”

dloreno@tribtoday.com

WOMAN ACCUSED IN 2 DEATHS GUILTY IN ABUSE CASE

 

(AP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gm46A06fn_i-88M5SDFvuPC7YvoAD9ALA1VG0

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — A Maryland woman accused of killing two of her adopted daughters and keeping their bodies in a freezer for months has pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse involving a third girl.

Renee Bowman, 44, entered the plea Friday in Calvert County Circuit Court and could receive up to 25 years in prison.

The charge involves a girl adopted by Bowman who was found wandering in her neighborhood after jumping from a window in September 2008.

The child, then 7, had a bloodstained nightshirt and sores and lesions over much of her body. Authorities say they subsequently searched Bowman’s house and found the frozen remains.

Bowman faces separate first-degree murder charges in the deaths of the other two girls. That trial is set to start Nov. 9.

FREMONT FOSTER FATHER TESTIFIES IN OWN MURDER TRIAL

 

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_13301675

By Ben Aguirre Jr.

Oakland Tribune

Posted: 09/09/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

Updated: 09/10/2009 07:10:38 AM PDT

HAYWARD — Murder suspect Terry Corder, the Fremont man charged with killing 2-year-old foster child Dylan James George in October 2004, took the stand Wednesday and is expected to continue his testimony today.

Corder, 45, is one of the last witnesses to testify before defense attorney Barbara Thomas and prosecutor Elgin Lowe deliver their closing arguments in the trial.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Roy Hashimoto said Wednesday that he plans to give jury instructions next week for the charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, as well as lesser crimes.

Corder is on trial for murder and assault on a child causing death after prosecutors said that the foster father beat Dylan on Oct. 2, 2004, partly because the boy refused to eat.

Dylan died Oct. 4, 2004, after being placed on life support at Children’s Hospital Oakland.

A pathologist said Dylan died from blunt trauma to the head, although Corder’s attorney has disputed that cause of death during the trial.

Corder took the stand for about an hour Wednesday during an abbreviated session at the Hayward Hall of Justice. He spent most of the time debunking the testimony of his wife, Sherrie Corder. However, he has not yet discussed what happened Oct. 2, 2004.

At one time, his wife also was charged with murder in the case, but she accepted a plea agreement in exchange for her testimony. She has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and will be sentenced to four or six years in prison at the conclusion of her husband’s trial.

Sherrie Corder has testified about her relationship with her husband, as well as the events that have been attributed to the boy’s death.

She said her husband often became abusive when he was drinking alcohol, and at one time was a cocaine addict.

Sherrie Corder also said that her husband defrauded San Mateo County about a decade ago by faking a back injury while he worked as a janitor at a county hospital. From that injury, Terry Corder received a large sum of money that he spent on personal items as well as a family trip to Disneyland, Sherrie Corder testified.

On Wednesday, Terry Corder testified that he was never addicted to cocaine, and was not faking his back injury. “I have two fused discs in my back,” he testified.

He went on to say that the large sum of money his wife spoke of was really cash he withdrew from his retirement fund to help her start her day-care business.

CHIEF CHECK CASHER IN $5M DSS SCHEME GETS 8 YEARS

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/233/story/937200.html

By MEG KINNARD

Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. The man federal authorities have called the ringleader of a scheme to defraud the South Carolina social services agency out of more than $5 million was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison.

Jonathan Moses, 42, was sentenced in federal court in Columbia, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said.

About two dozen people have been accused of helping former Department of Social Services finance director Paul Moore embezzle the money between May 2004 and October 2008, and many have pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors have said Moses recruited people to cash the checks and gave their names to Moore, who then would have fraudulent checks made out to the recruits, for about $7,000 each. Prosecutors say the recruits then cashed the checks, kept a portion of the money and gave the rest back to Moses and Moore.

In all, Wilkins has said he suspects hundreds were recruited to cash the checks.

In June, Moses pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, theft of federal program funds and money laundering. He had faced up to 10 years in prison, but prosecutors had asked for a lesser sentence – about five years – because Moses has helped identify other check cashers.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie sentenced him to eight years.

“Stealing money from DSS that could have been used to help the needy and underprivileged is reprehensible,” Wilkins said. “These guilty pleas affirm our office’s commitment to prosecute those who illegally line their pockets with public dollars.”

Moses’ attorney, Johnny Gasser, declined to comment on his client’s sentence but did say the defense team may ask for a new one because of his “extensive and extraordinary cooperation in this matter.”

On Wednesday, Wilkins said Moses admitted to cashing six fraudulent DSS checks and to recruiting about 15 others, who then recruited hundreds of other check-cashers.

Moore is charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. Authorities say he requested about 750 checks cut from Treasury Department funds from 2004 to 2008, although Moore has admitted to distributing only 200 checks, for a total of $1.3 million, saying he spent money he got back on alcohol, gambling and strippers.

But prosecutors say a Social Services audit showed $5.5 million missing from the agency – money they say Moore took, although only $5.2 million of that money was actually cashed.

Moore has pleaded not guilty, but his attorney has said Moore is planning to change his plea once he can agree with prosecutors on the amount taken from the agency. He is set to have a pretrial conference next month.

TODDLER’S DEATH A HOMICIDE, AUTOPSY FINDS

 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/toddlers-death-a-homicide-autopsy-finds.html?obref=obinsite

September 5, 2009 12:15 PM

The death of a 20-month-old Sauk Village girl at a home in Phoenix earlier this week was ruled a homicide after an autopsy Friday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said this morning that Daneah Cousins, of the 1600 block of East 223rd Street, was in the care of a babysitter when police responded to the Phoenix home.

“Our investigation is against another perpetrator,” said Kendall Marlowe, the spokesman. The woman who was babysitting Cousins is the foster mother of two other children who were removed from her care.

“The children were placed in another foster home, only as a precautionary measure,” he said. “There are no allegations of harm to the foster children.”

Daneah was pronounced dead at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. The medical examiner’s office concluded she died from head injuries caused by blunt trauma due to child abuse.

The girl was found in a home in the 700 block of East 155th Court in Phoenix, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Phoenix police could not be reached for comment.

– Kristen Mack and Andrew L. Wang

PARENTAL RIGHTS VIOLATION…BIG TIME, MOM PICKS UP DAUGHTER ON HORSE, SCHOOL BALKS

Mom Picks Up Daughter On Horse, School Balks

 

by Amy Hatch (RSS feed) Sep 5th 2009 7:12PM

http://www.parentdish.com/2009/09/05/mom-picks-up-daughter-on-horse-school-balks/

A Florida mom tried to rein in a new school-dismissal policy — literally.

A new parking policy at Crystal Springs Elementary School in Jacksonville, Fla., requires parents to wait in line, inside their cars, while the students are released one-by-one. Fed up, one mom showed up on horseback, citing fuel costs and time spent waiting as the reason for her four-legged mode of transportation.

“I don’t have the funds in my budget to sit in lines for an hour to two and a half hours to wait for my daughter,” said the woman, identified only as Deidre by news station WJXT.

Deidre, who said she and her daughter often ride horses together, was prevented from taking the child home and was ushered off the property by police.

“Our first priority is the safety of our children, and during our arrival/dismissal, their safety is first and foremost a priority on campus,” said Principal Jaime Johnson, according to WJXT.

Deirdre said Johnson refused to release her daughter, and in fact, pulled the girl back from her mother. “(Johnson) would not turn loose of my daughter’s hand,” Deidre told WJXT.

The principal stated that she did not think it was safe for the child to ride on horseback through the streets around the school, many of which are under construction.

Instead, a police officer drove the girl home, where she waited alone until her mother arrived.

Should the school have released the girl to her mother on horseback?

 

YES!  The school has no right to interfere in the parent/child relationship, if the parent thinks that it is safe…then it is not the school’s place to question them.

Look at what happened here…the Principal, physically restrained this child, actually pulling her back.  Refused to release this child to her legal parent, who’s rights are guaranteed under the constitution of this country.  Then the police drove this 8 year old child home and LEFT HER THERE ALONE….Safety for this child was not the reason for this action…this was a power trip by the school and the police department and if I was this mother, I would SUE!

A GRANDMOTHER’S SAD TALE OF GRIEF

 

Cleveland County parents held in death of toddler

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/928884.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=7611499#Comments_Container

By Joe DePriest

jdepriest@charlotteobserver.com

 

Kathy Jean Swafford kisses her hand and then places it over the grave of her grandson, 2-year-old Jeremiah Swafford, a victim of child abuse.

The frequent vision seems all too real to Kathy Jean Swafford: her only grandson comes back from the grave.

Jeremiah Swafford, who was beaten to death in February at age 2, tells her about the abuse he suffered and whispers he’s OK now, the hurt is gone.

For Kathy Jean Swafford, those imagined words of comfort don’t ease the loss of a child she considered her own. New details of his death in a recently released autopsy report have made things worse.

“Jeremiah had bruises we didn’t see,” said Swafford, 39, who lives in southern Cleveland County. “I figured the report would be bad and it was. Nobody can imagine the pain this brings.”

Jeremiah’s mother, Kathy Lynn Swafford, 21, and her husband, Dwight Stacy Justice, 42, remain in the Cleveland County Detention Center under $200,000 bond each. They’re awaiting trial on charges of felony child abuse and murder. Both have criminal records and there’s a history of drug abuse.

Kathy Jean Swafford hopes Jeremiah’s case will raise public awareness of the state’s child abuse problem. Last year, 25 children died from child abuse in North Carolina. In 2007, there were more than 120,500 reported cases of child abuse and violence, according to Prevent Child Abuse of North Carolina Inc.

Authorities said that on Feb. 13 the Cleveland County EMS responded to the apartment near Shelby where Kathy Lynn Swafford and Justice lived after a caller reported that Jeremiah was sick.

The toddler died at Carolinas Medical Center on Valentine’s Day. Mecklenburg’s medical examiner said the cause was blunt trauma to the head, a result of physical assault or abuse.

The autopsy noted bruises and punctures on the child’s chest, arms and legs. There was a blue-green discoloration of the abdomen and a six-inch fracture on the left side of the skull.

According to the report, Jeremiah suffered “diffuse brain swelling with beginning of brain herniation” and was bleeding from his nose, mouth and around his rectum.

“The mother reported to authorities that the stepfather would often ‘be mean’ to the child and this included hitting him and causing bruises,” according to the autopsy. “She stated that he may have slammed his head against an arm of the chair the night before.”

Kathy Jean Swafford said family members had contacted police and social services in the past to get help because they suspected the toddler was being abused.

‘My first grandbaby’

Jeremiah’s case stirred outrage and criticism of the Cleveland County Department of Social Services. A report released by DSS in late February showed social workers were unable to substantiate allegations of abuse during a five-week investigation. The report detailed an escalating pattern of contact between investigators and the family, and said DSS was planning to close the case as “unsubstantiated” when the 2-year-old died.

Swafford continues to criticize DSS and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office for the way the case was handled.

“Jeremiah was my first grandbaby. I named him,” Swafford said. “I feel like the system let him down and I want justice.”

Cleveland County Assistant District Attorney Bill Young said Kathy Lynn Swafford and Justice probably won’t stand trial before spring 2010. Both say they’re innocent.

Justice’s lawyer, Ted Cummings of Hickory, said Justice “is doing well under the circumstances.

“He’s got a lot of support from his family and friends,” Cummings said. “He’s a very religious person and is satisfied that the truth will set him free.”

Getting at truth

Swafford’s attitude toward her daughter reflects anger, frustration and natural parental concern. At first, they had no contact. Then Swafford decided to go to the county jail for a visit. As she stood in line, she had time to think about their first meeting.

“The more I thought, the madder I got,” she said. She turned around and left.

Mother and daughter have yet to meet in person. But in time, the daughter began calling and writing, asking about relatives, mentioning a new interest in the Bible, describing weight loss and sleepless nights. One morning, she said, Jeremiah visited the jail cell.

The toddler is always on the young mother’s mind, Kathy Jean Swafford said.

“She’s still saying she didn’t do it,” she said. “I’m hoping and praying to God she didn’t. But she was there when it happened and should have been looking after him.”

Getting at the truth is hard.

“I’m talking to the Lord to show me the way,” Swafford said. “I’m supposed to love my daughter no matter what. I can’t turn my back on her.”

Swafford said the family can’t afford to make bond for her daughter. Meanwhile, she’s circulating a petition to withdraw the bond for Justice.

This summer, she put a heart-shaped marker on Jeremiah’s grave. She visits the small church cemetery in southern Cleveland County several times a week. People think she’s crazy, Swafford said, but she sits down talks to her grandson.

“I tell him I love and miss him,” she said. “I tell him I wish I could change what happened.”

MAN FACES ABUSE CHARGES

 

Incidents alleged to have occurred at Children’s Home

 

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/05/man-faces-abuse-charges/news-local/

By John Hinton | Journal Reporter

Published: September 5, 2009

A former administrator at the Children’s Home in Winston-Salem was charged yesterday with five counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, authorities said.

John Duncan Ammons, 62, of Statesville was accused to taking indecent liberties with a child at the Children’s Home on Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem police said.

Police received a report on April 15 from the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services alleging that a 9-year-old girl had been sexually abused.

Ammons is accused of molesting the girl from January 2006 to December 2008, an arrest warrant says.

The girl has never been a resident of the Children’s Home, police said. The girl was molested at Ammons’ house, which was on the campus.

Ammons worked as a director of planned giving and as a vice president of church relations at the Children’s Home. He retired from his jobs there May 13.

Lt. David Kiger of the Winston-Salem Police Department said that the girl, who lives in the Charlotte area, gave investigators a statement about what happened to her.

Ammons had worked at the Children’s Home for 39 years, but he did not have direct contact with the children there, said George Bryan, the home’s president and chief executive officer.

“We are just sitting here very shocked that this happened to this particular person who was a longtime employee,” Bryan said. “The thing that is troubling about this is that our home helps children who have been abused and neglected.”

The Children’s Home, founded by the Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church, opened in 1909 on the site of a former military academy. It sits on 212 acres off Reynolda Road.

Ammons came to the Children Home as a young boy in 1958 and grew up there, Bryan said.

The Children’s Home was an orphanage between 1909 and the 1980s. Since then, it has offered residential programs for children and their families, foster care, community counseling and adoption services.

Ammons turned himself in at the Forsyth County magistrate’s office, police said. He was being held in the Forsyth County Jail. His bond was set at $60,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 25.

■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com