Candler death ruled a homicide

11-28-2012 North Carolina:

CANDLER — Buncombe County investigators have determined that a man found dead in a wooded area last week is the victim of a homicide, Lt. Randy Sorrells said Tuesday.

The Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in learning more about the death of Thomas Curtis Reese, 29, who was visiting the Asheville area from Florida.

“Sheriff’s investigators have talked with witnesses who saw Reese and companions in the West Asheville and Candler area prior to his death,” Sorrells said. “The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who had any contact with Thomas Reese or may have seen him in the Asheville area to please call investigators.”

Residents cleaning up their property on Carrion Lane in Candler found the body around 11:45 a.m. Friday near the edge of their property line and called authorities. The Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and later deemed it a “a suspicious death investigation,” but declined to discuss the condition of the body when it was found.

Family members of Reese could not be reached for comment.

An autopsy was performed Monday, but Sorrells declined to release the cause of death. He also declined to talk about other details of the investigation, including whether authorities had a suspect. He said investigators were not aware of any disturbance in the area before the call from residents.

Seeking info

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Walt Thrower at 250-4449 or Crimestoppers at 255-5050.

Reese had a criminal history. He was a registered sex offender in Florida. He was convicted of sexual battery on a girl younger than 16 in June 2001, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

He committed burglary and grand theft in November 1999, according to online records from the Florida Department of Corrections. He was also charged with resisting an officer with violence in September 2000 and attempted burglary in January 2001.

He was incarcerated twice, according to online records. He was in prison from July 2001-January 2003 and again from December 2003-May 2010. ..Source.. by Citizen-Times.com

Inmate killed in prison fight

11-7-2012 Ohio:

A former Massillon man serving a life sentence for raping a young girl was killed Tuesday night during a fight with his cellmate at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.

No charges have been filed in the case, which is being investigated by the Ohio Highway Patrol and the state’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Authorities say Robert Parr, 62, was unresponsive when security guards found him inside his cell at 10:10 p.m. Tuesday. He was rushed to Mansfield MedCentral Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:59 p.m. by the Richland County Coroner’s Office, said Lt. Anne Ralston, Highway Patrol spokeswoman. An autopsy is expected to be performed today, a Coroner’s Office spokesman said.

The suspect’s name is being withheld because he has not been charged, Ralston said. There is no timetable for the completion of the investigation. The Highway Patrol handles all criminal investigations on state-owned property. Ralston said the agency is cooperating with the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office on the case.

“We are gathering all the information and processing evidence,” she said.

The cellmate was the only other person in the cell with Parr. No details of the incident are being released due to the pending investigation, Ralston said.

JoEllen Smith, public information officer for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, declined to comment on the status of the other inmate involved in the altercation.

“We’re not releasing anything. This is both a criminal and an administrative investigation to make sure officers were conducting their appropriate rounds,” Smith said.

Smith said corrections officers are required to complete rounds every 30 minutes on staggered intervals. Mansfield is rated a closed security prison, one step lower than a maximum security facility. The prison houses 2,500 inmates.

Parr, formerly of 514 Tremont Ave. SW, pleaded guilty to two first-degree felony rape charges in March 2007 in Stark County Common Pleas Court, according to court records. Parr received a life sentence but was eligible to apply for parole after serving 10 years. Judge Charles Brown also designated Parr a sexual predator. Parr was charged with sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl between August 2002 and September 2006 at a home in Canton. ..Source.. by Corrections Special Ops

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OH inmate dies after fight with cellmate

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say an inmate has died after a fight with his cellmate at a prison in northern Ohio.

The State Highway Patrol said Wednesday that staff at the Mansfield Correctional Institution found 62-year-old Robert Parr in his cell shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday. Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Anne Ralston says Parr was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead about an hour later.

The cause of death has not been released.

Ralston says no details of the fight have been released and no charges have been filed. She says the cellmate was the only other person in the cell with Parr.

Ralston says Parr entered the prison in 2007 after his conviction on rape charges. He was serving a sentence of 10 years to life. ..Source.. by WFMJ.com

Big Bend murder suspect says brother sexually assaulted him

11-7-2012 California:

A Big Bend man who told sheriff's investigators he shot his younger brother twice in the back of the head with a .22- caliber rifle because he had been sexually assaulting and abusing him was formally charged with murder Wednesday.

His alleged co-conspirator was arraigned on identical charges stemming from the fatal shooting early Saturday morning of Sonny Moss Potts, 27.

Noah Ryan Potts, 28, and co-defendant Colin Horn Kennedy, 25, pleaded not guilty through their attorneys to felony counts of murder and conspiracy during their arraignments in Shasta County Superior Court.

A Shasta County sheriff's summary of the case filed with the court said Noah Potts told detectives his younger brother got out of prison about a year ago and has sexually assaulted him on a few occasions since.

Potts said his brother would pin him against a wall and grab his genitals against his will, the sheriff's report said.

He told deputies that on the night of the shooting Sonny Potts gave him a hug, grabbed his genitals and told him that he would be his "b---h" for the night.

The Record Searchlight does not identify sexual assault victims under normal circumstances. The newspaper is reporting Noah Potts' allegations of abuse because they are at the heart of his case and potentially central to any defense.

According to the sheriff's summary, Noah Potts told detectives he and Kennedy had hatched a plan to kill his brother while they were out poaching deer.

"Noah told us when they went out looking for deer (and) Kennedy made comments about 'cleansing the (Native American) reservation' of rapists, child molesters and the like," the sheriff's report said. "Noah told us when they got back to the residence he and Kennedy both knew that they were going to kill Sonny Potts."

Noah Potts said he went into the house several times trying to "get the courage" to shoot his brother, but could not do so.

Kennedy, who was outside the residence, told him it was OK if he did not have the heart to shoot Potts, the sheriff's report said, adding that Kennedy told him to stay in his vehicle and that he would do it.

However, the report said, Potts later got out of the vehicle and went inside the house.

Potts said he found Kennedy sitting with his brother and all of them began to smoke methamphetamine, the report said.

At one point, the report said, Kennedy asked his friend, "Are we going to do it?" without getting a reply from him.

But shortly afterward Noah Potts shot his brother in the back of his head with a rifle that Kennedy had loaded beforehand and he then fired a second shot from only inches away as his brother was lying facedown, the sheriff's report said.

Deputies have said they went to the house about a quarter-mile north of the Pit Stop store in Big Bend in eastern Shasta County after getting reports of a gunshot victim around 4:48 a.m.

When deputies arrived, they found Sonny Potts inside the home, dead of gunshot wounds.

Both Kennedy and Noah Potts were later arrested.

Despite protests Wednesday from Redding defense attorney Elliot Burick that Potts was not arraigned within a required 48-hour time period, retired Superior Court Judge Richard McEachen declined to consider a verbal motion to dismiss the case and continued with the arraignment.

McEachen set a Nov. 21 preliminary hearing for both defendants.

An attorney from the Shasta County Public Defender's Office was appointed to represent Kennedy.

According to electronic court records, Sonny Potts has served time in prison for assault and drug offenses and was sentenced last year to three years in prison for false impersonation.

A petition to revoke his parole was filed in August.

According to electronic court records, authorities arrested Kennedy on a warrant out of Missouri in May. But the records do not specify the nature of the warrant, though he was extradited in June.

Noah Potts' criminal history includes arrests for public intoxication, interfering with emergency personnel, obstructing police officers and petty theft.

Potts is being held in Shasta County jail in lieu of $2.1 million bail, while Kennedy is in custody there in lieu of $2 million bail. ..Source.. by Jim Schultz

Death Of Convicted Sex Offender Under Investigation In Otero County

10-14-2012 Colorado:

The body of a registered sex offender was found inside a home outside La Junta Friday night, prompting officials to begin an investigation into the circumstances around his death.

Byron Griffy, 76, was a funeral home director in Fowler, Colo. prior to his 2011 arrest for sexually assaulting a child. Court records indicate Griffy pleaded guilty to the charge, and was sentenced in May of this year. He was put on strict sex offender probation.

The Otero County Sheriff's Office is investigating Griffy's death as suspicious, but will not say if they believe his death is related to his sex assault conviction. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation assisted in processing the scene.

The Sheriff’s Office says an autopsy is scheduled for early next week by the El Paso County Coroner's Office. ..Source.. by KKTV.com

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Cause of death released, family of Byron Griffy want him remembered for his lifelong kindness

New details today in the death of a Fowler man.

We've learned that Byron Griffy died from a gunshot wound to his head.

We spoke to those at the Otero County Sheriff Office who are investigating along with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Family members found Byron Griffy dead in a home on his farm one day before his 76th birthday.

"The circumstances surrounding the gunshot wound are still pending," said Otero County Sheriff Chris Johnson.

Griffy did plead guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child several months ago, but his family says too much focus has been placed on that.

"My sisters and I would like you to know that our father was a caring, compassionate, love man who spent his life taking care of others in their time of need," said Amy Griffy, Byron Griffy's youngest daughter.

Many in Fowler told us they always admired Griffy and do not believe he was guilty.

"God knows it," said JH McCuistion, a close friend of Griffy. "He knows the truth of this whole thing, and I feel the same way God does."

Close friends believe he only pled guilty for a lesser charge, so he would be able to see his family more often.

"There will never be anybody to change my mind that Byron Griffy was one of our greatest men to help in our community of Fowler," said McCuistion.

Griffy was described around town as a funeral director who was so giving, those who couldn't afford a funeral had one for free.

He was also President on the school board for many years and always sent a lot of flowers to people in town.

"I had a little surgery a time or two," said McCuistion. "You know, I didn't even tell him I was going to have it, but he found out and he brought me a plant."

Sheriff Johnson says nothing at this time connects Griffy's death to his recent plea.

"We're still investigating," said Sheriff Johnson. "It's still early in the investigation. We're talking to a lot of people." ..Source.. by Lacey Steele

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Man Pleads Not Guilty In Murder Of Convicted Sex Offender

5-3-2014:

A Canon City man has pleaded not guilty in death of a convicted sex offender.

Anthony Wright, 43, will go to trial in September for the 2012 death of former funeral home director Byron Griffy. An autopsy showed Griffy died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Griffy, 76, was a funeral home director in Fowler, Colo. prior to his 2011 arrest for sexually assaulting a child. Court records indicate Griffy pleaded guilty to the charge, and was sentenced in May the following year. He was put on strict sex offender probation.

He was found shot to death five months later.

Wright has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder on Thursday. He is out on a $250,000 bail. Wright will go to trial in September.

Wright and Griffy knew each other through the funeral home business. ..Source.. by KKTV.com

Police confirm identify of SWAT officer who shot Alexander

9-20-2012 Ohio:

The Lorain County SWAT team member who shot and killed Billy Alexander early Sept. 15 has been identified as Wayne Ramsey, a LaGrange police officer, according to Lorain police Lt. Mark Carpentiere. Lorain police are investigating the incident triggered by a 911 call.

Ramsey was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting, said LaGrange Mayor Kim Strauss. Such leave is common for officers who have been involved in a shooting, according to Dennis Cavanaugh, Chief Deputy of the Lorain County Sheriff Department.

“This is Ramsey’s first time being involved in a shooting,” Cavanaugh said. “He will take as long as he sees fit to recover.”

Police are not releasing any other details. “The investigation is still ongoing,” Carpentiere said.

Alexander, 41, of Lorain was shot at least twice — in the chest and torso — with a .223-caliber rifle, said Dr. Stephen Evans, the Lorain County coroner.

Alexander was a registered sex offender, according to the Lorain County Sheriff’s website. He pleaded guilty to the rape of a 4-year-old girl in 1991 and served 15 years in Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton. He was released in 2008. He was also convicted of escape in 1992.

Early Saturday morning, the Lorain County SWAT team went to a house at 704 DeWitt St. in Sheffield Township. They were responding to a 911 call from a woman who was crying hysterically that Alexander had molested a 5-year-old child and was threatening to kill himself and them.

She said he was “throwing a gun around,” according to the 911 recording. Later she shouted, “He just shot off the gun!”

A child can be heard saying, “Daddy, please don’t shoot us!” and the woman can be heard comforting the child by saying, “It’s OK baby.”

When officers arrived at about 1:45 a.m., Alexander fired one shot at them and then went into the house with the woman and two children. Police ordered the woman and children to leave while they pursued Alexander into the back yard. Alexander was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m. Evans said. ..Source.. by Morning Journal Staff

Sheriff: Suspect killed after false sex assault report

9-7-2012 South Carolina:

A man who was killed in an altercation with deputies was the subject of a false police report that led to the confrontation, according to a release from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

A woman, later identified as 21-year-old Sabrina Michelle Smith, reported on Aug. 13 that she had been sexually assaulted by Anthony Lee Lamboy. When deputies arrived at the Red Roof Inn on Laurens Road, Smith gave them a description of Lamboy, and three deputies confronted him in the parking lot.

Deputies said a background check found that Lamboy had outstanding warrants from Greenwood County for resisting arrest with a deadly weapon and two charges of malicious injury to property.

The release said after deputies told Lamboy he was being placed under arrest, he began to struggle with them.

Sheriff Steve Loftis said, "One deputy had the Taser out. The suspect was so violently resisting that he knocked the Taser out of the deputy's hand. About that time, the suspect grabbed the deputy's gun that was still in his holster."

The release said that Master Deputy Brandon Lackey and Lamboy fell to the ground during the struggle, and Lamboy was able to pull the trigger of Lackey's weapon that was still in its holster, the release said. The round hit Lackey in the upper thigh and exited through the back of his leg.

The other two deputies then fired at Lamboy, killing him. The release said one deputy fired five shots and the other fired one.

One of the deputies had a tourniquet in his pocket and was able to help stop Lackey's blood loss.

Loftis said, "According to the surgeon, (the tourniquet) saved the deputy's life because there was an extreme loss of blood."

The release said that investigators determined that Lamboy had not sexually assaulted Smith. She was arrested on Aug. 16 and charged with filing a false police report. She has since been released on a $5,000 bond. ..Source.. by WISTV.com

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SC woman charged with false report in shooting

A Greenville County woman has been charged with filing a false report about a sexual assault in an incident involving two sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed a man at a motel last month.

Sheriff Steve Loftis says two deputies shot and killed 26-year-old Anthony Lee Lamboy of Greenville during a scuffle over a deputy’s gun on Aug. 13. Lamboy died at the scene.

Twenty-one-year-old Sabrina Michelle Smith of Taylors has been charged with filing a false report.

Deputies responding to the complaint scuffled with Lamboy, who was able to fire an officer’s gun in the holster, wounding him in the leg. Two other officers then shot Lamboy, killing him.

Loftis says the officers followed proper procedure and have been returned to regular duty. ..Source.. by Post and Courier

Suspect in child-sex case killed by deputies in Treasure Island motel

9-2-2012 Florida:

On Monday night, an 11-year-old girl from Safety Harbor told her mother she felt dizzy. Her stomach hurt. She had a headache.

The mother and her live-in boyfriend, Gregory J. Johns, took the girl to the hospital. The pair waited in a lobby as a doctor examined her. After a few minutes, the doctor came back with news: The girl was pregnant.

Her mother was distraught, and so was Johns. He asked for the car keys. He needed a smoke.

Johns never came back.

Allegations of rape soon followed, and investigators began their pursuit. For five days, Johns — a criminal for more than half of his 42 years — returned to the life he knew. He robbed strangers, authorities say, and bought booze with the money he stole. He swore that he'd rather die than go back to prison.

Just after 5 Saturday morning, Johns got what he wanted. Cornered in a second-floor room at a cheap motel on Treasure Island, he rushed Pinellas sheriff's deputies with a knife, investigators say.

Ten bullets later, he was dead.

• • •

Johns was first arrested at 17. He first went to prison at 18.

Between then and Saturday, he was arrested at least 12 times. For selling cocaine. For carrying a concealed firearm. For robbery and burglary, and battering a law enforcement officer.

He served six stints in prison.

He was last released by the Florida Department of Corrections in July 2009, which, authorities say, was around the time he met and moved in with the woman in Safety Harbor.

Johns, records show, had never before been accused of a sex crime. But after that hospital visit Monday night, authorities say, the 11-year-old told her mother what had happened:

She was home alone with Johns one day in June. He came into the girl's room and asked her to join him in the master bedroom. She refused, so Johns, at 5-foot-9 and 280 pounds, pinned her to the bed and raped her. In the days that followed, deputies say, he assaulted her twice more.

On Tuesday of last week, with a warrant out for his arrest, police said Johns broke into the St. Petersburg home of a 78-year-old woman. He robbed her and left her bound and gagged for 12 hours.

The next day, reports say, he approached a couple in Vinoy Park, drew a knife and demanded money.

He called his girlfriend that night. He said he was sorry for ruining her daughter's life but insisted he would never return to prison.

The police, he told her, would have to kill him.

On Wednesday, investigators found a note at Vinoy Park that had fallen out of Johns' pocket.

It was an apology to the girl.

• • •

Brian Britton and Misty Roberson met Johns outside their motel room Friday evening.

Johns, they say, was staying upstairs with a blond woman they believed was his girlfriend.

The young couple, on vacation from Ruskin, also met two of Johns' other friends, who introduced themselves as "Brett" and "Leslie."

Johns invited Britton, 24, and Roberson, 26, up to his second-floor room for a shot of Grey Goose vodka. The room, they said, was trashed. Clothes, empty cups and McDonald's bags were strewn across the floor. Johns told them he planned to stay for a week.

Next to the pool downstairs, the group played cards, mostly rummy, for hours. Johns, wearing a white T-shirt and black swim trunks, blared rap music from Plies and Lil Wayne on one of his two phones. He chugged bottles of Bud Light Platinum. He mixed his vodka with orange Fanta.

"He seemed nice," Britton said. "He was in a real good mood."

The conversation, they said, was random. He told them he had a pacemaker and pulled up his shirt to show a scar across his chest. Johns said he would have played college basketball if not for arrests he declined to explain. He pulled out a stack of $20 bills and bet his friend Brett that he could beat him in a game.

Around midnight, when Brett and Leslie got into an argument, Britton said Johns turned to him: "I've got no respect for that guy. He's a woman beater."

Roberson went to bed around 2 a.m. Saturday. Britton stayed up for a swim.

Leslie, he said, told him to be careful. Johns had noticed the cash in his girlfriend's pocket.

Britton soon went to his room and locked the door behind him.

Earlier, investigators were told that Johns was in a hotel on Madeira Beach or Treasure Island. More than a dozen deputies had searched through the night before they found him in his room.

Johns refused to answer the door, authorities said, then locked himself in the bathroom. When deputies broke in, they say, he came out with a knife. Deputies Claudio Dimundo and Eric Turner fired at him.

"I heard the cop kick the door in and then yelling," Britton said. "Then — pop, pop, pop."

Shot multiple times, Johns died on the floor of Room 224 at a motel named the Trails End. ..Source.. by John Woodrow Cox

Wichita police give details of weekend shooting involving officer

4-4-2012 Kansas:

At first, when the two police officers showed up at his door at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, Troy Lanning Sr. thought they just wanted help tracking down Troy Jr., who had failed to report to state officers supervising him after his release from prison. So he got names and numbers out of his home phone for them, told them the names of his son’s friends. But then he asked, “So you have him in custody?”

They said no, and suggested he sit down. And when he froze in place for a moment, they asked him again.

Police on Monday revealed that they killed 24-year-old Troy Lanning Jr. on Sunday after Lanning, after a car chase, put his hand in a bag of belongings and appeared to aim it toward the officer in a threatening manner.

The officer confronted him in a backyard in south Wichita after Lanning and three other people led police on a seven-minute high-speed chase from an area where a drive-by shooting had been reported. But no gun was found in the bag Lanning was carrying, or in the stolen vehicle he rode in during the chase.

And Lanning Sr., and several of his son’s friends, gathered on Monday afternoon and said there was no way anybody would have any good reason to shoot him. Lanning Sr. said he has already talked with a lawyer and is considering whether to sue the Wichita Police Department for his son’s death. He said he believes officers could have used a Taser on his son, or sent a K-9 unit dog to run him down, rather than shoot him.

Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz described how the confrontation happened:

At 11:56 p.m. on Saturday, police dispatchers sent officers to a report of a drive-by shooting in the 4600 block of South Charles, south of I-235 and McArthur. Dispatchers told the officers to look for a white vehicle.

An officer driving into the area, going eastbound on 45th Street South, saw a white vehicle pass him while going the other direction. The officer turned around, and saw it speed away. The driver refused to stop after the officer turned on his lights and sirens.

The chase lasted seven minutes, Stolz said, and ended when the white vehicle drove up over a curb at 35th and Everett, damaging a wheel. Witnesses and the officer saw four people bail out of the vehicle, three men and a woman. The officer chased one of the men, Lanning, yelling at him to stop. Lanning climbed over a privacy fence; the officer followed.

The officer, a nine-year veteran of the Police Department, confronted Lanning in a backyard, and told him to stop reaching into a bag he was carrying. Lanning continued going through the bag, and at one point the officer thought Lanning raised the bag up in a threatening manner. The officer fired several shots at Lanning, hitting him.

Other officers from the Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol blocked off streets and “locked down about eight or ten blocks of the neighborhood,” Stolz said. They caught one other man they think was in the white vehicle.

Lanning was taken to Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators found no weapon, either in Lanning’s bag of belongings or in the white vehicle he was riding in.

Stolz said he thinks Lanning tried to evade police because a records check on him showed that he was an absconder from the Kansas Department of Corrections, and also had an outstanding warrant in Sedgwick County for failing to register as an offender.

In the white vehicle, investigators found items stolen a few hours earlier during a burglary in the 2600 block of West Newell. The vehicle itself was stolen sometime before the chase.

Lanning Sr. said his son had a criminal history, and that it’s possible he might have been involved in a burglary. His son had served time for a conviction as a juvenile for taking indecent liberties with a child. That case, though it required his son to register with the state as a sex offender, was what Lanning Sr. called a “Romeo and Juliet” situation, meaning that there was consent. But under the law, having had sex with a female younger than 14, his son did three years in jail in a juvenile facility in Topeka, he said.

There were later charges, the father said, for burglary and theft, and as police pointed out on Monday, his son was wanted as an absconder from the state prison system. Lanning Sr. said his son failed to register as a sex offender as required, and failed to take several classes requires of him during his probationary period. “He did a lot of things he shouldn’t have done, and there were times when you couldn’t tell Troy anything,” Lanning Sr. said.

Still, the father and the son’s friends said, there was no good reason to shoot him to death. “I think it was a wrongful shooting,” Lanning Sr. said. He said his son had no history of violence, and can’t imagine why the officer who killed his son thought that his son was trying to threaten him with a bag that he believes contained nothing more than clothes and shampoo.

Victoria Harper, a sometime girlfriend of Troy Lanning Jr., said Troy was “a big baby, more sensitive and needy than most females.” She said he was a good and decent person, and “a wimp” rather than anyone violent. “I knew him for 14 years, have loved him that whole time, and he never once raised his voice at me.”

She and several of Lanning Jr.’s friends also said they trusted him to babysit their small children, even though he’d served time for indecent liberties. He would never have harmed any children, they said.

But Stolz said an initial look at the shooting indicates to him that the officer acted properly in shooting the man.

“After a confrontation like this, we sometimes wonder why people do the things they do,” Stolz said. He declined to say what was in the bag that the man kept rummaging in as the officer told him to drop it; he said only that it contained “personal items.”

“All we can expect from our officers is reasonable behavior,” Stolz said. He said the officer was sent to the scene of a shooting, at night, a dangerous situation. “It’s reasonable to expect to confront a weapon in a situation like that,” he said. “The vehicle ran, which is not reasonable; they led the officer on a seven-minute chase, not reasonable; and after they wrecked, they ran, which is not reasonable. And then the man refused repeated verbal commands to stop running.”

“The officer was doing the job he was sent to do,” Stolz said. “It appears we have policy and procedure properly followed here.”

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation will handle the investigation of the shooting, and turn over information to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether the officer obeyed the law. The officer has been put on administrative leave.

Lanning was not a documented gang member, but the man arrested after the chase is, Stolz said. That man was booked into jail on suspicion of possession of drugs.

Lanning Sr., a 41-year-old handyman, said he is trying to work out funeral arrangements, but that his son’s mother, who he is separated from, has been too grief-stricken to help with the details.

His son was making some efforts to tun his life around, Lanning Sr. said. He diligently applied for jobs, and got one at small factory in Haysville. He did not want to go back to jail or prison. He even talked about going to church this past Sunday with the three women friends who now sat in his father’s house, mourning the loss of a friend.

“He’d been telling us that he was tired of always having to look over his shoulder because he’d absconded, and that he wanted to get his life in order,” Harper said. “I don’t know if he was kidding about going to church when he brought it up on Saturday, but I think he really did want to go. But Sunday never came for him.” ..Source.. by Roy Wenzl, The Wichita Eagle

One of two death-row 'suicides' may not be a suicide, official says

1-8-2010 Georgia:

Georgia's top Department of Corrections official has now acknowledged that one of two recent "suicides" on Georgia's death row may not have been a suicide.

And while Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens told his board Thursday the GBI is investigating the death, a GBI spokesman on Friday said that was not the case.

During the agency's board meeting, Owens was asked about the inmates' deaths. "One of them may not be a suicide," Owens told the board, according to a transcript of the meeting.

On Dec. 6, condemned killer Timothy Pruitt died at Augusta State Medical Prison after sustaining injuries on Nov. 19. On New Year's Day, guards found death-row inmate Leeland Mark Braley hanging in his cell. Both were housed on death row at the state Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

A number of family members of death-row inmates have said Pruitt's death was not a suicide and that he was likely killed by another death row inmate, Sara Totonchi, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said Friday.

At Thursday's meeting, board member Roger Garrison asked Owens if the GBI is investigating Pruitt's death. . "Yes, sir," Owens replied.

But on Friday, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Corrections investigators only consulted with a GBI investigator about Pruitt's death. "As far as the GBI being actively involved in investigating either of these cases, we're not involved because we weren't asked," Bankhead said.

Corrections officials initially called Pruitt's death an "alleged suicide." Pruitt, 43, was sentenced to death for the 1992 rape and murder of Wendy Vincent, a 10-year-old Lumpkin County girl. Braley, 35, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the kidnapping and stabbing death of Kelli Hammond, an insurance agent from Zebulon.

Totonchi has said that death-row inmates may be preparing to wage a hunger strike because of recent get-tough measures imposed by Corrections officials. The prison recently eliminated all contact visits between inmates and their families and restricted prisoners to their cells all but one hour each day. ..Source.. Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Was death row inmate murdered?

1-31-2010 Georgia:

Inquest to be held for Pruitt, whose Dec. 6 death was first reported as suicide

A coroner’s inquest will be held in the strangulation death of a Lumpkin County man on Georgia’s death row that some believe was a murder.

The Dec. 6 death of Timothy Pruitt was first reported as the result of an apparent suicide.

Pruitt, 43, spent 12 years at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison awaiting execution for the 1992 rape and murder of 10-year-old Wendy Nicole Vincent of Dahlonega. He died 17 days after he was found hanging by a bed sheet in his cell at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

Butts County Coroner Ralph Wilson said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the death of Pruitt and another death row inmate, Leeland Mark Braley, who was found hanging in his cell Jan. 1.

Wilson said witnesses will be supoenaed and juries seated to hear evidence about both deaths in separate inquests. He said he is waiting for the GBI and the Georgia Department of Corrections to wrap up their probes before scheduling the inquests.

Braley’s death is generally accepted as a suicide, but many within Georgia’s prisoner advocacy community believe Pruitt was murdered by another inmate, said Sara Totonchi, Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights and a member of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

“He was in the process of writing a letter to his fiance at the time of his death,” Totonchi said.

The Georgia Department of Corrections did not return several phone and e-mail messages seeking comment last week.

Kari Ohland, who said she visited Pruitt every weekend and was his fiance, said she spoke with Pruitt the day he was found hanged.

She said the letter that Pruitt was writing to her that day was later found and sent to her.

“There was no indication he was suicidal,” she said. “Not at all. He was saying how excited he was to see me that weekend. There’s no way he choked himself.”

Ohland said she was later told by another death row inmate, Michael Nance, that convicted quadruple killer Jerry William Jones was seen going into Pruitt’s cell shortly before he was found. Inmates’ cell doors were open and guards stayed inside observation booths during certain times of the day, she said.

Since the two deaths, death row has been on 23-hour a day lockdown, with no contact visits for inmates, Totonchi said.

Ohland said she refuses to believe Pruitt’s death was a suicide.

“There’s no way he would have done that to me,” she said. ..Source.. by Stephen Gurr

Possible motive released in Albany landlord-tenant homicide

6-30-2011 Oregon:

ALBANY, Ore. (KMTR) -- New information and a possible motive has been released in an Albany homicide, as the female suspect in the case makes her first appearance in court on Thursday.

35-year-old Melissa Amber Haley of Albany is charged with murder in the shooting death of 49-year-old Derrick Miller of Albany. Haley was arraigned on the charge Thursday, June 30th, 2011.

Albany Police say Miller and Haley lived in the same house. Miller was Haley’s landlord. Police say Haley admitted to shooting Miller just before noon on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011.

According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, at least four people lived in the home where the shooting happened, on the 600 block of Montgomery Street in southeast Albany.

In the affidavit, Albany Police say Haley rented two rooms in the home, one for herself and one for her 12-year-old child, starting in December 2010. Police say Miller and his wife also lived in the home.

Police say Haley called 911 on Wednesday, telling dispatchers she has “just shot a man.” When Albany Police officers arrived on scene, according to the affidavit, Haley exclaimed, “I couldn’t take it anymore!” and “He’s a pedophile!”

According to the affidavit, Haley later spoke to detectives, accusing Miller of sexually abusing a 4-year-old in the basement of the home in December 2010. Haley alleged that the 4-year-old was in Miller’s wife’s care. Haley also told police that she never reported the allegations to authorities, only to her friend.

In the investigation, Albany Police also interviewed Miller’s wife. In the affidavit, police say Miller’s wife told detectives that she hasn’t provided day care to anyone in the last five years, also that no young children visit the residence at all.

Neighbors say they are shocked by the shooting.

“These people were really nice people. They never fought and argued with each other, we spent afternoon with them where they could have, and they just didn't do that, they were just really gentle people," says David Cunningham, a neighbor, speaking of the Miller family.

"Always active in the neighborhood and active going out boating, camping all the time, fishing,” says Cunningham.

Other details in the affidavit also state that Haley told Albany Police that she had shot Miller in the stomach. Officers found Miller in his home with a gunshot wound in his head.

The affidavit also states that Haley told Albany Police that she suffers from “anxiety” and “depression” and is on medication to treat both conditions.

The Albany Police Department and Linn County District Attorney’s Office declined any further comment on the case on Thursday, June 30th, 2011. Both agencies are continuing to investigate the case.

Albany Police served a search warrant on the home on Thursday and cleared the crime scene early Thursday afternoon. ..Source.. by Chris McKee

Suspect killed was sex offender from Tennessee

Posted in Related Deaths

A registry violation, a ministerial violation. I begin to wonder, if once an arrest seems to go awry, and they are ready for a SWAT Team, do they have any negotiator type person to at least try to end a situation without further violence. Unfortunately the articles do not have a timeline to know whether a negotiator could have ended it. The facts here are missing something, this is not the usual way this occurs. I know this, there is a little girl who will grow up fatherless, and one day will be asking WHY? Will police or lawmakers be able to answer her?

3-10-2011 Colorado:

LIMON, Colo. — The shooting death of a police officer on Colorado's eastern plains left his community grieving Thursday as state and local police investigated a standoff that also ended with a suspect dead inside a mobile home.

Limon officer Jay Sheridan, 27, was killed Wednesday by gunfire that erupted when police tried to serve a fugitive warrant to a man at a mobile home park in the town 70 miles east of Denver, Colorado State Trooper Heather Cobler said.

Sheridan had been a six-year veteran on the Limon police force, and his death marked the first time an officer had been killed in the line of duty in the community of about 1,800, said police chief Lynn Yowell.

"It's hit all of us very hard," Yowell said. "It's a loss that's cut deep within the community."

U.S. marshals identified the suspect as Dennis Mark Hasty, 52, who was wanted on a sex offender registry violation from Tennessee's Roane County.

Officers said they found Hasty's body after a four-hour standoff, and that he apparently shot himself.

In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service said Thursday that authorities in Colorado's Lincoln County were notified late Wednesday that Hasty was believed to be in the area. The Tennessee Sexual Offender Registry listed Hasty as having a 1990 conviction for incest.

Tennessee officials could not immediately provide additional information.

Jim Hartwig, manager of the mobile home park, told The Denver Post the man had been living in a trailer with a woman since November. Hartwig said the man possessed a .25 caliber handgun and other guns.

Two other officers, who were not identified, were trapped in a separate room of the home during the standoff. Neither was hurt. As many as 20 mobile home park residents were evacuated during the standoff.

Chief Yowell said the department has five officers on its police force. Yowell told the Post that Sheridan was the father of a 1-year-old girl and he had just started a goat ranch.

Resident Josh Wiedemann said he heard "a pop and a whiz" and that when he went outside, a police officer with a shotgun told him to move away.

"The U.S. Marshals Service is deeply saddened at the tragic loss of Officer Jay Sheridan of the Limon Police Department," said Colorado U.S. Marshal John Kammerzell. "The Marshals Service stands together with our fellow law enforcement partners during this time of mourning." ..Source.. by ajc.com

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Suspect In Limon Police Shooting Convicted Of Incest

3-10-2011 COlorado:

Dennis Marc Hasty Wanted On Sex Offender Registry Violation; Limon Police Officer Jay Sheridan Dies;

LIMON, Colo. -- The man who police say shot and killed a Limon police officer before shooting and killing himself was wanted for repeatedly failing to register as a sex offender.

Dennis Mark Hasty, 52, was convicted in 1993 for incest in Knox County, Tennessee. According to his criminal record, the violation occurred on Nov. 30, 1990.

When he was released on probation, he failed to register as a sex offender and went back to prison for another term in February 2001, according to court records.

In 1996, he was charged with aggravated rape of an 8-year-old girl but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, according to Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee.

He was supposed to register as a sex offender after he was released a second time, but the last time he was on the registry was in August 2007 in Texas, according to officials.

In January 2008, deputies with the Roane County Sheriff's Office went to a home where Hasty was staying to conduct a welfare check. Before officers could talk to him, he ran out the back door, the U.S. Marshal's Service said. Inside the house were two runaway teenage girls, according to the Sentinel.

While Hasty was a convicted felon, and on the run for some time, sources told 7NEWS that there was no indication he might come out shooting if approached by local police officer.

Dennis Hasty Vowed Somebody Was Going To Die, Manager Says

Hasty had vowed that somebody was going to die and that he was never going to jail, according to the manager of the trailer home park where he lived.

The manager of the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park said Hasty rented the trailer as Mark Hasting. The manager, who only wanted to be identified as "J," said he had not idea Hasty was a wanted fugitive.

Hasty apparently told residents that he was an ordained minister, but the manager said there were signs something was wrong.

He said, before Wednesday night's standoff, it was chaos in Hasty's trailer home. J said he knows because he lives next door.

"I wasn't really surprised because he had said before that if the cops ever came banging on his door that somebody was going to die and he was never going to jail," J said.

J said when officers showed up to pick up Hasty on Wednesday night, he told officers that Hasty owned several guns and was a dangerous person. J said he offered to knock on the door and get Hasty for them, so that they could avoid a confrontation, but J said the officers said they had it under control.

He said he heard the shooting around 6:10 p.m.

"I heard three gunshots and officers started screaming, 'Man down!'" J said. "(There were) two small caliber guns and the really big caliber gun."

Police said Hasty shot and killed Limon Officer Jay Sheridan while he was in the hallway. Sheridan was there to pick up Hasty on a out-of-state fugitive warrant.

When Hasty opened fire, two other officers with Sheridan ran for cover inside a separate part of the home and remained there for their own safety, police said.

Those officers were initially thought to be hostages, but Hasty had barricaded himself in one room of the mobile home, and the officers had just ended up in a separate part of the mobile home.

At 10:40 p.m., SWAT officers swarmed into the mobile home and knocked down one wall.

"I believe that's where they penetrated the house and put the grenade in," said J, pointing to a hole in the outside wall of the house.

Hasty was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bedroom, Limon police said.

Jay Sheridan Was Father To 21-Month Old

Wiping away tears during a Thursday morning news conference, Limon Police Chief Lynn Yowell said Sheridan was a great officer.

Yowell said he wasn't going to speak about the investigation but would speak as the family spokesman.

Sheridan, 27, was born and raised in Simla. He was a husband and the father of a 21-month-old girl.

That girl was Sheridan's pride and joy, Yowell said.

The girl was wondering why everyone was in their house Thursday morning, Yowell said, and it was heartbreaking.

Sheridan was 21 when he joined the Limon Police Department and was with the police department for 6½ years. He said Sheridan was a jokester who was always having fun, but when he put on a uniform, he buckled down and went to work.

"He wore his uniform with a lot of pride ... sorry (choking back tears), and a lot of respect. And is going to be sorely sorely missed," Yowell said. "When he came to work and he put on the uniform, he came to do the job."

He attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and was going to major in auto mechanics. However, he attended a law enforcement academy and decided to pursue a career as a police officer.

Sheridan is survived by his parents, who still live in Simla, his wife and daughter in Limon and a brother and sister in Fort Collins.

"Jay was a really good guy. If you needed anybody to talk to or if you needed something to do, he would be there to help you," said Sheridan's friend, Brandon Soderstrom.

Sheridan's death was one of only five officers on the Limon police force and his death has dealt a big blow to the community. The other Limon police officers have taken a leave of absence, although they were still wearing their uniforms Thursday in honor of Sheridan.

Deputies from neighboring Morgan County stepped up to secure the scene and take to relieve the officers who were on duty all Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

"They've suffered a tragic loss, and they need some time to realize what's happened here and to deal with that," said Dave Morgan with the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. "It's a tough thing. It's something that ripples through the law enforcement community. We're down here to provide support. We're giving them law enforcement services for Lincoln County as well as Limon PD."

Yowell said Sheridan was like a son to him.

"Not only was Jay an employee of mine, a colleague of mine, but he was also a dear friend of mine," Yowell said.

The shooting is being investigated by the 18th Judicial District Critical Response Team. ..Source.. by Kim Nguyen, Web Editor

Man killed by car while crossing street

Given Jessica's Law has forced so many to be homeless (transient) I wonder if Jessica's law may have played a part in this death?

Will do further review and may remove from this blog.

2-17-2011 California:

FOUNTAIN VALLEY – A 50-year-old man was struck and killed while crossing Brookhurst Street on Wednesday night, authorities said.

The man was either walking or pedaling his bike across Brookhurst at Niagara River Avenue, a small residential street between Garfield and Ellis avenues, when he was struck by a Volkswagen Beetle traveling northbound on the roadway just before 6:30 p.m., Fountain Valley police Lt. Jim McNeff said.

The man was thrown about 50 feet, McNeff said, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman driving the Beetle was taken to a hospital with what are believed to be minor injuries, McNeff said.

Police have not released the man's name but say he is a registered sex offender who listed his address as "transient."

There is no crosswalk or traffic lights in the area where the man was struck, McNeff said.

Investigators say it was dark at the time of the collision, and the man didn't have lights on his bicycle.

Police say they have not found any initial signs of negligence on the part of the driver, although the accident is under investigation. The driver has
not been arrested or cited.

The northbound lanes of Brookhurst between Garfield and Ellis were expected to be closed for several hours as police go over the scene, McNeff said. ..Source.. SEAN EMERY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Murder trial begins in south Pomona killing

3-19-2010 California:

POMONA -- A murder trial began today for a man accused of shooting and killing a romantic rival in the south side of the city.

Louis Wilson could face 50 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder for the Dec. 6, 2008 shooting death of Michael McKee, 30.

A prosecutor told jurors in Pomona Superior Court that Wilson's motive was two-fold when he shot McKee six times in the 2500 block of South Virginia Avenue.

McKee's girlfriend rejected Wilson's repeated sexual advances the day of the killing, and Wilson believed McKee had molested their mutual friend's daughter, said Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese.

In testimony today from seven prosecution witnesses, jurors learned much about the case that links Wilson, 33, to McKee's killing.

The Pomona men argued and left McKee's home shortly before the shooting, McKee's girlfriend testified.

And in the hours after McKee was killed, Wilson reportedly washed himself and his clothes with bleach, then confessed to the killing and asked a woman to help him craft an alibi.

In his opening statement to jurors, Wilson's defense attorney, Steve Urias, said Wilson has been misidentified as McKee's killer and called the prosecution's evidence circumstantial.

The attorney said that of the 31 people on the prosecution's witness list, not one saw the shooting first-hand.

The morning of McKee's killing, Wilson arrived unannounced at the home McKee and his girlfriend shared in the 600 block of South Reservoir Street. McKee wasn't home when Wilson arrived, said the girlfriend, Julie Finneran.

According to Finneran's testimony, Wilson walked into the bathroom while she was showering, pulled back the shower curtain exposing her naked body, and demanded sex.

Finneran, who said she had sex with Wilson once in the past, said she turned Wilson down because one of her roommates was home and she didn't want to cheat on her boyfriend.

"I had a liking toward (Wilson), but it wasn't like we were dating or anything," Finneran said.

By the time Wilson left, Finneran had rejected his sexual advances two more times, the woman testified. Finneran later told McKee about Wilson's sexual advances.

When Wilson returned to McKee and Finneran's home that evening, McKee told him he didn't want him to visit anymore, Finneran testified.

McKee the offered Wilson a ride home even though the Mission Avenue mobile-home park where Wilson lived was within walking distance, Finneran testified.

Shortly before 9 p.m., residents in the 2500 block of South Virginia Avenue heard several gunshots, and a young woman returning home saw McKee slumped over in the driver's seat of his blue Chrysler PT Cruiser, according to testimony Friday.

McKee was shot three times in the head, and once each in the neck, shoulder and back, according to testimony from the medical examiner who performed McKee's autopsy.

All six shots entered the right side of McKee's body, and markings on some of the wounds indicate the shooting was at close range.

The description of the wounds is consistent with the prosecution's theory that McKee's killer was sitting in the passenger seat of McKee's car during the shooting.

In the hours after McKee's killing, Wilson returned to the mobile-home park where he lived and visited a friend's trailer.

A woman who lived in the trailer, Nohemi Sturgulewski, testified that she saw Wilson in the bathroom cleaning himself and his clothes with bleach.

"He was just standing there all wet with bleach," the woman testified. "... He was fully clothed."

Sturgulewski said she offered Wilson a change of clothes, and agreed to go with him when he left to drive to his aunt's house nearby.

As the two drove, Sturgulewski said Wilson told her he had just "crowned" someone -- meaning he shot a person in the head. Wilson also told her the person deserved to be shot because he was a child molester, the woman testified.

Though the two had met for the first time that day, Wilson told Sturgulewski he needed her to be his alibi.

Wilson told the woman to tell police they were together all day, and to say McKee had dropped him off at the mobile-home park in a blue PT Cruiser, the woman testified.

When Sturgulewski was interviewed by police about McKee's death, she initially repeated the story Wilson told her to tell.

But after police told her she could be charged as an accessory if she was lying to protect Wilson, she changed her story and told the truth about his alleged confession, the woman testified.

In his cross-examination of Finneran, Urias asked the woman numerous questions about her past drug use.

Finneran testified that she was high on methamphetamine the day of McKee's death, but went to rehab after the shooting and was now clean.

Urias also asked Finneran whether she and McKee were major meth dealers. Okun-Wiese objected to the question. Judge Robert Martinez sustained the prosecutor's objection and told jurors to disregard Urias' question. ..Source.. by Will Bigham

CO- Sexual Assault Suspect Shot and Killed by Police

I cannot find any reason, in any version of this story, indicating why they killed him. It cannot be just because someone said "He will not go down alive," after all those are just words not actions.

3-11-2009 Colorado:

PUEBLO - A suspect wanted for two counts of sexual assault against a child has been shot and killed by police, concluding a manhunt in Pueblo that placed seven north side schools on lock-down Wednesday afternoon.

The Pueblo Sheriff's office is handling the investigation, since it involved two Pueblo Police Officers. Details about the shooting are still not being released, pending the investigation.

Police have confirmed the man shot and killed is 55-year old David Wiggs. Officers shot and killed Wiggs on the 4th street Bridge, near Erie on the east side of Pueblo around 4 p.m.

Sgt Eric Bravo with Pueblo Police tells NEWSCHANNEL 13 that the search for Wiggs began around 12:30 Wednesday afternoon, after an off-duty Florence Police Officer spotted him near the Safeway Grocery Store off 29th and Elizabeth.

Pueblo Police and Sheriff, along with the State Patrol conducted a search of the area. They took extra precaution while searching for Wiggs because he reportedly told family members and officers, "I will not go down alive," earlier in the day.

The search turned up a tent along Fountain Creek where Wiggs was believed to have been living for the last few days. K-9 units searched the creek bed on foot, and a police helicopter from Freemont County circled above the area throughout the afternoon.

Pueblo schools that were placed on lock-down status were Haaff Elementary, Irving Elementary, Morton Elementary, Somerlid Elementary, Freed Middle School, Heaton Middle School, and Centennial High School.

Students we spoke with say they were scared after an announcement was made on the intercom system. Bus services for those schools on lockdown were also stopped until D-60 got word about the suspect's death.

Dive Teams spent the night searching Fountain Creek near the shooting. Sgt Bravo won't says what investigators are looking for, but sources tell NEWSCHANNEL 13 that it could be a 9mm gun Wiggs apparently was carrying with him.

Teams called off the searched about 7:30 Wednesday night after temperatures dropped and the sun was setting. ..News Source.. by News Channel13.com

WA- Spokane standoff ends with suspect dead

12-5-2008 Washington:

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A SWAT team entered the apartment of a suspect to serve a warrant after a six-hour standoff late Thursday night only to find the suspect dead inside.

Investigators don't know how the suspect died yet.

Officers tried to arrest 48-year-old William Leverette around 5 p.m. Thursday, but he refused to come out of his apartment near Trent and Waterworks in East Spokane. After tossing tear gas into the apartment with no effect, police called in the SWAT team.

Police were in contact with Leverette throughout the night, and several times he told officers he was ready to surrender. However, more tear gas was deployed into the apartment after 11 p.m. and Leverette stayed inside. That's when the SWAT team entered and found Leverette dead.

Leverette was wanted on a Dept. of Corrections warrant. Investigators told KREM 2 News he had a history of drug convictions and was also a sex offender. ..News Source.. by King5.com

Death of Greensville prison inmate under investigation, authorities say

2-8-2006 Virginia:

The department's Inspector General's Office is looking into the death of Roosevelt McArthur Lawson, 61, who was found slumped over in a chair in a day room about 7:25 p.m. on Feb. 3, Larry Traylor said. One of Lawson's fellow inmates complained about indifferent treatment toward Lawson by prison medical staff, according to a family member of the inmate. Traylor declined to provide additional details.

After Lawson was discovered, medical staff were called to the scene, Traylor said. Lawson was taken by ambulance to Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center in Emporia where he was pronounced dead shortly before 8:40 p.m., Traylor said.

Lawson's body has been sent to the Medical Examiner's Office in Richmond for an autopsy. Lawson was serving a seven-year sentence for a sexual assault in Charlottesville. ..more.. : by Richmond Times-Dispatch

Prisoner's death raises questions!

11-13-2003 Illinois:

Linda McDowell doesn't ask you to like her brother. She doesn't ask you to pity his impoverished upbringing. She doesn't ask you to excuse his violent crimes. She doesn't ask you to shed any tears. But she does want you to question his death.

Preston McDowell, 35, died last month at a Peoria hospital from injuries suffered at Pontiac Correctional Center. The Illinois State Police are investigating the death, which followed a scuffle with prison guards.

On Oct. 18, McDowell got into a scrap with another inmate in a cell at the maximum-security prison. Guards interceded, and McDowell ended up at a Pontiac hospital. He was soon transferred to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where he died a week later. ..more.. by Phil Luciano

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Sex offender, 35, battered in prison

10-27-2003

Illinois state officials are investigating whether officers at Pontiac Correctional Center severely beat an inmate last week, the Journal Star reported.

Preston McDowell, a 35-year-old repeated sex offender, has been at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria since Saturday. The hospital would not release any information about McDowell; however, sources said his beating was severe, resulting in multiple injuries. Sergio Molina, chief spokesman for the Illinois DOC, declined to talk in detail about McDowell. However, he did say, "This case is currently under investigation."

Sources told the Journal Star that Illinois State Police have been interviewing officers at Pontiac Correctional Center all week and that criminal charges against an unspecified number of officers are possible.

Sources say McDowell threatened another prisoner, and officers soon swarmed the two inmates. McDowell, who stands 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 155 pounds, was repeatedly battered. He was sent to OSF Saint James Medical Center in Pontiac, then transferred to St. Francis.
No one else was injured in the beating. No officers have been suspended.

Pontiac Correctional Center is a maximum-security prison that houses inmates disciplined for infractions while in the custody of the Corrections Department. Some inmates are kept in single cells, while others have one cellmate. All prisoners are confined to cells a minimum of 23 hours a day. Some are allowed an hour of recreation, but troublemakers are kept behind bars around the clock.

Information was unavailable Thursday about McDowell's cell status and in-prison record.

McDowell has been serving time in Pontiac for two crimes. In 1991, he was sentenced in Winnebago County to 15 years' imprisonment for criminal sexual assault with force. In 1994, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for aggravated battery with great bodily harm. That case was adjudicated in Will County, which at the time hosted two state prisons, and the battery could have occurred in prison.

The corrections web site lists his projected parole date as March 17, 2007. It also states he is on "medical furlough." McDowell's prison record also includes a six-year term for deviate sexual assault in Cook County in 1983.

Illinois State Police declined to discuss the investigation. ..Source.. by Peoria Journal Star

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Inmate's death raises questions

1-1-2004:

Convict feared prisoners were going to carry out `a hit' on him because guards wanted him dead

There's no question about how Preston McDowell lived--his own family describes him as a dangerous and troubled man--but little is known about how he died at Pontiac Correctional Center in October.

The Peoria County coroner lists "lack of oxygen to the brain" as the official cause of death, but provides no other information. The Illinois Department of Corrections and the Illinois State Police, who are investigating his death, also offer no explanation for how McDowell, an otherwise healthy man with a few years left on a rape sentence, wound up brain-dead in St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. ..Source.. by Rudolph Bush, Tribune staff reporter.

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Health Care in Illinois Prisons

There are several well-documented cases of prisoners with severe psychiatric problems or mental retardation being physically abused by prison security staff. One well documented case at Pontiac in which the prisoner, Preston McDowell, was beaten to death by guards at Pontiac CC is still under investigation by the Illinois State Police three and a half years later following the determination by a Peoria County Coroner’s Jury that the death was a result of homicide by the guards.

Unless a prisoner dies as a result of a beating, however, there is no independent review of such beatings. Even in the case of another prisoner at Pontiac CC whose severe beating has been well documented by medical staff, there is no internal or independent outside investigation of the crime. ..more.. by

Ronald Herrera: Strange case of infamous criminal ends with his even stranger death

2-13-2004 California:

The strange case of Ronald Herrera, a former resident of Santa Paula who became infamous for not only his violent crime spree but for also being the first person returned to prison under the state’s sexual predator law, became even stranger with his death in Corcoran State Prison.

Herrera, 60, died in his cell. He bled to death in either an act of suicide or criminal negligence by the prison guards who did not respond to Herrera’s screams as they watched the Super Bowl game on television.

Herrera had been returned to prison under the three-strikes law after he was arrested about three years ago in Carpinteria for shoplifting lip balm, breath freshener and wine from a grocery store.

Herrera was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison; he already had 19 serious felonies under his belt

That Herrera was a dangerous criminal there is no doubt: his violent resume included a notorious 1971 home-invasion robbery and rape of a woman and her 15-year-old daughter in Ventura’s Pierpont area where Herrera and accomplices kept the vacationing family members hostage.

Later, Herrera shot a Virginia police officer in the face, a state where he committed six armed robberies after he escaped from jail in California.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa called Herrera, then 57 and living in Oxnard, one of the worst criminals to pass through his courtroom.

“He’s what the three-strikes law is all about. He’s a career criminal,” Deputy District Attorney Darryl Perlin said at the time of Herrera’s conviction.

Herrera has 30 prior convictions - more than half for serious or violent felonies – with his first serious felony, an attempted robbery, in 1965.

In December 1971 he was convicted of four counts of robbery, three of which involved the use of a gun, two counts of forcible rape, and three counts of forcible oral copulation resulting from the Pierpont rapes.

Although Herrera had also received a sentence of 50 years in prison in Virginia, a 1986 mix-up led to his release. He returned to California and was arrested and committed to state prison to serve time on his 1971 convictions.

In 1996, Herrera became eligible for parole, but was classified as a Sexually Violent Predator. After a jury trial, he remained in custody for two more years and again received a two-year sentence thereafter. He was finally released from Atascadero State Hospital in November 2001. He moved to his mother’s home in Carpinteria and in less than 90 days he was in custody for the offenses for which the Santa Barbara County jury convicted him.

Herrera had deliberately or accidently removed his diabetes shunt and covered his Corcoran State Prison cell window with blood-saturated toilet paper while the guards watched the Super Bowl. He reportedly was screaming for hours before his death.

Herrera was found Monday morning slumped over on the floor, lifeless and within days Kings County and state investigators began a probe to determine if his death resulted from criminal negligence. ..more.. by Peggy Kelly, Santa Paula News

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California Prisoner's Gruesome Death Probed

2-5-2004:

Officials want to know if Corcoran guards, who were watching the Super Bowl, were negligent.

FRESNO — All through the night, the howls kept coming from the cell of inmate Ronald Herrera.

More than one guard at Corcoran State Prison thought something was terribly amiss. Herrera wouldn't stop screaming late Sunday, and he had covered his cell window in a curtain of toilet paper soaked in blood.

One guard had seen Herrera, a dialysis patient suffering from hepatitis, pull out the medical shunt from his arm, corrections officials said. But when the guard later tried to check on the inmate, his sergeant told him not to bother, they said. "He's not dead," the sergeant was quoted by officials as saying. "Just keep an eye on him."

The next morning, the howls had given way to silence. As a new shift made its checks, a guard saw what he said looked to be "raspberry Kool-Aid" streaming out from the cell. Inside, he found Herrera slumped over on the floor, lifeless.

Much of the blood had drained from his body, corrections officials said. Blood filled the toilet bowl and washed over the concrete floor of the 8-by-10-foot cell.

On Wednesday, Kings County and state investigators began a probe to determine if Herrera's death resulted from criminal negligence by prison staff too busy watching the Super Bowl.

The probe comes on the heels of state Senate hearings and other revelations that have shone an unflattering light on the state's vast prison system, challenging the new administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Monday, he promised to make reforms and to "clean the place up."

A coroner's autopsy of Herrera had not been completed by early Wednesday, but corrections officials said there were signs that Herrera, a 60-year-old mentally ill burglar and rapist, had been trying to staunch the bleeding with a wad of toilet paper.

It was unclear if Herrera was trying to commit suicide and then changed his mind or if something more sinister happened, corrections officials said. His desperation, they said, played out for nearly 10 hours without any intervention from staff.

Of all the horrors that have taken place at Corcoran State Prison over the last decade, one official said, the death of Herrera was particularly ghastly -- and preventable.

Fearing retaliation for breaking the prison system's pervasive code of silence, the officials requested anonymity. "Corcoran has seen a lot," one said, "but for an inmate to literally bleed out his body, it was one of the goriest crime scenes."

A media spokesman for the prison said he could not comment on the case because of an ongoing investigation.

Steve Fama of the watchdog Prison Law Office said he doubted whether the Kings County district attorney's office would hold staff accountable. He noted that Dist. Atty. Ron Calhoun had been elected in 1998 partly on the strength of financial support from the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., the union representing state prison guards.

When it's this serious, you want an aggressive, independent investigation," Fama said. "I'm not sure if the district attorney in Kings County is capable of that given the significant role that the CCPOA played in his election."

Patrick Hart, Kings County's chief deputy prosecutor, acknowledged that his office had a "fairly good working relationship" with the guards union, but he said it would not hinder the independence of the probe.

"We're not satisfied with the written reports we've gotten so far from staff," he said. "One of the things we're looking at is whether staff knew he was in trouble and failed to take the proper steps."

Herrera's case is only the latest in a series of inmate deaths at Corcoran that have raised questions about the correctional system's care of mentally ill patients and its response to suicide attempts.

In December 1998, a Corcoran inmate who had been taken off suicide watch was seen hanging in a dark corner of his cell. But rather than pop open the cell door and determine if he was alive, guards remained outside for 18 minutes while 32-year-old Michael van Straaten dangled from a noose made of bedsheets and shoelaces. When officers finally did enter and cut him loose, he was dead but his body was still warm, according to prison reports.

Two years later, on Christmas Day, an inmate with three suicide attempts succeeded in killing himself in the prison's Security Housing Unit. A lawsuit filed by the family of 26-year-old Thomas Mansfield alleged that staff negligence had allowed the suicide and that guards tried to cover up the incident by doctoring the record of cell checks. Last year, the state settled the case out of court.

And just a week before Herrera's death, corrections officials said, three inmates in the Security Housing Unit entered into a suicide pact to protest what they called brutality by Corcoran guards. One inmate, "Tiny" Walton, went through with the pact and hanged himself.

"What I've found is the so-called suicide watch is a joke," said Bob Navarro, a Fresno attorney who represented Mansfield's family and has filed suit in a recent suicide at the women's prison in Chowchilla. "The cells are not being checked according to written procedure."

A detailed account of Herrera's medical condition and death was provided by two corrections officials. Herrera was taking mood-altering medication at the time, but had not been seen by a psychiatric case manager since December. They said that violates prison policy, which dictates a one-on-one clinical evaluation every 30 days. ..Source.. by Mark Arax | Times Staff Writer

Elderly inmate starved to death

3-15-2004 California:

03-15) 04:00 PDT Fresno -- For two months, guards and medical staff at a California state prison failed to provide meals or emergency care to an elderly inmate dying of malnutrition, according to inmate accounts given to a state senator.

In the days before 72-year-old Khem Singh starved to death at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran last month, fellow inmates said, they alerted guards to his grave condition and filed official complaints about his mistreatment.

But no medical help was provided, even as it became clear to inmates that Singh, a Sikh priest from India who spoke no English and was crippled, had become emaciated and intent on killing himself.

One inmate wrote a letter to state Sen. Gloria Romero, a Los Angeles Democrat, pleading that she intervene, but it arrived a few days after Singh's death on Feb. 16. The inmate alleged that a guard had brutalized Singh in early December, and that Singh was so afraid of a second assault that he hadn't left his cell for meals or medical appointments for nearly 60 days.

The letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times describes a frail and wheelchair-bound Singh -- whose 2001 conviction for sexual molestation in Stanislaus County brought him great shame in the Sikh community -- committing slow suicide. His weight had dropped from 110 pounds to 80.

Prison officials said Friday that they would talk to the inmates and review their letters and complaints as part of a growing investigation into Singh's death. The case coincides with increased scrutiny of California's vast prison system, which is riddled with accusations of brutality, coverups, fraud and poor medical care.

At Corcoran, Singh's condition took a turn for the worse early this year. Some guards went to the prison's medical staff to express their own concerns, according to Romero, but logbooks show that no medical technician, nurse or doctor followed up and treated him in his cell.

"Mr. Singh has not left his cell to go to eat -- not once," the inmate wrote to Romero in a Feb. 11 letter. "They do not bring him any food. None. I smuggle bread back. -- Mr. Singh is gentle, polite. I am ashamed it took me so long to speak out."

The guard who supervised the cellblock -- the same one suspected of having assaulted Singh -- is alleged to have told another inmate not to bother speaking out on behalf of the starving inmate. "Forget it; he's going to die," the inmate quoted the guard as telling him, according to Romero. ..more.. by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times

Son accused of killing father with hammer in Green Bay: Allegedly father confessed molestation!

5-7-2004 Wisconsin:

A man accused of beating his father to death with a hammer faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. A criminal complaint was filed in Brown County Circuit Court Thursday against Matthew Bradley, 23, in the death of his 57-year-old father, Terrance Bradley.

Police were sent to the father's apartment early Wednesday after a neighbor reported hearing a dispute and someone pleading for his life. When no one answered the door, officers forced their way inside and found the victim fatally wounded. The son was huddled in the shower, covered with blood, police said. A bloody claw hammer was found on the bathroom floor. No one else was in the apartment.

The complaint quotes Matthew Bradley, who has a young son, as saying he "freaked out" when his father told him of molesting the boy. "All I know is that he molested my son, that's all I'm going to say," he told an officer on the way to the police station, according to the complaint. Police Lt. Bill Galvin said his department was not aware of any molestation allegations against Terrance Bradley. ..more.. by Associated Press