Officer and Suspect Killed in Shootout

Dexter Hammond, a Headland officer and former Midland City police chief, was fatally shot by 53-year-old Fred Davis outside Davis’ home at 5501 County Road 55 in Headland, Alabama. Davis also shot and seriously wounded deputy Ted Yost who was among several police officers responding to the incident. Davis himself was shot and killed during the shootout.

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An emergency call to the Henry County Sheriff's Department about Davis firing a weapon outside his trailer at Granberry’s Crossroads was received about 4:55 pm Friday (4/24/09). Dexter Hammond responded to the call minutes later. As he approached the trailer he was shot and killed by Davis.

As other officers responded to the scene, Davis continued firing, seriously wounding Ted Yost. He was taken to Southeast Alabama Medical Center where he was said to be  in critical condition as of 10:20 p.m. Friday night, having already been in surgery.

“Several, several officers responded,” Alabama State Troopers Public Information Officer Kevin Cook said. “We are a very tight-knit family. When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.”

According to Cook, Davis was then killed by “other responding officers.” Law enforcement agencies from around the Wiregrass responded quickly to the scene, including sheriff departments from Houston and Henry counties and police departments from Abbeville, Dothan, Headland and Midland City. It is still unknown why Davis began shooting.

“It’s way too early to determine a motive, if there even was a motive,” Cook said. “We are in the infancy stages of the investigation.”

Dexter Hammond had served as Midland City’s police chief for years until leaving the position last November.

Boy's Buttocks Burned with Blowtorch

Some people should never become parents. One such person is Gerald T. Hall, 36, of Clare, Mi., who is charged along with his brother Glen Leslee Hall, 43, with first-degree child abuse.

The two brothers are accused of burning a 6-year-old boy's buttocks with a propane blowtorch on at least one occasion. The boy is Gerald Hall's son. Both brothers were arraigned in Clare County's 80th District Court by Magistrate Rick Laboda on Wednesday (4/22/09).  Bail was set at $150,000 each. They are due back in court on May 5th.

"They said they were disciplining the child for making a mess in his pants," state police Sgt. Del Putnam said.

When the boy's mother discovered what had happened she took him to hospital where the staff called the police. Police say the men took the boy to a shed and took turns burning the child on the buttocks and anus, causing the severe burns. The men also removed the boy's clothing and burned them as well.

This incident happen last October and after investigating, the police got warrants issued for the two men, based on the one specific incident. However, police believe that the blowtorch was the “main act of discipline used” on the boy. Gerald Hall was arrested Tuesday and Glen Hall was arrested Wednesday where he works at a construction site.

The charge of first-degree child abuse carries a 15-year felony sentence, but Glen Hall, the boy's uncle is no stranger to the law and may be charged as an habitual offender. According to Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis, he could be sentenced to one and a half times the maximum if convicted.

Glen Hall is on parole after serving time in prison for a drunken driving causing serious injury conviction in 2003 in Isabella County. He also was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon in Clare County in 2008.

The boy suffered second- and third-degree burns in the attack. He has recovered physically and is currently in protective custody, Sgt. Putnam said.

Mom Leaves Kids on Roadside

Madlyn Gleich Primoff, 45, of 36 Olmstead Road, Scarsdale, NY did what just about every parent has threatened to do at one point or another - she ordered her two warring daughters out of the car and drove off leaving them behind. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor and released on minimal bail.

Madlyn Primoff is a prominent Park Avenue lawyer, a partner at the law firm of Kaye Scholer LLP located at 425 Park Avenue New York, NY. Her expertise is in Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights. She works in the Business Reorganization and Creditors' Rights Practice Group and has clients such as Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, according to the firm's website. She lives with her husband and daughters in a $2 million home in an upscale neighborhood. She is not the type of person one would expect to abandon her kids - but she did!

According to police, Sunday evening (4/19/09) Madlyn was travelling through downtown White Plains with her two daughters aged 10 and 12 when she could no longer take the bickering coming from the two quarrelling siblings. She stopped the car at the intersection of Post Road and South Broadway and ordered both of them to get out of the car. She then drove off leaving the two girls behind.

The 12-year-old, after realizing that her mom intended to leave them there, ran after the car, caught up to it and was allowed to get in. Madlyn then drove off leaving the 10-year-old behind.

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Madlyn Primoff left her 10-year-old daughter in White Plains, which is about 3 miles from their home in Scarsdale. The exact route to her home is laid out on the map. It is a 7 minute trip by car. However, walking at a normal pace, it would take about one hour to cover that distance. Did Madlyn really expect her 10-year-old to find her own way back home?

A stranger found the little girl wandering on nearby Mamaroneck Ave, bought her some ice cream and called the White Plains police. The little girl was able to give the police her mother's name and address.

Shortly afterward Scarsdale police notified the police in White Plains that the mother had just called to report the 10-year-old as missing. The White Plains police told them that the girl was safe and sound and in their custody at police headquarters.

Madlyn, accompanied by her husband and other daughter, showed up at headquarters later that evening. She was immediately arrested and a temporary order of protection was issued, barring her from contact with the girls. The District Attorney's office said she was arraigned Tuesday on one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and released on minimal bail.

Barry Willner, managing partner of Kaye Scholer, said in a statement:

"Madlyn Primoff is a very well respected partner at our firm, and we consider this matter to be personal and private."

A man who answered the phone at the Primoff's home said she would not be commenting.

5 Kids Drowned - Dad Charged

Chanton Jenkins, 32, from Huston had been drinking. He was talking on his cell phone while driving a car with six kids and one other adult. He was driving in heavy, pouring rain. He lost control of the car and veered off the road. The car went down an embankment and ended up in over 9 feet of water.

The Result - Five dead kids, one of whom is still missing. Chanton Jenkins, his adult brother and 10-year-old Jada Barnes managed to scramble out of the 2000 Lincoln LS and make it to dry land. He has been charged with with four counts of intoxication manslaughter and, if convicted on all counts, could spend the next 80 years behind bars.

It took 2-1/2 hours to find the car in the ditch, which had filled with 9-1/2 feet of fast-moving water. Police said the vehicle was swept 100 feet from the spot where it left the road.

Dead are: 4-year-old Devin Jenkins, 7-year-old Malik Barlow and 11-year-old Dreyton Thompson - all found in the submerged car. The body of 1-year-old Karrington Jenkins was found a half mile from the crash. The body of 4-year-old Hallie Jenkins has not yet been located.

The accident occurred in the 2200 block of Greens Road on the evening of Saturday April 18, 2009. Jenkins was traveling eastbound in the rain when he received a call from his girlfriend, Tracey Easley, the mother of Karrington and Hallie. He was on the way to pick her up.

“It was a freak accident,” she said. “We were talking on the phone and he was like ‘dang,’ and I assumed he dropped the phone.”

Easley said that when she lost contact with Jenkins Saturday evening she felt a pang of fear and rushed to the area where she thought he had been driving. Police officers at the bayou held her back from the scene. “I knew,” she said, wiping her eyes.

Easley described Karrington as “the boss of the family. She was the baby in the family and she ran everything.

Hallie was the princess. She was the little diva,” Easley said. “She was prissy and she always walked on her tiptoes.”

Devin was a little pistol who liked to challenge everything he was told, Easley said.

Brothers Malik and Dreyton played football and basketball and participated on a step team that their 24-year-old uncle Travis Campbell helped organize.

“If you knew them, you would have just fallen in love with them,” said Malik’s godmother Tywanna Harris.

The two were inseparable.

“If Dreyton had a chance to get out of that car, I bet he thought, not without my brother. That was just his mentality,” said the boys’ aunt, Sonya Diamond.

Officials said Chanton Jenkins failed a field sobriety test at the scene but they did not release the results of a blood test.

Jenkins has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1994. He has a number of felony convictions related to illegal possession of firearms, unauthorized absence from a community correctional facility and convictions for the manufacturing, delivering and possession of a controlled substance. He was recently released from jail.

Dead Baby Cremated on BBQ Grill

Joseph Miller, 28 and Nickella Reid, 23 both plead guilty to charges related to the death of their 2-year-old son, Deuntay Miller. The charges were filed when authorities - who were investigating the couple for massive scalding burns suffered by another child, Nicholas Miller aged 1, in November 2007 - discovered that one child was missing from the household.

Just when you think you've heard it all, the depths of human depravity and callousness never fail to surprise, revolt and disgust you. This is one gut-wrenching, heartless tale of indifference to life and disrespect for the dead.

Miller and Reid of Lillibridge Street, Detroit, Mi. were both accused of trying to cremate their dead 2-year-old son on a barbecue grill, and then hiding the remains in order to continue to collect welfare benefits, amounting to $822 monthly. The couple also have four other young children.

Joseph Miller, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for Deuntay's death and first-degree child abuse for the massive scalding burns suffered by Nicholas Miller. He was sentenced April, 16, 2009 by Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Callahan to 22 to 50 years in prison.

Nickella Reid, 23, was sentenced to ten to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and welfare fraud by the same judge.

Charges of welfare fraud against Reid's mother, Dorethia Lippet, 51, were dismissed. She had been accused helping cover up Duentay's disappearance.

It all began on  November 11, 2007 when Reid and her mother took Deuntay's 1-year-old brother, Nicholas Miller, to Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, for second- and third-degree burns. The hospital became suspicious and the police were called. Prosecutors said at the time that 35% of Nicholas' body had been burned.

The couple initially told the police that they had boiled water on the kitchen stove in preparation for Nicholas' bath, but the boy fell in or was placed in the tub by a sibling. However, medical authorities said that the burns showed a line of demarcation, indicating the boy had been dipped and held in place in the scalding water.

Little Nicholas is still recovering from those burns. He is now in foster care but needs additional surgery. There have been no family visits.

It was while investigating the Nicholas Miller case that the question of Deuntay Miller's whereabouts came up. At first the couple said that he was in "Chicago or down South" with relatives. When they insisted on seeing him, Reid enlisted the help of her mother, Dorethia Lippet, 51, who "provided" a grandchild to act the part of the missing son in front of child welfare officials.

It wasn't until Wayne County Department of Human Services threatened to remove all the children from the household that Lippet advised her daughter to tell them the truth. That was when the story of Deuntay's death came out.

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Reid said that Deuntay died of natural causes and that Miller set his body on fire using gasoline and the family's barbecue grill which was inside the house. She said they did not have any money for a burial. They hid the remains of the body in the house and continued to collect welfare benefits and food stamps for the child for almost 2 years.

When investigators started asking questions about the injuries to Nicholas, Miller said he took a cab to the home of Tammy Johnson, his sister, on Lappin Street, about 5.5 miles away. Under the pretense of doing laundry, he hid Deuntay's remains in the ceiling of her basement, without her knowledge. He said he transported the bones in a garbage bag wrapped in a white blanket.

For the last several months, relatives had been wondering about the whereabouts of one of Miller's children. They were told he was with other relatives, but Johnson had her doubts.

Tammy Johnson, said that she told relatives, "I'm getting the feeling that the baby is not alive."

Officers from the Violent Crimes Task Force went to Tammy Johnson's house and found the body of Deuntay Miller. Medical experts said examination of Deuntay's skeletal remains showed healed breaks in both of his legs and signs of malnutrition in the development of his bones.

36th District Court Judge Donald Coleman dismissed murder and child abuse charges against Miller and Reid. Coleman said Wayne County's prosecutor failed to show enough evidence to believe abuse by the parents caused Deuntay Miller's death.

"My heart of hearts says there is something amiss, but I can't make a probable cause determination on this suspicion," Coleman said in court.

Those charges were later reinstated on appeal by the prosecutor. Just as the murder and child abuse trial was about to start both Miller and Reid decided to plead guilty.