Archives for June 2012

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office has cleared up several cases after recovering a stolen car Monday morning.

 

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Brit Patten reported his car had been stolen, and it was recovered crashed into a tree on South Kearney Street. Officers followed shoe tracks, and the investigation resulted in two juveniles being arrested. One other person was later arrested, and two more arrests are expected.

Blackburn said by Monday afternoon officers had cleared up three cases of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, one theft of a motorcycle, and two burglaries of a vehicle.

In all, the sheriff said five suspects have been identified in the cases, four of which are juveniles.

The investigation was continuing at press time.

The location of a Ten Commandments marker on the Donley County Courthouse Square will be left up to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) following Monday’s regular meeting of the Commissioners’ Court.

County officials listened to two proposals for locating the monument on the east side of the court and also considered a third option closer to the Courthouse Annex before going outside to look at each location.

Guy Ellis told the court that similar monuments in other counties are “fairly close” to the courthouse and that a new Ten Commandments marker in Carson County is “right in the middle” of the sidewalk leading to that courthouse’s main steps.

Monument supporters proposed their first choice location on the east side of the courthouse in a tree line about 12 feet off the sidewalk along Sully Street and more or less centered on the building. Their second option was a little south of there but closer to the courthouse and in line with round window on the east façade.

Commissioner Donnie Hall said he preferred a location east of the Annex, which he said would not distract from the courthouse and would be closer to the greatest foot traffic on a daily basis.

“I’m opposed to having it anywhere in front of the courthouse,” Commissioner Hall said.

County Judge Jack Hall said the THC would have the ultimate say in the monument’s location, although some supporters said they didn’t feel like the agency’s opinion mattered.

“I personally think it should be somewhere not blocking the view of the courthouse,” Judge Hall said.

The court rejected supporters’ first option but agreed to submit the second location – near the round window – and also the location east of the Annex for the THC’s consideration and recommendation.

In other county business this week, the court heard from Bobbie Kidd, General Manager of the Greenbelt Water Authority, and granted an easement to the water authority for running a groundwater pipeline from the city of Clarendon to the filter plant and crossing County Roads P, 12, and Q.

Robert Monroe Babcock will go to prison for the rest of his life after a Hall County jury found him guilty of capital murder Thursday afternoon in the death of his son, Chance Mark Jones.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for nearly an hour and a half before returning their unanimous verdict, and District Judge Stuart Messer pronounced the sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

“This verdict screams out justice for Chance,” District Attorney Luke Inman told the Enterprise. “It closes a very important chapter in Chance’s life and for the people who truly loved and cared for Chance.”

Babcock showed no emotion as the verdict and sentence were read nor when family members addressed their emotions and their feelings about him during the allocution following sentencing.

“He was a remarkable and intelligent little boy who touched everyone’s hearts with his beautiful smile,” said Heather Hill, who had raised the boy as her own son for about two years, before he went to live with his biological father. “He was so full of life and enjoyed every moment spent with the ones who loved him the most…. Chance thrived on love and affection, why would you have ever caused intentional pain and harm to a child who immediately called you, ‘Daddy?’”

Babcock has the right to appeal the verdict, but family members expressed tears because the four-year-old they loved so dearly now had received justice.

“I feel relief,” Hill told the Enterprise. “I think Chance is probably smiling now.”

Hill’s fiancé, Andrew Brown, said the verdict won’t take the pain away.

“It’s over for now,” Brown said. “We still have the pain, but at least he [Babcock] won’t hurt anyone anymore.”

Jones’ great aunt, Vicki Harrison, said she thought justice was done in the case and said she appreciated everyone who worked on the investigation and prosecution.

Jones died on January 5 of last year after Babcock beat him over an 11-day period beginning Christmas Eve.  The murderer had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but a forensic psychologist testified that he was sane at the time of the crime, and Babcock admitted that he was responsible for the injuries Jones sustained in recorded confessions to Texas Rangers and Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn.

Inman gave credit for the capital murder verdict to what he called “stellar law enforcement investigation.”

“The Donley County Sheriff’s Office handled this heinous offense with superb expertise from the moment the 911 call was made by the defendant,” the district attorney said. “The sheriff’s office was assisted by not one but two experienced Texas Rangers in Jamie Downs and Jay Foster, who conducted a meticulous crime scene investigation which resulted in evidence collection that were vital tools in this prosecution.”

Although Babcock has been convicted, there is still more to come with regards to charges over Jones’ death. Babcock’s mother, Gayle Edes, is currently under indictment in Donley County and is charged with Felony Injury to a Child by Omission for her failure to get medical attention for Jones on January 3, 2011.

“Chance’s story is not over yet,” Inman said. “This book is not complete and the state will proceed forward on prosecution of all culpable parties in Chance’s life.”

By Roger Estlack, The Clarendon Enterprise. Copyright © 2012.

 

The jury is now deliberating in the capital murder trial of Robert Babcock.

They have the options of finding him guilty of capital murder, guilty of felony murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty.

We will let you know as soon as there is a verdict.

Moments ago the defense rested in the Robert Babcock capital murder trial.

The defense called only two witnesses today.  The first was a professor of mechanical engineering from Texas Tech who questioned the results of the state’s expert testimony regarding tests done on a wall from Chance Mark Jones’ bedroom.  The second witness was a pain management doctor who treated Babcock and monitored his seizure medication who told the jury about possible side effects.

The defense also wanted to call four other witnesses who were not available and could not be located.  The defense requested a continuance, but that request was denied.

We will have more details as they become available.

Defense attorney Dale Rabe told jurors the state had failed to meet its burden of proof in the Robert Babcock capital murder trial Wednesday.

Opening the defense portion of the trial, Rabe said the case before the Hall County Jury was tragic and that there was no question that it resulted in the death of four-year-old Chance Mark Jones. He also said that everyone grieves Chance’s death, including his father, Babcock, who is accused of beating him to death. Rabe said that people grieve differently and said the state had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Babcock “intentionally and knowingly” caused Jones’ death.

The first witness for the defense was Shane Lance, a former Child Protective Services investigator who was put in charge of Jones’ case when a family friend, Heather Hill, reported to the state that Jones’ mother, Nancy Brown, was hitting Jones and his half-sister, then age two. Hill also said Brown was on drugs.

Lance told jurors that Chance told him his mother hit him in the head, leaving marks and bruises, and would hit him and his sister whenever she was mad. Brown admitted to Lance that she had done meth within 24 hours of him interviewing her in November of 2011. After Chance went to live with his biological father, Lance said CPS worker Christy White was to make a home visit to Babcock’s residence and he said Babcock had requested counseling for his son as soon as possible because the boy reportedly said his mother’s boyfriend had played with his privates.

Under cross examination by District Attorney Luke Inman, Lance testified that CPS had concerns about placing Jones with Babcock because he was a 38-year-old man with no experience with kids. But the state had no grounds to keep Babcock, as the biological father, from getting custody of the boy.

“I do remember him saying that Chance was a cradle of life and that he couldn’t believe Nancy would ever hit him or hurt a child,” Lance said.

Lance told jurors that Babcock never contacted CPS for help with parenting and never reported that he was having trouble controlling the child or was hitting him. Inman asked Lance what he would say if he were told that Babcock claimed to have contacted Lance’s office numerous times to seek help.

“That would be a lie,” Lance responded.

The defense also intended to call Babcock’s mother Gayle Edes to the stand Wednesday, but her attorney informed Rabe and the state that she was invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and would not testify. Rabe asked the court to admit into evidence an audio recording of Edes being interviewed by Texas Ranger Jamie Downs last January, and Judge Stuart Messer granted that request.

Edes is currently under indictment for felony injury to a child by omission for her failure to get medical aid for Jones on January 3.

Earlier Wednesday, the state rested its portion of the trial after calling a Lubbock medical examiner to the stand and presenting graphic photos of Jones’ autopsy, detailing the numerous external and internal injuries the boys had sustained at the hands of his father.

The state also called Ranger Downs to the stand for a second time to play an audio recording of a January 8, 2012, interview with the defendant, during which Babcock again admits to beating his son and even punching him in the head more than five times “to wake him up” after he discovered him unconscious and before calling 911 on January 4, 2011.

The defense will continue its arguments today.

 By Roger Estlack, The Clarendon Enterprise. Copyright © 2012.

District Attorney Luke Inman announced earlier today that the state has now rested in the capital murder trial of Robert Babcock.

The prosecution concluded today with an audio recording of a January 8, 2011, interview between the defendant and Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn and Texas Ranger Jamie Downs.  During the interview, Babcock again admitted beating his four-year-old son, Chance Mark Jones, and even hitting the child in the head numerous times after he was unconscious on January 4, prior to calling 911 that morning.

A Lubbock medical examiner testified earlier today that Jones’ death the next day was caused by complications due to blunt force trauma to the head. The defense begins its presentation this afternoon.

A Lubbock woman broke down on the stand Tuesday, June 5, during Robert Babcock’s capital murder trial as she remembered the four-year-old boy whom she had considered her son.

Heather Hill was a friend of Chance Mark Jones’ family who had known him his whole life. But circumstances caused Jones to come to live with Hill when he was two years old, and her house was his home until Child Protective Services facilitated placing Jones with his biological father, Babcock, in Clarendon.

Through tears during part of her testimony, she asked the court to take down a larger than life-sized photo of Jones, which had been situated in front of the witness stand.

“I felt like he was my child,” Hill told the Hall County jury during day three of the trial.

Hill said Jones had a normal, happy home life that included fishing trips, playing in the park, and attending the pre-kindergarten class that she taught.

“We had a school routine during the week and family time on the weekends,” she said.

Jones enjoyed school and loved playing with other kids, Hill said.

“I remember his humor,” she said. “He was very loving and always told me he loved me.”

But in late 2010, Hill contacted CPS and reported that Jones’ biological mother had “knocked the crap out of the kid and knocked him down.”  By Thanksgiving, there was an agreement that Jones should go live with Babcock at his home southeast of Clarendon.

Jones seemed happy about the move, Hill testified, noting that he had become used to being moved around.

“I think he just thought he was going on a vacation and would be coming home,” she said.

But Jones never came home. Babcock called 911 on the morning of January 4, 2011, to report that the boy was unresponsive, and he died the next day at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo. Through an investigation and a series of interviews with the defendant, it was learned that Babcock began beating his son on Christmas Eve and continued to do so right up through January 4.

Babcock, now facing life in prison without parole, had told investigators and EMS that Jones had anger issues and that he had hit himself. He also said the boy lied and sometimes urinated on the floor. He later told Texas Rangers that he had caused most of Jones injuries.

Hill testified that Jones had never displayed any anger issues and never hit himself, that he was truthful, and that she potty trained him herself. She also said that Babcock never contacted her about having any problems at all with the boy.

After Jones went to live with Babcock, she never saw the boy again. She texted Babcock, but 75 percent of her texts went unanswered, she said. She said she called and asked to have Chance for Christmas, but Babcock told her “no.”

“You have had him all this time,” Hill recalled Babcock telling her. “Isn’t it fair that my family has this time?”

Hill said she texted Babcock on Christmas day but got no response.

Other witnesses Tuesday included Dr. Christopher Todd, a pediatric intensivist at NWTH who treated Jones on January 4, and Dr. Wayne Paullus, a neurosurgeon at NWTH who performed emergency surgery on the boy to relieve pressure on his brain. Todd, who has specific training in child abuse cases, said Jones’ injuries were not accidental and the worst he had seen in his career.

The District Attorney, Luke Inman, also called to the stand a sexual assault nurse from NWTH, Danielle Livermore, who examined Jones after Paullus performed surgery on the boy. The jury was shown four graphic photos that she took of Jones’ injuries. She said she found no evidence of sexual assault, but she did document injuries to the child’s genitals and cataloged about 100 injuries Jones had sustained in a five-page report that covered every part of his body from his head to his feet.

Livermore testified that she has conducted more than 1,000 exams in her ten years as a sexual assault nurse, and it was her opinion that Jones had been severely beaten. Inman asked her how many children she has seen in Jones’ condition. “Chance is the only one,” she replied.

Babcock has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but also on Tuesday, a clinical psychologist from Lubbock, Dr. Philip Davis, said he examined the defendant on January 1 , 2012, and that in his opinion Babcock was sane at the time of the crime and that he knew what he did was wrong.

Babcock’s trial continues in Memphis, where the state is expected to wrap up its case today, June 6, and the defense will begin its presentation this week.

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise. Copyright © 2012.