Dad charged after 5-year-old son shoots himself with illegal gun (Bronx, New York)

Dad is identified as DENNY PANTOJA.

http://longisland.news12.com/news/denny-pantoja-charged-after-son-accidentally-shoots-himself-with-his-illegal-gun-1.4702021?firstfree=yes

Denny Pantoja charged after son accidentally shoots himself with his illegal gun

Published: February 24, 2013 1:14 PM

MOTT HAVEN - A Bronx father has been charged after his young son accidentally shot himself at their Mott Haven apartment.

Denny Pantoja, 33, has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and endangering his child. His 5-year-old son was injured when he shot himself in the shoulder while playing with Pantoja's illegal gun.

The boy remains in stable condition at Lincoln Hospital.

Boy, 4, kills himself with Dad's stolen gun (Houston, Texas)

Dad is identified as MARQUIEZ DESHON PRATT.

http://www.ktxs.com/news/Boy-4-kills-himself-with-father-s-stolen-gun/-/14769632/19076846/-/3nrf91/-/index.html

Boy, 4, kills himself with father's stolen gun

POSTED: 38 mins

HOUSTON (AP) - A suspected drug dealer has been arrested for the death of his 4-year-old son who Houston authorities say picked up his father's gun and shot himself.

Police determined the gun had been stolen in a burglary two years ago.

Twenty-year-old Marquiez Deshon Pratt is being held Monday under $50,000 bond on charges of injury to a child by omission and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. A court appearance is set for Tuesday.

Investigators said Pratt was asleep Sunday when his son, Jaiden, picked up the .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol that was nearby and shot himself in the stomach.

Pratt was outside his apartment when police arrived, handed the boy to officers and ran back inside. Police who chased him found marijuana, crack cocaine, scales and other items.

Dad charged with kidnapping and assault; fired gun into van, held son hostage during police standoff (Dayton, Ohio)

My general rule of thumb: any parent who abducts a child in a hail of gunfire does not have the best interests of the child in mind.

But I'm sure the fathers rights brigade will defend this poor non-custodial dad anyway. He just wanted to see his son!!! It was just an "argument" over visitation with that gatekeeping mother!!!

Bull crap. Daddy DEWAYNE WILLS is an abusive control freak criminal who "allegedly" FIRED A GUN INTO A VAN that contained HIS OWN DAUGHTER. He then HELD HIS SON HOSTAGE during a classic daddy drama POLICE STANDOFF. And it's not the first time Daddy has abducted this child before. This daddy is a menace who needs to be taken off the streets before somebody gets killed. The mother had EVERY RIGHT to want to keep this crazy loose cannon away from her child. In fact, it was the responsible thing to do.

http://www.whiotv.com/news/29029885/detail.html

Not Guilty Plea In Child Abduction Case
Posted: 4:33 pm EDT August 30, 2011

DAYTON, Ohio -- A non-custodial father accused of taking his son and prompting an Amber Alert, was arraigned on charges Tuesday.

The court entered a not guilt y plea on behalf of Dewayne Wills. He was indicted on multiple charges including kidnapping, inducing panic and assault.

Last month, police said Wills and the boy's mother argued over visitation and Wills took the child. They said he even fired gunshots at a van filled with family members, including his own daughter.

It took officers 22 hours to track Wills down and then he held police at bay in a standoff for about an hour.

The boy was not hurt.

Police said Wills was involved in a similar abduction of his son in 2009.

Dad abducts 2-year-old son after firing shots at boy's mother (Los Angeles, California)

ERNESTO SUAREZ: the latest poster boy for violent daddy drama....

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18636208

LAPD: Man takes toddler son, fires on boy's mother
The Associated Press
Posted: 08/07/2011 08:36:17 PM PDT

Los Angeles police say a man abducted his 2-year-old son and fired shots at the boy's mother and her brother as he fled, spurring a frantic search and public alerts before the father returned the child unharmed seven hours later.

The LAPD said in a statement Sunday that 24-year-old Ernesto Suarez was arguing with the boy's mother in Sun Valley at about 12:30 p.m. Sunday when he grabbed the toddler and ran.

Police say Suarez pulled out a gun and fired at the mother and her brother when they chased him, but they were not hurt.

Police searched for Suarez and his Honda Accord for much of the day, but he turned himself in and handed over the toddler at a downtown police station at about 7:30 p.m.

Dad shoots girlfriend, murders toddler son; neighbors say he's "nice"? (Fountain, Colorado)

Let's see here. We have a freaking idiot who shot his girlfriend, his son's mother, as she was fleeing their home. She is currently in critical condition. Then dad GAMMAL PEREZ decided to up the Daddy Drama to a new level, by starting a standoff with the police--all while he has his todder son with him. And for his finale, he shot the son to death before offing himself.

And all the neighbors can say is that Daddy (and the family) "seemed nice"?

Puke. Two out of the three were nice. One was a rotten S.O.B.

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=619159

Neighbors react to Fountain murder-suicide Posted: 05.17.2011 at 8:47 PM Updated: 05.18.2011 at 5:10 AM

FOUNTAIN, COLO. -- Fountain police are continuing their investigation into the standoff turned murder-suicide in Fountain that left one man and his young son dead Monday.

Sources have identified the father as Gammal Perez, who was found shot to death near his toddler, Gavin. The two were found inside a home located at 7924 Gate Post Lane following a seven hour standoff with authorities. Perez barricaded himself and his son inside the home after police say he shot his girlfriend as she was running from the house. The El Paso County Sheriff has confirmed the woman shot is Shannon Paolini, a financial specialist at the sheriff's office. Paolini is in critical condition at a local hospital.

Neighbors in the area are shocked and saddened by yesterday's events. Though few knew the victims personally, many say they seemed like a happy family.

"They seemed so nice," Carolyn Williams said. "It is all so sad, very sad."

One day after tragedy struck on Gate Post Lane, residents still do not understand what drove a father to kill his son and shoot his girlfriend.

"If they had problems, they kept it inside," David Cooper said. "They never came outside arguing, at least not loud. No hints, that I received said something was going wrong."

Residents say this is not the first time something like this has happened in their neighborhood. That has some neighbors, like Williams, second guessing where they call home.

"It doesn't sit well with me, being a mom and have a 2-year-old daughter," Williams said. "There was a SWAT team here a few months ago, and it's not like it is a bad neighborhood, I guess you just got to know your neighbors. I want to move."

Other neighbors agreed and said they are looking to move their families, but Cooper disagrees. He says crime is going to happen no matter where you live.

"We like the area," he said. "We realize things are going to happen. But it is what it is."

While feeling safe in the neighborhood has residents on both sides of the fence, all hope for the best for Shannon Paolini.

"I wish her a speedy recovery," Cooper said. "I hope she pulls through, and I give her and her family my condolences."

"If the mom does pull through, I feel for her," Williams said. "She is going to wake up and realize her son is not there, and I can't imagine what that feels like."

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office released this statement Tuesday:

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office would like to send out some information regarding our friend and co-worker, Shannon Paolini. She has been employed with us since August 2007, and is a Financial Services Specialist. She is in critical condition at a local hospital and is fighting for her life. She is surrounded by friends and family.

Shannon is an amazing lady. She is never seen at work without a smile. Shannon’s greatest joy is her son and her family. She enjoys physical fitness, dancing, and spending time with family and friends. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is providing any and all assistance we can to Shannon and her family. In the near future we will be working to start a fund in Shannon’s name to assist her family with the financial struggles they will be facing in the future. We appreciate the kind words, thoughts and prayers from our community.

Sheriff Terry Maketa said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Shannon, and all friends and family affected by these senseless and tragic events. We also recognize the loss felt by the family of the suspect and the loss of an innocent child.”

More details on the tragedy are expected to be released Wednesday, following the autopsies of Perez and his son.

"Mystery" plagues dad's murder spree; mom, four children slaughtered and buried (Paris, France)

Dad XAVIER DUPONT DE LIGONNES sounds like a classic psychopath to me. Typical treatment here of a killer daddy. It's not really HIS fault, see. It's really that his mother was too religious. Right. Pure unsubstantiated nonsense at this point, but that doesn't stop all the mommy-blaming speculation, does it?  

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Mystery-plagues-French-dads-family-murders-20110511

Mystery plagues French dad's murder spree
2011-05-11 13:18

Paris - Cold-hearted killer or crazed cultist? As French police issued an international arrest warrant for a fugitive father, more clues emerged as to why he might have slaughtered all five of his family.

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, a 50-year-old businessman from an aristocratic family, is suspected of the murders of his wife and their four children, who were found buried under the terrace of the family's elegant townhouse.

Each had been a victim of what French prosecutors described as a "methodical execution", with two bullets fired from a silenced weapon, at close range, to their heads, before they were rolled in lime and buried under cement.

Following the killings - thought to have taken place between April 3 and 6 at the home in the western city of Nantes - the father settled the children's school fees, wrote letters to friends and eventually went on the run.

No trace of father

He is known to have stayed in a hotel in the southern Var region on April 15 and to have abandoned the family car there, but there has been no trace of him since and on Tuesday prosecutors issued an arrest warrant.

"Of course he is still presumed innocent, but this warrant from a judge is the equivalent of the opening of a criminal enquiry," explained local Nantes chief prosecutor Xavier de Ronsin, announcing an international manhunt.

"At this stage of the judicial inquiry, the gravity of the charges facing him, and the suspicion that he was the perpetrator of five murders, legally justifies this change in his status in the case," he said.

Ronsin said police had investigated 330 reported sightings of the fugitive around Europe, but had not yet found any of them convincing, and added that they had no concrete reason to suspect he had fled abroad.

Respected, well-heeled family

Nantes residents were shocked by the murders, which destroyed a respected and well-heeled family which had no history of odd or criminal behaviour and was involved in the work of the local Catholic diocese.

Dupont de Ligonnes told his teenage children's private Catholic high school that he had been transferred to a job in Australia. He told friends that he was a US secret agent and was being taken into a witness protection programme.

Such claims led to speculation that he had had some kind of mental crisis before snapping and killing his family, but since his disappearance evidence has emerged of the suspect's peculiar religious background.

In Nantes, the family were seen as mainstream, traditionalist Catholics, and the slain mother Agnes was a volunteer in church activities and education.

But it has emerged that in the 1960s the suspected killer's own mother, Genevieve Dupont de Ligonnes, founded a closed prayer group known as "Philadelphia" which is suspected of sect-like activities.

Strange cult beliefs

Georges Fenech, the head of Miviludes -- the French state's cult-monitoring agency - told AFP the group collected money from followers, claimed to receive direct messages from Jesus Christ and had a mystical apocalyptic bent.

"Xavier grew up as a child alongside his mother, at the time his mother was setting up this prayer group," he said. "He was doubtless surrounded by this very mystical, fearful atmosphere."

In 1994 members of the sect gathered in Rennes, fearing that the end of the world was upon them, and support groups for the victims of cult recruitment say psychiatric hospitals have been forced to treat many former adepts.

Evidence of cold-hearted slaughter

But, while the mystic angle has added a layer of mystery to the murders, investigators have not yet confirmed it played a role. Other evidence points more to a cold-blooded slaughter than a religious frenzy.

Dupont de Ligonnes joined a gun club to learn how to shoot in December and obtained a permit to own a weapon on February 2, shortly after inheriting a .22 calibre rifle on the death of his father.

On March 12 he bought a silencer and ammunition, and on April 1 and 2 he collected cement, lime, a spade and a hoe.

Investigators think he killed his wife and his teenage children on April 3 or 4. He dined with his adult son, 20-year-old Thomas, near his university on April 4. Thomas came to Nantes the next day and died that day or the next.

Abnormal writing style

On April 11, the children's school received a cheque for outstanding fees, and the suspect's friends and his sister Christine received bizarre letters explaining his flight.

"He says he is taking part in a trial in the United States involving international drug traffickers," said Christine's lawyer Stephane Goldenstein.

"It's an enigmatic and preposterous letter in which he pretends to be an undercover agent," he continued.

"He adds: 'When you read this we will no longer be French citizens, but American residents living under new identities.'

"He gives instructions to friends to gather his things and recover money and kitchen appliances."

Goldenstein said the letter was type-written without the spelling mistakes that Xavier often made in emails, and added the family was not convinced it came from her son.

"His mother is convinced he is innocent," he added.

Ronsin's investigating team has been reinforced by several dozen specialist officers. The manhunt continues.

"Mystery" plagues dad's murder spree; mom, four children slaughtered and buried (Paris, France)

Dad XAVIER DUPONT DE LIGONNES sounds like a classic psychopath to me.

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Mystery-plagues-French-dads-family-murders-20110511

Mystery plagues French dad's murder spree
2011-05-11 13:18

Paris - Cold-hearted killer or crazed cultist? As French police issued an international arrest warrant for a fugitive father, more clues emerged as to why he might have slaughtered all five of his family.

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, a 50-year-old businessman from an aristocratic family, is suspected of the murders of his wife and their four children, who were found buried under the terrace of the family's elegant townhouse.

Each had been a victim of what French prosecutors described as a "methodical execution", with two bullets fired from a silenced weapon, at close range, to their heads, before they were rolled in lime and buried under cement.

Following the killings - thought to have taken place between April 3 and 6 at the home in the western city of Nantes - the father settled the children's school fees, wrote letters to friends and eventually went on the run.

No trace of father

He is known to have stayed in a hotel in the southern Var region on April 15 and to have abandoned the family car there, but there has been no trace of him since and on Tuesday prosecutors issued an arrest warrant.

"Of course he is still presumed innocent, but this warrant from a judge is the equivalent of the opening of a criminal enquiry," explained local Nantes chief prosecutor Xavier de Ronsin, announcing an international manhunt.

"At this stage of the judicial inquiry, the gravity of the charges facing him, and the suspicion that he was the perpetrator of five murders, legally justifies this change in his status in the case," he said.

Ronsin said police had investigated 330 reported sightings of the fugitive around Europe, but had not yet found any of them convincing, and added that they had no concrete reason to suspect he had fled abroad.

Respected, well-heeled family

Nantes residents were shocked by the murders, which destroyed a respected and well-heeled family which had no history of odd or criminal behaviour and was involved in the work of the local Catholic diocese.

Dupont de Ligonnes told his teenage children's private Catholic high school that he had been transferred to a job in Australia. He told friends that he was a US secret agent and was being taken into a witness protection programme.

Such claims led to speculation that he had had some kind of mental crisis before snapping and killing his family, but since his disappearance evidence has emerged of the suspect's peculiar religious background.

In Nantes, the family were seen as mainstream, traditionalist Catholics, and the slain mother Agnes was a volunteer in church activities and education.

But it has emerged that in the 1960s the suspected killer's own mother, Genevieve Dupont de Ligonnes, founded a closed prayer group known as "Philadelphia" which is suspected of sect-like activities.

Strange cult beliefs

Georges Fenech, the head of Miviludes -- the French state's cult-monitoring agency - told AFP the group collected money from followers, claimed to receive direct messages from Jesus Christ and had a mystical apocalyptic bent.

"Xavier grew up as a child alongside his mother, at the time his mother was setting up this prayer group," he said. "He was doubtless surrounded by this very mystical, fearful atmosphere."

In 1994 members of the sect gathered in Rennes, fearing that the end of the world was upon them, and support groups for the victims of cult recruitment say psychiatric hospitals have been forced to treat many former adepts.

Evidence of cold-hearted slaughter

But, while the mystic angle has added a layer of mystery to the murders, investigators have not yet confirmed it played a role. Other evidence points more to a cold-blooded slaughter than a religious frenzy.

Dupont de Ligonnes joined a gun club to learn how to shoot in December and obtained a permit to own a weapon on February 2, shortly after inheriting a .22 calibre rifle on the death of his father.

On March 12 he bought a silencer and ammunition, and on April 1 and 2 he collected cement, lime, a spade and a hoe.

Investigators think he killed his wife and his teenage children on April 3 or 4. He dined with his adult son, 20-year-old Thomas, near his university on April 4. Thomas came to Nantes the next day and died that day or the next.

Abnormal writing style

On April 11, the children's school received a cheque for outstanding fees, and the suspect's friends and his sister Christine received bizarre letters explaining his flight.

"He says he is taking part in a trial in the United States involving international drug traffickers," said Christine's lawyer Stephane Goldenstein.

"It's an enigmatic and preposterous letter in which he pretends to be an undercover agent," he continued.

"He adds: 'When you read this we will no longer be French citizens, but American residents living under new identities.'

"He gives instructions to friends to gather his things and recover money and kitchen appliances."

Goldenstein said the letter was type-written without the spelling mistakes that Xavier often made in emails, and added the family was not convinced it came from her son.

"His mother is convinced he is innocent," he added.

Ronsin's investigating team has been reinforced by several dozen specialist officers. The manhunt continues.

Who killed who again??? (Bonneville County, Idaho)

Good lawd this is confusing. Why don't they simply say that dad GAYLIN LEIMORE murdered his two kids and their mom after she left his sorry @$$? And who was the second woman? Mom's sister? We haven't figured that out yet either? Honestly....

Hat tip to E.

http://www.kpvi.com/story.php?id=43025&n=15206

UPDATE: Man Behind Ammon Murder-Suicide Identified
Page Last Updated: Friday May 13, 2011 4:04pm MDT
By: KPVI News 6

UPDATE:

The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office has identified the man they say killed two adult women and two children.

Sgt. Jeff Edwards says Gaylin Leirmoe, 26, entered the home in the 4300 block of Amber Lane and killed Michelle Kern, 22, Melinda Kern, 19, and two boys ages three and one.

Leirmoe, from Iowa, then set the basement of the home on fire and turned the gun on himself committing suicide.

Sgt. Edwards also identified Leirmoe and Michelle Kern as the parents of the two young boys. Sgt. Edwards adds that Leirmoe and Kern had been separated for several months prior to this occurrence.

UPDATE:

We're learning more Friday afternoon about the relationship between the man who killed himself and the four others who were found dead in the Ammon home.

Sgt. Jeff Edwards identified the man as the father of one of two children whose bodies were discovered following an early morning house fire at 4335 Amber Lane. The children have not been identified but KPVI News Six has learned that the two women who also died in the early morning incident were Michelle Kern, 22, and Melinda Kern, 19.

UPDATE:

The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate Friday morning's house fire at 4335 Amber Lane in Ammon but say the deaths may have been the result of a murder/suicide and not the blaze.

Sgt. Jeff Edwards says once deputies entered the home, they found an adult male unconscious and breathing who had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to EIRMC where he later died. His name has not been released.

Those same deputies later found the bodies of two adult females, Michelle Kern, 22 and Melinda Kern, 19, and two small children, ages 3 and 1. All appeared to have gunshot wounds as well.

Neighbors tell KPVI News Six that Michelle and her young children lived at the home with her parents who are out of town as her father is undergoing treatment for cancer. Neighbors also say Melinda did not live at the home, but was simply visiting overnight.

PREVIOUS STORY:

Investigators are still on the scene of an early morning house fire in Ammon that claimed the life of five people.

Officials have confirmed that two children, 2 adult females, and one adult male were all killed in the early morning blaze at 4335 East Amber Lane. When crews arrived on the scene, the adult male was still breathing and was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Multiple units from Idaho Falls, Ammon, and Bonneville County all responded to the home just before 3:00 a.m. Friday.

Dispatchers say the call came in around 2:40 a.m. and when crews arrived they found smoke coming from the front door. Firefighters on the scene told KPVI News 6 that the blaze was isolated to the basement and a stairway area.

Division Chief Dorin Howard says the fire was isolated and caused about $30,000 worth of damage. The identities of the five victims have not been released by authorities.

Dad guns down toddler son, baby girl, ex-girflriend, and her sister (Salmon, Idaho)

Contrast the headline of this article to the one in the post directly below. This one, which concerns a familicide in Idaho as reported in the U.K., manages to get capture the picture accurately. That dad GAYLIN LEIMORE shot and killed the mother of their two children, the two children, and the mother's sister. Unlike the one from Canada, that refers to the "alleged" custodial father killer as just a "man," which is misleading as to the nature of the crime.

Hat tip to Annie.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387028/Gunman-father-murders-son-3-estranged-girlfriend-sister-killing-himself.html

Father guns down his toddler son, baby girl, ex-girlfriend and her sister before shooting himself
By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 2:42 PM on 14th May 2011

A father has killed his two young children, their mother and her sister before turning the gun on himself.

Gaylin Leirmoe shot his estranged partner, 22-year-old Michelle Kern, their three-year-old son Jack and his younger sibling. Miss Kern's younger sister, Melinda, 19, was also killed in early morning attack on Friday.

Leirmoe then set fire to the family home before shooting himself in the head in a quiet neighbourhood in Salmon, Idaho.

Worried neighbours heard a disturbance and called police after spotting flames and smoke billowing from the home.

Sergeant Jeff Edwards from Bonneville County Sheriff's office said police were treating the incident as a murder-suicide.

'It was a murder-suicide, there is no doubt about it,' said Sgt Edwards.

It is not yet known why Leirmoe, 26, shot his family but it is believed he turned up unannounced at the home early on Friday morning.

Officers said they were horrified by the scene and said they discovered Leirmoe alive and suffering from a head wound.

He was rushed to a hospital in Idaho Falls, where he later died. The rest of the family were found dead on arrival.

Firefighters were left to tackle the blaze but easily extinguished the flames which were confined to the basement and stairwell.

Miss Kerr, who is originally from Dubuque, Iowa, moved to the area in 2008 and was in a relationship with Leirmoe who she fondly referred to as fuzzy on her Myspace page.

The couple had two children together but it is not known exactly how old the younger child is. She worked as a waitress and described herself as a 'proud parent'.

The incident has left people in Ammon, a city of 14,000, shocked because of a usually low crime rate.

Dad killed by police during police standoff; had been holding 7-year-old daughter hostage at gunpoint (Manchester, New Hampshire)

Though it's not spelled out here, dad JAMES BRETON apparently had visitation, since Mom had called the police for a welfare check.  Notice that there was a complaint that Daddy had sexually abused a teenager. Well, Daddy started waving a handgun at the police and before you knew it, the Daddy Drama just got more and more intense. Finally, the police shot and killed Daddy.

But why did this idiot have visitation to start with? Oh right. Any freaking father, no matter how nutty or volatile, gets visitation these days--just so long as he has a pulse.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/27839520/detail.html

Mother: Man Killed In Standoff Was ScaredGirl Was Held Hostage By Manchester Man, Police Say
POSTED: 11:28 am EDT May 10, 2011

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The mother of the 7-year-old girl New Hampshire held hostage by her father during a standoff with police in Manchester said he kept the child away from the apartment windows and cried at times.

Laura Gardner told WMUR-TV her daughter told her James Breton was scared, and may have been too afraid to open the door to let the girl go.

Breton was shot and killed by a state police officer on Saturday. The girl was in another room and was not hurt.

The standoff started Thursday after officers said they went to check on the child's welfare and were met by Breton, who waved a handgun and made threatening statements.

Gardner said police went to the apartment after receiving a complaint alleging that Breton sexually abused a teenager.

Former custodial dad kills ex-wife, father-in-law after losing custody (Costa Mesa, California)

Yup, just another one of those poor, misunderstood daddies. He was depraved because he was deprived, don't you know.

Here's the real deal. Once again, we have an abusive father, ROBERT ALLAN LEHMAN who used custody issues as a tool for tormenting his ex-wife (e.g. domestic abuse by proxy). His wife feared for her safety because of his "temper"--and had in fact APPLIED for a restraining order (which she apparently didn't receive or that fact would have been noted here. In retrospect, will the authorities admit that they effed up?) And yet Daddy GOT CUSTODY ANYWAY. Of course. Despite all the FR lies to the contrary, abusive fathers are remarkably successful in getting their way.

So who gave this double killer custody of a young special needs girl? Don't look for the press to tell you. Wouldn't want to embarass a judge or any of the minions of court whores out there.

So apparently at some point, somebody decided that it was insane to leave a vulnerable child in the care of this goofball who couldn't even bother to show up for family court. Arrogance and entitlement does that to you, unfortunately. So custody was changed back to the mother.

Well, Daddy wasn't having any of that. Must have control! Even if we have to do it in a Big Bloody Daddy Drama! If the mother had to be slaughtered in a barrage of gun fire to keep her away from her child, so be it! And her father too! And at a scene outside a school where many other innocent people could have been hurt, including children! After all, other people would just be collateral damage to a narcissistic killer like Daddy, wouldn't they?

Again, why was Daddy coddled by the system? This is no unforseeable "tragedy." There were red flags all over the place with this guy. All of which were ignored until it was too late. And now two people are dead. And a little girl is motherless.

Hat tip to Annie.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-299051--.html

Published: May 4, 2011
Updated: May 5, 2011 7:23 a.m.
Police: Man missed custody hearing, killed 2By CINDY CARCAMO, SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

COSTA MESA – A man is suspected of shooting and killing his ex-wife and her father shortly after losing custody of his 7-year-old daughter Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Emily Ford, left, and Russell Ford. Police said Robert Allan Lehmann, 36, opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun, killing the father and daughter in view of neighbors and parents picking up their children at a school near the home at the 3400 block of Santa Clara Circle.

According to court records, Robert Allan Lehmann, 36, had been embroiled in a dispute with his ex-wife, Emily Ford, 32, for about two years, arguing over attorney fees, custody and to what school they would send their special-needs 7-year-old daughter.

Records show Lehmann and Ford were scheduled to appear in family court Tuesday morning, but Lehmann did not show up. The court hearing was pushed back to 4 p.m., but records show Lehmann again failed to show up.

Costa Mesa police said the shooting occurred about two hours later, after Lehmann lost custody of his daughter. Ford and her father, Russell Ford, 62, drove to Lehmann's home to pick up the girl.

Police said Lehmann opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun, killing the father and daughter in view of neighbors and parents picking up their children at a school near the home at the 3400 block of Santa Clara Circle.

Officers went to the home after receiving calls that shots had been fired, said Lt. Bryan Glass. One of the calls reporting the shooting came from Lehmann, who called police shortly after the shooting.

Witnesses said they heard 10 to 15 shots, some of which hit cars parked in front of the home.

“If it weren't for the cars in front of here I'd be dead right now,” said Yara Oliveira, director of the school, adding that children were playing outdoors in a grassy area when the shooting occurred. “It was horrible. Horrible.”

Anup Poudyal was picking up his 2-year-old boy at the time. When he heard the shots, he grabbed his boy and ran inside.

“The kids were playing outside in the grass when this happened,” Poudyal said. “That's the scary part.”

His car, a Honda Pilot, was hit by a bullet.

Jim Gosliga said he was helping a friend's son move into the neighborhood when he heard shots. He walked outside and saw a man in the driveway of the home, reloading a gun.

“He just kind of came out, and I saw him point down and fire off some shots,” he said.

Gosliga asked people to call police, and noticed that the man also was talking on a phone. He said the man appeared unsteady.

“He had taken something because he was all woozy,” Gosliga said. “I asked him what it was and he said it didn't matter.”

Frank Bettner, a neighbor, said he saw the man talking on the phone shortly after hearing shots.

“I asked him if he shot somebody. He said, 'Yes, I did,' “ Bettner said. “He was just very calm.”

Bettner said he walked inside the home and found a handgun on a nightstand, near the door. He picked up the weapon with a piece of clothing, he said, and emptied the clip.

Investigators returned to the home at the 3400 block of Santa Clara Circle Wednesday morning to continue to piece together more details that led to the killing of the father and daughter, said Sgt. Darrel Rainey.

A large yellow tarp used by police to cover the gruesome scene remained in place near the driveway of the home, near where neighbors said they saw the man point toward the ground and fire.

Bloodstains remained on the sidewalk.

Despite early reports that the couple's 7-year-old daughter was inside the home, police said Wednesday that she was not in the house when the shooting took place. She was with her stepmother nearby, police said. She is now in the custody of relatives.

Ford's baby, who is not related to Lehmann, was found inside a parked car. The baby's father has taken custody of the baby, Glass said.

Lehmann remains in the custody of Costa Mesa police, Glass said, and has been booked on suspicion of two counts of murder with special circumstances.

Court records show Lehmann and Ford were married for about 10 months before being legally separated. In August 2009, the legal battle intensified, with the couple fighting over custody, legal fees and where their daughter would go to school.

In October 2004, records show Ford applied for a restraining order.

“He has an inability to control his temper, and I fear for our safety when he loses it,” she wrote in the order.

When arguing with Lehmann, Ford sometimes turned to her father, asking for help and to pick her up, records show.

Shortly after August 2009, Ford applied for sole custody of their daughter.

Dad sentenced for breaking into "estranged" wife's home, shooting her (Murietta, California)

This was not a custody dispute! This father, JOSE DE JESUS CARDON ALCALA, BROKE INTO HIS "ESTRANGED" WIFE'S HOUSE and SHOT HER in the stomach before abducting their 5-year-old daughter. Given that this daddy is obviously a violent man, this is clearly more than a case of two people being "at odds" over a custody matter. Why does the media treat a violent crime the same as a quibble? They're NOT the same.

Once again, however, we see that violent fathers use child custody "disputes" as a way to continue to harrass and batter their partners. Even though the reporter fails to make that connection.

But notice that the father's "illegal" status is prominently mentioned. Even though it's irrelevant to the story. Immigration status has nothing to do with domestic violence. But the fact that it's mentioned in the very first sentence implies that it is.

http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/55780/

Man Sentenced for Shooting Wife During Custody DisputeFriday, April 22nd, 2011
Issue 16, Volume 15.

MURRIETA - An illegal immigrant who shot and wounded his estranged wife in Temecula during a custody dispute was sentenced today to nine years in prison.

Jose De Jesus Cardon Alcala, 39, pleaded guilty last month to one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during a felony in the attack on then-43-year-old Marta De Ochoa on Aug. 23, 2008.

Alcala had been scheduled to go on trial on charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, spousal abuse, burglary and multiple gun and great bodily injury allegations when a plea deal was reached with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Superior Court Judge Mark Mandio sentenced the defendant to the maximum term allowed and ordered him to pay $49,189 in victim restitution.

According to sheriff's investigators, Alcala broke into his estranged wife's residence in the 43100 block of Corte Cabrera in the pre-dawn hours. The two had been at odds over a number of issues, including custody of their daughter, then-5-year-old Kaylee Jocelyn Cardona.

After forcing his way into her bedroom, Alcala shot his estranged wife in the stomach and snatched Kaylee, according to sheriff's officials. He fled north with the girl, heading to Rosamond in Kern County, where he had relatives, investigators said.

An Amber Alert was broadcast statewide, providing information to the public about Alcala's vehicle. That afternoon, Kaylee was found unharmed at a family member's home in Rosamond.

A short time later, Kern County sheriff's deputies spotted Alcala dining at a nearby fast-food restaurant and arrested him without incident.

Ochoa underwent surgery and survived her wounds. She and her daughter were reunited the next day.

Alcala was initially charged with kidnapping, but that count was dismissed for lack of evidence following a June 2009 preliminary hearing. He faces deportation after serving his prison sentence.

Dad who claims 2-year-old son shot, killed his mom loses custody; family doubts dad's story (Miami, Florida)

Dad TROY BAILEY SR's cover story has struck me as phony from the very beginning.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/04/24/2011-04-24_father_who_claims_2yearold_shot_killed_his_mother_loses_custody_of_child_as_fami.html#ixzz1KXQ5BpB7

Father who claims 2-year-old shot, killed his mother, loses custody of child as family doubts story
BY Meena Hartenstein
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, April 24th 2011, 9:57 PM

A Florida man who claims his two-year-old accidentally killed his mother is now barred from seeing the child.

A judge removed Troy Bailey Jr. from father Troy Bailey Sr.'s custody after the man claimed the toddler grabbed his gun on Wednesday and fatally shot his mother Julia Bennett, 33.

Police responded to the scene after Bailey Sr. called 911, where witnesses said they examined the child.

"They took him back there under the tree, then they swabbed his mouth and checked his hands for gun powder," neighbor Naomi Williams told WSVN-TV.

Bailey Sr. told police he mistakenly left his weapon out in reach of the little boy while visiting Bennett's home, but neighbors and family members don't believe his story.

"We're not buying it," Bennett's uncle Hugh Pearce told the Miami Herald. "We just don't think it happened that way... But we want to see police finish their investigation."

"He was little. Everybody was saying that he couldn't do it," neighbor Abel Hernandez told the TV station. "A kid can't pull the trigger."

"I'm not saying he didn't do it but if he did, he's a strong little boy," Williams said.

In a court hearing on Friday, Lisa Glick of Children's Legal Services argued the child should be removed from Bailey Sr.'s care because "BSO [Broward Sheriff's Office] has been unable to reach the father at this time and does not currently know where he his," and "in light of…the very concerning allegations through the petition regarding their child being present in the home at which time a loaded firearm was fired and subsequently killed the mother."

Meanwhile, those close to the child say Bailey Jr. does not seem to fully understand that his mother has died.

"He asks about his mom," Bennett's sister Angela Thompson told WSVN.

"He just keeps calling her name, saying, 'Mom, mom,'" added relative Marva Anglin.

"I'm not an expert as to what, and I can't speculate as to what he may be going through, psychologically speaking, but at least it appears that he is not aware of exactly what it was that happened," said Miramar Police spokesperson Tania Rues.

Bailey Sr. is reportedly married to another woman and sources told WSVN he has been accused of pulling a gun on Bennett in the past.

The toddler is now in the care of his relatives, and his father is not allowed to contact him unless he requests permission from the state.

Police are still investigating the incident.

Killer daddy gets custody/visitation of 11-year-old girl; grandparents murdered during custody exchange (Charleston, Tennesssee)

Once again, the media gets it wrong. This was not a "custody dispute." It was a psycho killer daddy named AARON LAWSON who was given custodial rights/visitation with an 11-year-old girl--even though it's not even clear if he was ever married to her mother. And how much do you want to bet that this guy had a history of violence that has been neatly swept under the rug? And because a psycho daddy just had to be granted his "rights" no matter what, two people have been shot dead. Somehow, I suspect a family court and a judge are somewhere in this picture, but of course, their role in keeping the psycho daddy firmly in the picture--instead of protecting innocent people--will probably never be clarified. Of course, the courts will never be held responsible for their actions either.

The problems is NOT that poor widdle daddies don't get to see their kids. The problem is that due to the pernicious influence of the fathers rights movement, even violent fathers like this"alleged" double killer freak are being given their "rights" at the expense of everyone else. As a result, innocent people are put in harm's way. Two people dead now. And that's not even going into the trauma that the mother and the daughter have been subjected to over the past 11 years.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/apr/21/sheriff-double-homicide-over-custody-dispute/

published Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Sheriff: Double homicide over custody dispute
CHARLESTON, Tenn. — The Bradley County man charged with two counts of murder shot his daughter’s grandparents over a custody dispute, the sheriff said Wednesday.

Aaron Lawson, 32, of Cleveland, Tenn., waited outside the home of Charles “Eddie” and Deborah Phillips near Charleston on Tuesday night until the couple came outside, Bradley County Sheriff Jim Ruth said.

Lawson is the father of the Phillipses’ 11-year-old granddaughter, whose name has not been released. The sheriff didn’t give details on the exact nature of the custody dispute but said the Phillipses and Lawson had argued about the subject.

Ruth didn’t say why the couple came out of their house or if a fight broke out. But at some point Lawson apparently pulled out a 9 mm pistol and shot the couple — both in their 50s — several times each, Ruth said. Lawson then sped out of the driveway in his pickup truck around 8:45 p.m.

A manhunt involving multiple agencies lasted all Tuesday night and half of Wednesday. Then authorities got a tip that Lawson was hiding at the business of a family member off Highway 58 in north Hamilton County. A SWAT team and other officers staked out the business for several hours until they were able to arrest Lawson without trouble, police said.

“You never know what way they are going to react,” said Bradley County Chief Deputy Wayne Bird, explaining authorities were ready for “suicide by cop,” a situation in which someone provokes police into shooting.

Lawson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Police have not released the name of the child’s mother, who lives in Cleveland. They said she and Lawson had been in a relationship but could not confirm if they had been married or when the relationship ended.

Dad questioned in children's death facing firearm charge (Delray Beach, Florida)

This article turns every cartwheel possible to avoid identifying CLEM BEAUCHAMP as the father of the dead children, though it is certainly hinted that he is. And lo and behold, even though the reporter refuses to identify Beauchamp as the father, the Great Dad Brigade is already out in force! A "very good father," a "neighbor" (Daddy's drinking buddy?) tells us! All because the neighbor saw him bounce a ball around, so we know this is a fact! Notice that this is the SAME GUY where the mother of his children is "missing" (e.g. probably also murdered, but with no body found). A guy with a felony conviction for aggravated assault that was committed during an arrest for a robbery. Also a daddy with an unregistered silencer for a firearm. This is a "very good dad?" Just what do you have to do to be considered a bad dad these days? Do you think a mom with this criminal history would have folks saying she was a "very good mom"? Of course not.

http://www.wpbf.com/news/27077240/detail.html

Man Questioned In Children's Deaths Facing Firearm Charge
Court Documents: Beauchamp Had Homemade Silencer In 2009
POSTED: 8:15 am EST March 4, 2011
UPDATED: 9:20 am EST March 4, 2011

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- The man questioned in the deaths of two children found in a Delray Beach canal is facing a federal firearms charge.

Clem Beauchamp was charged with making an unregistered silencer for a firearm in October 2009.

U.S. District Court documents, signed Thursday, state Beauchamp had a felony conviction for aggravated assault stemming from an arrest for robbery while masked when he was arrested for making the silencer.

Beauchamp was booked into the Palm Beach County jail Thursday evening.

On Friday, Detectives returned to Beauchamp's home at SW 7th Avenue in Delray Beach. Investigators were digging in the back yard.

Officers said he was being questioned in the case of two children found in a canal along the border of Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Police have not charged Beauchamp, but investigators said he was a suspect.

On Wednesday, someone reported an unusual object floating in the C-15 canal. That object was a duffel bag. Inside was the body of a little girl, between the ages of 6 and 10.

Later that afternoon, as police were searching the canal, they found a suitcase just west of the area where the duffel bag was found. Inside of it, police said they found the body of a boy between the ages of 10 and 12.

It's still not known how long the bodies were in the canal, and autopsy reports haven't been released.

A Delray Beach police spokeswoman said it's believed that the children are victims of a "domestic" situation but declined to elaborate. She said police believe they know the identities of the children and are now working to figure out how they were killed and who killed them.

On Thursday, divers were using sonar to search for more clues. Investigators said they didn't think they would find another body but weren't ruling it out.

Police said the girl was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, dark pants and blue Polo brand sneakers. She also had braided hair with white beads on each strand. The boy was wearing dark blue shorts.

The girl's body was taken to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office, where they were trying to determine a cause of death.

"At about 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., we located a second child," Guerriero said. "We located that child approximately a half mile west of the area the first child was located."

Beauchamp A 'Good Father,' Neighbor Says

Neighbor Kenneth Marshall said he has known Beauchamp for years.

"He was a good father, I mean a very good father. I mean he threw the ball at his kids and did everything he had to do," Marshall said.

Marshall said his neighbor didn't seem like himself the last time he saw him.

"The last days that we saw him, he was very distraught. He was going to the church and praying. He cut his hair," Marshall said.

Margaret Gissome said Beauchamp used to date her sister. She said she believed the kids found in the canal are her niece and nephew. Gissome told WPBF 25 News that her sister was also missing.

Dad kills 6-year-old son in murder-suicide (Hillsboro, Oregon)

The killer of the 6-year-old boy is UNNAMED DAD. Mom died "several years back." Really? How?

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Police-investigating-117211023.html

Police: Hillsboro man killed young son, then himself

by Justin Burton and Mike Benner
kgw.com
Posted on March 2, 2011 at 6:38 AM

Updated today at 11:27 AM

HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Hillsboro police are investigating what they believe was a murder-suicide between a man and his young child.

Police were called on a welfare check to a field behind the LDS Church on SE Golden Rd. at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, where they found the bodies of a 54-year-old man and his 6-year-old son.

Investigators believe the man killed his son with a handgun, then shot himself.

"These are never easy," said Lt. Mike Rouches. "Especially the senselessness of the crime."

Investigators have not said what they believe was the motive for the shootings.

Police said the father and son were not connected to the church. A small memorial was set up nearby the crime scene Wednesday.

"I have kids of my own and can't believe something like this would happen," said Amy Northern, who lives near the church.

The identities of the father and son have not yet been released.

The boy's mother died several years back, police said.

Dad convicted of fatally shooting 19-month-old son scheduled to be executed (Houston, Texas)

Dad TIMOTHY WAYNE ADAMS never denied that he shot his 19-month-old son to death back in 2002. And check out his "reasoning"--it's pure abuser/father's rights!

1) The police had been called to the family home repeatedly in the past, but Daddy was never arrested (typical, especially in Texas). Naturally, the defense then claims at trial that Daddy was "unfairly labeled" as an "abusive spouse" and that Daddy was "law abiding." FIRST MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO "EDUCATE" THIS CONVICTED BABY KILLER, AND/OR REMOVE HIM FROM THE HOME.

2) Mom finally decides to move out once she hears that Daddy has a gun in the home. (And we all know that leaving a batterer is the most dangerous time for women and children, because that's when the abuser's sense of control is the most threatened).

3) She and Daddy work out a deal where she will able to return to the apartment to remove some personal possessions without Daddy's presence. I suppose that because the police were kind enough to NEVER arrest Daddy in the past, she has no real justification (in the eyes of the law) for requesting a police presence now. At any rate, no police are there--until much later. SECOND MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

4) Since abusers are often pathological liars, Daddy does not keep his word. He is not only in the apartment, but pulls a gun on Mom's 15-year-old son for allegedly "stealing" a video game--and also because he wants to gripe about Mom (and be an @$$hole in general).

5) When Mom shows up carrying their 19-month-old son, she puts the boy down when she sees that her other son has a gun pointed at him so she can call 911. Unfortunately, the little boy runs towards his father.

6) Dad points the gun at Mom and fires, but misses. He tries to fire again, but the gun jams.

7) Mom and the older son run out of the house, but they are not able to leave with the 19-month old.

8) Daddy pulls classic Daddy Drama Police Standoff--for hours on end. Daddy periodically holds up the hostage child to the window to show that he's alive--but he's not.

9) When the SWAT team finally storms the apartment, they find the little boy dead with two bullets to the chest. Seems Daddy had written a note--in which he blamed everything that had happened (of course!) on MOM'S "SELFISH PRIDE."

Ladies and gentleman, take careful note because this is the abuser "think" in it's purest form. Nothing is EVER, EVER the criminal's fault. It's always the victim's fault.

So where is the father's rights spin on this? Here it is. The nature of Mom's "selfish pride" is that she didn't let this @sshole, er Oppressed Daddy, see HIS child. She was HURTING Daddy! Of course, this kind of warped thinking has been refined by fathers rights people into "parental alienation syndrome," which then posits that the mother who protects a child from a violent father is more Evil than the abuser himself. So naturally, Daddy is then perfectly justified in venting his OUTRAGE by shooting and killing the child! Because after all he's so darn mad, you know, and just can't help it! So it's Not His Fault! The Malicious Mom and/or the Misandryst Courts made him do what he did! Killer Daddies are Holy Martyrs!

Presumably, Daddy was going to finish with a dramatic suicide, but you know how that goes sometimes. Mislaid plans and all--even when you're trying to pull off the ultimate Daddy Drama.

But check out one of the most telling parts of this sordid tale. When the child failed to die after the first gun shot, Daddy shot him a second time--"because he didn't want his son to think he had a bad daddy." This goes along with the first part of an abuser daddy's delusional thinking--It's Always Mom's fault. Never Daddy's. And Daddy can't be Bad by definition, even when he's a baby killer. Which he's not really, since it's always Mom's fault. So lest Junior get the wrong idea and think that the shooting was Daddy's fault, you shoot him again so he's dead and can't think anything at all, I suppose.(Yes, my head is spinning just trying to recreate this psychopathological thinking for y'all.)

Fortunately, a Texas jury recoiled from this bull malarkey, and decided this f***face wasn't fit to live. And now the execution is scheduled for tonight.

Will we see a rejection of the fathers rights movement that justifies and promotes this kind of ideology of systematic apathy and violence though?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7439097.html

Houston man who killed son set to die Tuesday
Defense claims instructions to his jury were flawed
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
Feb. 21, 2011, 4:34PM

Timothy Wayne Adams never denied fatally shooting his 19-month-old namesake son, leaving a Houston jury the task of considering only his punishment.

Jurors rejected his lawyers' arguments eight years ago for a life prison term and decided Adams, 42, should die.

The lethal injection, which would be the second in Texas this year, was set for Tuesday evening in Huntsville.

Adams' attorneys went to the courts Friday after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a request to recommend Gov. Rick Perry commute his sentence to life in prison. The board also turned down a request for a four-month execution delay.

In their appeal, they argued his sentence was unconstitutional and that the instructions to his trial jury were flawed. They also contended that his clean prison record belied the jurors' finding that Adams would be a future threat, one of the questions Texas jurors must decide when deliberating a death sentence.

Evidence showed Adams shot his son, Timothy Jr., twice at close range. Prosecutors said the slaying nine years ago this week was intended as retaliation against his wife because she was leaving him. Defense attorneys argued the killing was an aberration in an otherwise law-abiding life and that Adams also had intended to kill himself before friends and police talked him out of it.

Jane Waters, one of the Harris County prosecutors at the trial, said Adams told investigators that when the first shot didn't kill the child, he fired again.

"It was awful," she recalled. "He said he fired a second time because he didn't want his son to think he had a bad daddy.

"And I think that's where the jury said: 'OK. We can kill this guy.'"

Robert Loper, one of Adams' trial lawyers, said Adams pleaded guilty to show he was taking responsibility for his actions and hoped jurors would give him life in prison because he had no previous criminal record and wouldn't be a future danger.

"Absolutely what he did was horrible," Loper said. "That was his son. ... I'll argue for the rest of my life the jury made the wrong decision."

Adams has declined to speak with reporters in recent weeks, agreeing initially to media interviews but then refusing to leave his death row cell.

In earlier court appeals, Adams contended his trial lawyers had been deficient and failed to adequately address prosecution evidence and testimony that he said unfairly labeled him a baby killer and abusive spouse.

He was arrested Feb. 20, 2002, after a SWAT standoff at the family's southwest Houston apartment. Police had been called there repeatedly in the past but Adams never was arrested. Testimony showed his wife had moved out after discovering he was keeping a gun in the apartment. She wanted to remove some of her belongings and Adams agreed not to be present when she showed up. Her 15-year-old son arrived first but Adams was there, confronted him with the gun, accused him of stealing a video game and complained about the boy's mother.

He also wrote her a note.

"Look what you and your selfish pride did," he wrote.

When his wife arrived, carrying 19-month-old Timothy Jr., he confronted her as she put down her child to help her older son.

The little boy ran to his father.

Adams' wife grabbed a phone and called 911. He pointed the gun at her and fired, missed her, then tried firing again but the weapon jammed. She and her older son ran outside without the baby.

Police eventually convinced Adams to surrender. During an hours-long standoff, he held the child through a window to show he was OK but officers entering the apartment found the toddler dead with two bullet wounds to the chest. When police recovered the note he'd written earlier, the slain child's blood was on it.

A medical examiner testified the gun either had been close or against the baby's skin when the shots were fired. Both bullets went completely through his body.

"My wife was hurtin' me," he told detectives in a taped confession. "She was keeping him away from me. ... My parents couldn't even see my son.

"I was gonna take me and my son out."

In the clemency petition, Adams' relatives and supporters said he accepted responsibility for "an unspeakable act."

"Our family lost one child," said his father, Columbus Adams. "We can't bear to lose another."

At least three other Texas death row inmates have execution dates scheduled for the coming months.

Dad murders 12-year-old daughter in murder-suicide (Jackson, Mississippi)

For reasons that are not at all illuminated here, dad ELLIOT RAGSDALE shot to death his 12-year-old daughter, than offed himself. Mom was at work at the time.

http://www.wapt.com/r/26895323/detail.html

JPD: Dad Shoots Daughter, Turns Gun On Self
Incident Occurred On Scotts Glen Drive
POSTED: 11:06 pm CST February 16, 2011
UPDATED: 10:30 am CST February 17, 2011

JACKSON, Miss. -- Police in Jackson said they investigated an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday night.

The incident occurred on Scotts Glen Drive, off Raymond Road, in Jackson.

Police said they got a call at about 7 p.m. from American Medical Response.

Investigators said when they entered the home, they found Elliot Ragsdale, 29, and Lenore Ragsdale, 12, dead inside a bedroom.

"This was a father and daughter," said Jackson Police Department Assistant Chief Lee Vance. "Apparently the father shot the daughter with a shotgun and then turned the weapon on himself."

Vance said both the father and daughter were pronounced dead at the scene.

He said the father did leave a note behind and had evidently texted friends shortly before the shooting.

Police said an investigation is under way.

WAPT reported that the mother of the child was at work when everything took place.

Lenore Ragsdale was a 7th grader at Peeples Middle School, according to Jackson Public Schools officials. Counseling is being provided for the students, JPS said.

More Daddy Drama! Father, son shot during high-speed chase (Kaufman County, Texas)

Daddy Drama Texas Style! Daddy STEPHEN CAPPS couldn't just pull over when the troopers tried to stop him for speeding. Oh no, we had to give way to adolescent fantasy and start a chase! Just like the movies! Troopers ended up firing at the car after Daddy veered to miss spikes, ran into a ditch, and almost hit a trooper at the scene. That's when the car FINALLY came to a stop. And that's when the troopers realized that this sh** had his young son in a car seat, a child who was "grazed" by one of the bullets.

I have yet to see a mommy who pulls this high drama crap, though I suppose there must be one somewhere.

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Chase-ends-in-Kaufman-County-adult-child-shot-116233294.html

Man, child shot during high-speed chase

by STEVE STOLER / WFAA
khou.com
Posted on February 15, 2011 at 10:28 AM

KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A two-county pursuit by the Texas Department of Public Safety ended Monday afternoon in rural Kaufman County when troopers opened fire on the fleeing vehicle, injuring a father and his son.

Stephen Capps and his child were airlifted to area hospitals at the end of the chase about two miles north of Terrell on FM 986 near County Road 321.

The pursuit of the white Nissan sedan began around 2:15 p.m. in Hunt County when a trooper attempted to stop a speeding car on Interstate 30 near Greenville.

Capps, 35, reportedly failed to pull over and the pursuit began. The driver led troopers from Greenville, through Hunt County to Commerce, and then back to Greenville.

Spikes were placed in the path of the speeding car, but the driver detoured off the road to avoid them.

The chase finally ended during a second attempt to stop the car on FM 986, a two-lane country road in Kaufman County — but not before there was gunfire.

"He tried to avoid the spikes, he ran into the ditch, came back and almost hit the trooper," said DPS spokesman Cpl. Robert White. "That's when troopers fired rounds into the white Nissan, and that's where it came to a stop."

Bullets struck Capps twice in the abdomen. He was airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he was listed in critical condition Monday night.

Troopers said they didn't realize that Capps was traveling with a child who was sitting in a booster seat. He was grazed by a bullet and was taken by helicopter ambulance to Children's Medical Center Dallas for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

A Department of Public Safety spokesperson said they found a substance in Capps' possession that appeared to be drugs.

Dad kills mom, 14-year-old daughter in murder-suicide (Denver, Colorado)

Dad RICK WHEELER apparently mowed down his 14-year-old daughter and her mother in cold blood. But all we have are the usual denials, wide-eyed disbelief, and praise for the killer (e.g. "good dad"). Gross. Get a clue. "Good dads" don't commit double homicides. If this is a good dad, then I'd rather have a grumpy, indifferent bad dad.

I honestly wonder if reporters have learned ANYTHING over the past 20 years or so about coverage of domestic violence events. Here are a few pointers:

1) In reality, domestic violence homicides are SELDOM out of the blue. However, you need to talk to the right people in order to find this out.

2) Except in very rare cases, you aren't going to find out anything from interviewing people who were close to the killer, like his stepdaddy and his hunting buddy. So why do reporters persist in doing this? It just feeds into the misconception that these murders are random and without cause, and that nobody could have done anything to prevent them. In otherwise, a nice trick for letting people off the hook who COULD have acted.

3) So why do you "privilege" the stepdaddy and the hunting buddy over possible other subjects? Why not interview the director of your local domestic violence program or shelter? Why not interview the daughter's friends or the mother's family? If you win their trust, nine times out of ten they can tell you that they knew something wasn't right in the home. That they had been told about various "family troubles," even though the mother had (apparently) never called the police. Which, by the way, is not unusual at all in families experiencing domestic violence--especially middle class families where a "reputation" is at stake.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2011/feb/07/14/three-shot-dead-apparent-murder-suicide-ar-762171/

Three shot dead in apparent murder-suicide
Mother, daughter killed; husband turns gun on himself.

By Sarah Newell williamson
Published: February 07, 2011
Updated: February 07, 2011 - 5:59 PM

DENVER --
Mill Creek Middle School is mourning the loss of one of its own this week after 14-year-old Samantha Wheeler was shot and killed on Sunday, along with her mother, in what police believe was a double murder-suicide by her father.

Students and staff wore ribbons in neon pink with florescent green on them, which were Samantha’s favorite colors.

“It was clear that she was a very special young lady, extremely bright, capable and personable,” said Rob Rucker, principal of Mill Creek Middle. “Samantha was a wonderful student and a great friend to many students at our school. Those of us who knew her well are going to miss her dearly.”

Eighth-grader Lindsey Carter was a classmate of Samantha’s. She said Samantha — called Sam or Sammy by her friends — will be missed.

“She was a really sweet person,” Carter, 13, said. “She was kindhearted and loved everybody.”

Samantha was an officer in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club, on the yearbook staff and had been on the cheerleading team for the past two years.

“Sam was always very respectful and was responsible with her school career,” said Katie Spears, Samantha’s cheerleading coach. “She was always a model of maturity, commitment and kindness. She was a great friend to many and will be missed. Our community has lost a beautiful young spirit that could have accomplished so many things in life in an act of senseless violence.”

Samantha’s teachers describe her as someone who was self-motivated, mature, bright, full of energy and had a beautiful smile. They said she was honest and possessed a strong sense of integrity and moral balance.

The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office is still trying to determine why Rick Wheeler shot his wife, Angela, and daughter before turning the gun on himself on Sunday.

Catawba County communications received a 911 hang-up call at 4:52 p.m. When they called back, the number was busy, said Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid. Deputies arrived at the house on Grassy Creek Road within five minutes. No one answered the door when they knocked. They looked in the windows and saw a woman laying on the floor, so they forced their way into the house, Reid said.

Deputies found Rick and Samantha dead of gunshot wounds. Angela had also been shot. She was taken to Carolinas Medical Center where she died, Reid said. There were signs an argument had taken place prior to the shooting, but Reid declined to elaborate.

Rick’s stepfather, Mark Hovis, said Rick’s actions took him completely by surprise.

“They were just the perfect family,” Hovis said. “We did not expect anything like this. It’s hard to think right now.”

He said the family liked to do many activities together, like going bowling. Hovis said they had no financial problems.

Samantha had been out with friends until about 4 p.m. on Sunday, Hovis said.

“There was no indication at all that this would happen,” he said. “I’m just distraught.”

Billy Ray Smith was shooting skeet with Rick earlier in the day on Sunday. When Smith saw him then, he said Rick seemed fine.

“He was a fun-loving guy,” he said.

Smith was supposed to come over to the Wheeler house later Sunday afternoon. However, Smith said Rick called him and told him not to, but didn’t say why.

Smith’s father, Billy Smith Sr., also knew Rick. He called what happened a shock.

“He was a good dad,” Smith Sr. said. “He wanted to be home when his daughter got home from school. He’d give you the shirt off your back. I can’t believe it.”

This is the first time police had been called to the house, and the Wheelers had no history of domestic violence, Reid said.

Friends of Samantha’s gathered at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church Monday evening, where Samantha attended. They talked about their memories of the teen, and prayed about what happened.