Brewton, Al.
A man charged with third-degree burglary and second-degree theft less than two weeks ago is back in jail on similar charges.
Nicholas Conner Phelps, 18, was arrested by Brewton Police after a receiving a call regarding a stolen gun.
Brewton Police Sgt. Steven Ferguson said Phelps was charged with second-degree receiving stolen property Thursday in connection with a stolen gun case uncovered by East Brewton Police earlier this month.
“We had received a report of a stolen gun a few weeks ago,” Ferguson said. “The victim in this case said he saw the report of Phelps’ arrest in the paper and made a connection concerning his stolen gun.”
Ferguson said the victim told police Phelps had done work at his home about the same time the gun went missing.
“He described the gun down to a T,” Ferguson said. “We checked with East Brewton and found information that Phelps had that gun in his possession when he was arrested on charges there.”
Ferguson said the information from the victim in the theft case along with evidence recovered by East Brewton Police lead to the charges against Phelps.
Phelps was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center on the charges
Friday, October 21, 2011
Teen charged with starting Walmart fires
PELL CITY, Al.
Authorities say a 15-year-old boy is charged with setting multiple fires inside a Walmart store in Saint Clair County.
Pell City police Cpt. Jonathan Herren said in a statement that the youth claimed to have set the fires on a dare. But Herren says investigators doubt that story is true.
Officials say the youth is accused of setting fires in four or five different parts of the store Tuesday night. Those included three spots in bathrooms, the pet department and the household goods section.
Herren says the fires damaged about $500 worth of merchandise, but they didn't spread and mainly created lots of smoke.
The teen is being held in a youth detention center and will face charges as a juvenile.
Authorities say a 15-year-old boy is charged with setting multiple fires inside a Walmart store in Saint Clair County.
Pell City police Cpt. Jonathan Herren said in a statement that the youth claimed to have set the fires on a dare. But Herren says investigators doubt that story is true.
Officials say the youth is accused of setting fires in four or five different parts of the store Tuesday night. Those included three spots in bathrooms, the pet department and the household goods section.
Herren says the fires damaged about $500 worth of merchandise, but they didn't spread and mainly created lots of smoke.
The teen is being held in a youth detention center and will face charges as a juvenile.
HOLMAN PRISON
ATMORE, Al.
Christopher Thomas Johnson, a man sentenced to die for the killing of his infant son, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility, after being executed by lethal injection.
Shortly after 6 p.m., just as the proceedings had begun, Johnson was asked if he had any last words. He simply said, "Game over."
Holman chaplain Chris Summers and other prison officials looked on from inside the execution chamber.
Johnson, 38, was convicted of killing his 6-month-old son, Elias Ocean Johnson, at the family’s home in Atmore in February 2005. He has been on death row at Holman prison since February of 2007.
One family member was present as a witness — Johnson’s brother, Thomas Eugene Lagos, who had spent the day visiting the condemned man in a cell near the execution chamber.
In the small room for witnesses, Lagos sat on the front row, peering through the glass at Johnson, body in a sheet, who was strapped to a gurney on his back with his arms out to the sides.
Johnson’s left hand, closest to the window, made a sign with his index finger and little finger extended.
Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections who was in the witness room, later said that he had seen other inmates make that sign during executions.
Corbett believed it was a symbol for "I love you."
At one point, Lagos leaned toward the glass as if to touch it, flashing that same sign.
After the lethal injection drugs appeared to flow through three tubes from an opening in the wall, Johnson’s left hand relaxed and his fingers lay flat. When his body twitched, Lagos said, "Cardiac arrest," although Corbett later said that Lagos was not accurate in his description of the medical event.
In the witness room, where there also were five news reporters, Lagos suddenly said, "It’s a hard thing to watch. A lot of questions are in a lot of minds.
"He paid his price," he went on. "He’s been waiting on this awhile. You can speak now. He’s done."
When a reporter began to ask Lagos a question, Corbett explained that Lagos could agree to be interviewed after the execution was finished, and outside of the prison area.
During the execution was not the appropriate time, Corbett said.
There was no more direct interaction between Lagos and the reporters. When the curtains were drawn closed again, the room was silent for several minutes as witnesses waited for the guards to escort them out. Lagos, hands on his knees, leaned down, shook his head, and sighed.
As Corbett later pointed out, the crime’s victim, infant Elias, had also been Lagos’s nephew.
During his trial, Johnson testified that he hit and suffocated his son because he hated his wife and didn’t want to be near her. He said in his testimony that he didn’t want to worry about his wife’s threats of putting him in jail for alimony or child support.
The child was found unresponsive on a couch where Christopher Johnson had fallen asleep. According to court records, Johnson told Atmore police that he earlier had tried to get the baby to stop crying by placing his hand over Elias’ mouth and by sticking his fingers down the child’s throat.
Prosecutors presented medical testimony that the baby had numerous injuries and had suffered three hard blows to his forehead.
Johnson represented himself during part of the trial. After he was sentenced to death, he refused to pursue appeals in his case, and filed court papers in May saying he didn’t want anyone to go to court on his behalf.
For breakfast Thursday, his final day, Johnson had eggs, grits, and biscuits, then skipped lunch in lieu of a Thursday dinner.
From food available in the prison cafeteria, said Corbett, Johnson chose for his final meal a turkey bologna sandwich with tomatoes and cheese, french fries, and an orange drink.
In a holding cell near the execution chamber, Johnson had extended visiting hours for the day, joined by Lagos, according to Corbett.
From a vending machine in the area, said Corbett, Johnson got a Reese’s Cup, pretzels, and grape Sunkist drink.
Since 2002, when lethal injection replaced electrocution as the mode of execution in Alabama, said Corbett, 30 inmates have been executed in that manner. Johnson became the 31st.
Prior to Johnson, there had been five executions at Holman in 2011, said Corbett.
ATMORE, Al.
Christopher Thomas Johnson, a man sentenced to die for the killing of his infant son, was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Thursday at Holman Correctional Facility, after being executed by lethal injection.
 |
| Christopher Thomas Johnson |
Holman chaplain Chris Summers and other prison officials looked on from inside the execution chamber.
Johnson, 38, was convicted of killing his 6-month-old son, Elias Ocean Johnson, at the family’s home in Atmore in February 2005. He has been on death row at Holman prison since February of 2007.
One family member was present as a witness — Johnson’s brother, Thomas Eugene Lagos, who had spent the day visiting the condemned man in a cell near the execution chamber.
In the small room for witnesses, Lagos sat on the front row, peering through the glass at Johnson, body in a sheet, who was strapped to a gurney on his back with his arms out to the sides.
Johnson’s left hand, closest to the window, made a sign with his index finger and little finger extended.
Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections who was in the witness room, later said that he had seen other inmates make that sign during executions.
Corbett believed it was a symbol for "I love you."
At one point, Lagos leaned toward the glass as if to touch it, flashing that same sign.
After the lethal injection drugs appeared to flow through three tubes from an opening in the wall, Johnson’s left hand relaxed and his fingers lay flat. When his body twitched, Lagos said, "Cardiac arrest," although Corbett later said that Lagos was not accurate in his description of the medical event.
In the witness room, where there also were five news reporters, Lagos suddenly said, "It’s a hard thing to watch. A lot of questions are in a lot of minds.
"He paid his price," he went on. "He’s been waiting on this awhile. You can speak now. He’s done."
When a reporter began to ask Lagos a question, Corbett explained that Lagos could agree to be interviewed after the execution was finished, and outside of the prison area.
During the execution was not the appropriate time, Corbett said.
There was no more direct interaction between Lagos and the reporters. When the curtains were drawn closed again, the room was silent for several minutes as witnesses waited for the guards to escort them out. Lagos, hands on his knees, leaned down, shook his head, and sighed.
As Corbett later pointed out, the crime’s victim, infant Elias, had also been Lagos’s nephew.
During his trial, Johnson testified that he hit and suffocated his son because he hated his wife and didn’t want to be near her. He said in his testimony that he didn’t want to worry about his wife’s threats of putting him in jail for alimony or child support.
The child was found unresponsive on a couch where Christopher Johnson had fallen asleep. According to court records, Johnson told Atmore police that he earlier had tried to get the baby to stop crying by placing his hand over Elias’ mouth and by sticking his fingers down the child’s throat.
Prosecutors presented medical testimony that the baby had numerous injuries and had suffered three hard blows to his forehead.
Johnson represented himself during part of the trial. After he was sentenced to death, he refused to pursue appeals in his case, and filed court papers in May saying he didn’t want anyone to go to court on his behalf.
For breakfast Thursday, his final day, Johnson had eggs, grits, and biscuits, then skipped lunch in lieu of a Thursday dinner.
From food available in the prison cafeteria, said Corbett, Johnson chose for his final meal a turkey bologna sandwich with tomatoes and cheese, french fries, and an orange drink.
In a holding cell near the execution chamber, Johnson had extended visiting hours for the day, joined by Lagos, according to Corbett.
From a vending machine in the area, said Corbett, Johnson got a Reese’s Cup, pretzels, and grape Sunkist drink.
Since 2002, when lethal injection replaced electrocution as the mode of execution in Alabama, said Corbett, 30 inmates have been executed in that manner. Johnson became the 31st.
Prior to Johnson, there had been five executions at Holman in 2011, said Corbett.
Midfield school board refuses to fire Midfield High Principal Hansel Gunn
MIDFIELD, Al.
The Midfield school board last night voted 3-2 against firing embattled Midfield High School Principal Hansel Gunn, who has been on paid administrative leave for one month.
Midfield City Schools Superintendent Nikita Williams recommended terminating Gunn's contract after an investigation into events that happened Sept. 21 when a student brought a handgun to the high school.
School board members Nathaniel Hutton, John Ware and Verranzno Davis voted against the termination tonight, while board members Rita Gulley and Geary Terrell voted in favor of firing Gunn.
Williams placed Gunn on administrative leave Sept. 21, saying he was insubordinate to her when she questioned him about his decision not to place the school on lockdown, in accordance with school policy, after a student was found with the gun on campus.
Gunn said at that time that he did not put the school on lockdown because he thought the situation was under control.
Gulley said after voting for termination that Gunn's actions were clearly against school policy and should not be overlooked.
Parents and students have rallied around Gunn since he was put on administrative leave, and some parents during the Thursday night meeting said they were ready for the matter to be resolved and for a principal to return to the school.
Some board members expressed similar sentiments. Davis, after the vote to keep Gunn, said the matter should be closed and he should be allowed to return to work.
But Williams said she was unsure when Gunn would return to the school. She said there still are some issues regarding G
The Midfield school board last night voted 3-2 against firing embattled Midfield High School Principal Hansel Gunn, who has been on paid administrative leave for one month.
Midfield City Schools Superintendent Nikita Williams recommended terminating Gunn's contract after an investigation into events that happened Sept. 21 when a student brought a handgun to the high school.
School board members Nathaniel Hutton, John Ware and Verranzno Davis voted against the termination tonight, while board members Rita Gulley and Geary Terrell voted in favor of firing Gunn.
Williams placed Gunn on administrative leave Sept. 21, saying he was insubordinate to her when she questioned him about his decision not to place the school on lockdown, in accordance with school policy, after a student was found with the gun on campus.
Gunn said at that time that he did not put the school on lockdown because he thought the situation was under control.
Gulley said after voting for termination that Gunn's actions were clearly against school policy and should not be overlooked.
Parents and students have rallied around Gunn since he was put on administrative leave, and some parents during the Thursday night meeting said they were ready for the matter to be resolved and for a principal to return to the school.
Some board members expressed similar sentiments. Davis, after the vote to keep Gunn, said the matter should be closed and he should be allowed to return to work.
But Williams said she was unsure when Gunn would return to the school. She said there still are some issues regarding G
Maryland man arrested in Bayou La Batre was wanted for gruesome hatchet murder
MOBILE, Al.
The Maryland man arrested at a Bayou La Batre hotel Wednesday is charged in a gruesome killing, involving a hatchet.
Larry Eugene Horton, 37, was arrested Wednesday at the Bayou La Batre Inn & Suites on Wintzell Avenue. His wife, Angelena Horton, who was with him there, was also arrested for hindering and resisting arrest.
Larry Horton is charged with the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Ryan Wesley Jackson, who was last seen on Oct. 12 by his nine-month pregnant girlfriend. Police found his body, chopped up, but not completely dismembered, on Saturday.
"This was a brutal murder. He was struck multiple times with a hatchet on various parts of his body," said Elise Armacost, spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Police Department.
Blood was found on the floor, walls and ceiling of Horton’s living room in a home outside the Baltimore city limits, according to a police report.
A hatchet, bloody curtains and the victim’s wallet were found in trash bags there.
"The carpet in the living room was soaking wet, appearing to have had a significant amount of cleaning solution applied to it," according the report, which quotes witnesses saying that Horton borrowed his mother’s Bissell carpet cleaning machine and took it inside his home.
Anonymous tips led authorities to Bayou La Batre.
The Hortons are not known to have family or friends here, said Mobile County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Mahoney.
A task force involving the U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement agencies made the arrests.
The Hortons are being held in the Mobile County Metro Jail pending extradition, officials said.
The Maryland man arrested at a Bayou La Batre hotel Wednesday is charged in a gruesome killing, involving a hatchet.
 |
| Larry Eugene Horton Angelena Horton |
Larry Horton is charged with the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Ryan Wesley Jackson, who was last seen on Oct. 12 by his nine-month pregnant girlfriend. Police found his body, chopped up, but not completely dismembered, on Saturday.
"This was a brutal murder. He was struck multiple times with a hatchet on various parts of his body," said Elise Armacost, spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Police Department.
Blood was found on the floor, walls and ceiling of Horton’s living room in a home outside the Baltimore city limits, according to a police report.
A hatchet, bloody curtains and the victim’s wallet were found in trash bags there.
"The carpet in the living room was soaking wet, appearing to have had a significant amount of cleaning solution applied to it," according the report, which quotes witnesses saying that Horton borrowed his mother’s Bissell carpet cleaning machine and took it inside his home.
Anonymous tips led authorities to Bayou La Batre.
The Hortons are not known to have family or friends here, said Mobile County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Mahoney.
A task force involving the U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement agencies made the arrests.
The Hortons are being held in the Mobile County Metro Jail pending extradition, officials said.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Cocaine valued near $50K seized from Auburn man
Charles J. Edwards
Auburn, Al.
An Auburn man has been arrested and more than a pound of cocaine has been confiscated by police after a traffic stop by Auburn police Wednesday.
Charles J. Edwards, 45, is charged with drug trafficking and fleeing or attempting to elude after Auburn police stopped the Nissan Altima he was driving in the 600 block of Shug Jordan Parkway for following too close at approximately 11:30 p.m., according to an APD release.
When an officer approached the vehicle, he detected the odor of marijuana and asked Edwards to step to the rear of the car with another officer, APD Chief Tommy Dawson said.
“When the officer started to search the vehicle, Edwards shoved the officer and fled the area,” Dawson said.
Edwards, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was apprehended a short time later, Dawson said.
A search of the vehicle’s trunk and Edward’s person yielded more than a pound of cocaine, Dawson said. The cocaine has an estimated street value of between $40,000 and $50,000.
Police also found a number of partially smoked marijuana cigarettes in Edwards’ vehicle, which was later reported stolen out of Tuskegee, Dawson said.
“We’re very proud of the officers for taking that amount of cocaine off the streets,” Dawson said.
Edwards is being held at the Lee County Detention Facility on a $26,000.
Judge says legislators who wore wires in bingo case were motivated by politics and racism
MONTGOMERY, Al.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in an order today lambasted two key prosecution witnesses in the State House vote-buying case as being motivated by political ambition and racial prejudice.
Thomson said Republicans Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale and former Rep. Benjamin Lewis of Dothan had ulterior motives when they assisted investigators in the case. Beason and Lewis were key prosecution witnesses in the case, in which VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and others were charged with offering and taking bribes to try to get a gambling bill approved in the Alabama Legislature. The two Republicans said they approached FBI agents after they felt gambling interests made improper offers to try to secure their votes on the bill.
"The evidence introduced at trial contradicts the self-serving portrait of Beason and Lewis as untouchable opponents of corruption. In reality, Beason and Lewis had ulterior motives rooted in naked political ambition and pure racial bias," Thompson wrote.
"The court finds that Beason and Lewis lack credibility for two reasons. First, their motive for cooperating with F.B.I. investigators was not to clean up corruption but to increase Republican political fortunes by reducing African-American voter turnout. Second, they lack credibility because the record establishes their purposeful, racist intent," Thompson wrote.
Beason wore a wire for the FBI, and the recordings picked up a conversation among Republicans talking about the effect a gambling referendum would have on voter turn-out during an election.
They talked about how "every black, every illiterate," would be taken to the polls on "HUD-financed buses."
In another conversation, Beason used the word "aborigines" to refer to people at Greenetrack, a casino in predominately black Greene County.
Thompson said such statements "demonstrate a deep-seated racial animus and a desire to suppress black votes."
Although Thompson criticized the two key prosecution witnesses, he ruled for prosecutors in the order, saying statements of alleged co-conspirators could be admitted at trial.
Thompson found there was evidence that the defendants participated in a bribery scheme. He said it is up to jurors to decide if it the evidence meetings the beyond a reasonable doubt standard.
Thompson said McGregor had enormous financial motive to bribe legislators, and he said "evidence indicates that McGregor was aware that (Ronnie) Gilley was offering funds from his loan to lawmakers in the form of illicit bribes."
"Just as the racist statements of the government's witnesses speak for themselves, much of the evidence against the defendants stands on its own," Thompson wrote.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in an order today lambasted two key prosecution witnesses in the State House vote-buying case as being motivated by political ambition and racial prejudice.
Thomson said Republicans Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale and former Rep. Benjamin Lewis of Dothan had ulterior motives when they assisted investigators in the case. Beason and Lewis were key prosecution witnesses in the case, in which VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor and others were charged with offering and taking bribes to try to get a gambling bill approved in the Alabama Legislature. The two Republicans said they approached FBI agents after they felt gambling interests made improper offers to try to secure their votes on the bill.
"The evidence introduced at trial contradicts the self-serving portrait of Beason and Lewis as untouchable opponents of corruption. In reality, Beason and Lewis had ulterior motives rooted in naked political ambition and pure racial bias," Thompson wrote.
"The court finds that Beason and Lewis lack credibility for two reasons. First, their motive for cooperating with F.B.I. investigators was not to clean up corruption but to increase Republican political fortunes by reducing African-American voter turnout. Second, they lack credibility because the record establishes their purposeful, racist intent," Thompson wrote.
Beason wore a wire for the FBI, and the recordings picked up a conversation among Republicans talking about the effect a gambling referendum would have on voter turn-out during an election.
They talked about how "every black, every illiterate," would be taken to the polls on "HUD-financed buses."
In another conversation, Beason used the word "aborigines" to refer to people at Greenetrack, a casino in predominately black Greene County.
Thompson said such statements "demonstrate a deep-seated racial animus and a desire to suppress black votes."
Although Thompson criticized the two key prosecution witnesses, he ruled for prosecutors in the order, saying statements of alleged co-conspirators could be admitted at trial.
Thompson found there was evidence that the defendants participated in a bribery scheme. He said it is up to jurors to decide if it the evidence meetings the beyond a reasonable doubt standard.
Thompson said McGregor had enormous financial motive to bribe legislators, and he said "evidence indicates that McGregor was aware that (Ronnie) Gilley was offering funds from his loan to lawmakers in the form of illicit bribes."
"Just as the racist statements of the government's witnesses speak for themselves, much of the evidence against the defendants stands on its own," Thompson wrote.
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