Category: Metro

COLUMBIA, S.C. (TCD) — Two day care employees were arrested this week on multiple charges for allegedly directing minors in their care to fight each other at school.

The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office announced 27-year-old Ericka Jones and 56-year-old Serena Caldwell turned themselves in Thursday, Nov. 9, amid an investigation into incidents that allegedly occurred at Kids Unlimited of Prosperity day care. Jones and Caldwell were both charged with of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful conduct to a child. Jones faces 14 counts and Caldwell 15.

They both appeared before a judge and were released from the Newberry County Jail.

According to WIS-TV, Sheriff Lee Foster said Caldwell and Jones allegedly encouraged and directed students to fight or exhibit violence toward other students and “allowed the violence to proceed without correction.”

In a statement, Kids Unlimited owner John David Dawkins said Jones and Caldwell were “immediately terminated” from their positions at the school.

WLTX-TV reports the children involved were 3 and 4 years old.

Foster told WLTX Jones and Caldwell allegedly “promoted other students, or other clients of the day care, to use violence to try to punish a child or make another child compliant.”

Foster called the actions “abhorrent behavior,” adding, “I just can’t imagine why you would do this.”

WIS reports Foster said, “We’ve had day care workers that have assaulted children, and day care workers that may have taken punishment a bit too far, but nothing like this. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

MORE:

• Press Release – Newberry County Sheriff’s Office 
• Daycare workers encouraged toddlers to beat each other in Prosperity, deputies say – WLTX
• 2 Midlands daycare employees arrested, accused of inciting children to fight each other – WIS

TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our True Crime Daily newsletter.

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COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (TCD) — Police have arrested two men in connection with the death of a man whose body was found in a ditch this week.

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, at around 10:44 a.m., the Collinsville Police Department responded to the area of 521 Loop St. to a report of an “unresponsive male found by neighbors lying in a ditch.” The victim, 21-year-old Tyrese Owens, had suffered a severe laceration to his torso, and the Madison County Coroner’s Office pronounced him dead.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis said they were called in to help and assigned around 20 investigators to the case. They followed up on numerous leads and asked for the public’s help in gathering further information.

The next day, on Thursday, Nov. 9, the Major Case Squad arrested 23-year-old Carlos Mosley and 22-year-old Amari McGee on two counts of first-degree murder. They were booked into the Madison County Jail.

MORE:

• Press Release – Collinsville Police Department; Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis

TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our True Crime Daily newsletter.

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BILLINGS, Mont. (TCD) — A family is grieving two loved ones after a 31-year-old man was fatally shot at a residence last week, then fell on top of his infant son, who also died.

According to the Billings Police Department, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at approximately 10:05 a.m., officers were called to a home on the 700 block of North 17th Street regarding a shooting. A witness told officers they noticed a vehicle pulling up to the house and a “large volley of shots being fired into the neighboring residence.”

Police officers could not make contact with anyone inside the home, so they forced entry and located the adult male deceased and an unresponsive infant. Medics transported the child to a hospital, where he later died.

KTVQ-TV identified the adult as Kenneth Morrison and the infant as Tatee’k Morrison.

In a news conference Nov. 2, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said it “appears the male collapsed on the child.”

Investigators obtained a description of the suspect’s vehicle and located it on the 300 block of South 28th Street. Another witness reportedly saw people get out of a pickup truck, run into the house, then flee into a neighboring house.

Billings Police officers locked down the residences, which resulted in the local SWAT team arriving. Ten people surrendered after five hours and were detained, but no arrests have been made in connection with the deaths of Kenneth and Tatee’k Morrison.

According to Tatee’k Morrison’s obituary, the boy, who also went by Ted, would have turned 1 year old on Nov. 2. His family referred to him as “Smiley” and “Bean,” and he was described as “abundantly loving, kind, sweet, full of energy, fun.”

Kenneth Morrison, who was also known as “Baby Kane,” was previously married and had four children with his first wife, though one child died in 2012. His obituary says he “loved his kids immensely and tried to do the best for them when he could.”

The obituary continued, “Kenneth had many close friends and family throughout his lifetime, too many to mention. His circle was large, and he had a friend wherever he went.”

MORE:

• Press Release for Homicide/SWAT Activation – Billings Police Department
• Violent Crime Press Conference – Billings Police Department
• Infant killed in Billings shooting died one day before first birthday – KTVQ
• Tatee’k “Ted” Cole Morrison obituary – Bullis Mortuary
• Kenneth Vernon Morrison, Sr. obituary – Bullis Mortuary

TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our True Crime Daily newsletter.

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Newsletter / 2023-11-10

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This Week on True Crime Daily The Podcast: A man convicted of a wedding shooting perpetrated to avenge his father’s murder. Plus, a mother and her two sons accused of tampering with evidence in the mysterious stabbing death of the family’s patriarch.

Rachel Fiset joins host Ana Garcia.

YouTube: Man shoots bride and bishop at wedding to avenge father; Mom and sons charged in dad’s homicide

TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our True Crime Daily newsletter.

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SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (TCD) — A mother faces murder charges after allegedly fatally shooting her two young sons in their home this week.

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, shortly after 11 a.m., the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a shooting with injury at 213 Bentwood Drive. According to an arrest report obtained by WLKY-TV, a concerned neighbor went to the home and found the children, ages 6 and 9, in a bedroom covered in blood with a gun on the bed.

The children were transported to Norton’s Children’s Hospital, where they succumbed to their gunshot wounds.

The sheriff’s office identified the children’s mother, Tiffanie Lucas, as the primary suspect, and arrested her on two counts of murder.

She remains held in the Bullitt County Detention Center.

WAVE-TV reports that her bond was set at $2 million, and she is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 14.

MORE:

• Press Release – Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office
• Bullitt County Detention Center
• Siblings, ages 6 and 9, shot to death in Bullitt County; mother charged – WLKY
• $2M bond set for mother charged with shooting to death her young sons – WAVE

TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases every week. Subscribe to our YouTube page and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our True Crime Daily newsletter.

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TONTITOWN, Ark. (TCD) — A 40-year-old man faces false imprisonment and other charges for allegedly hiding his daughter in a confined space in his closet because he did not want her to be taken into state custody.

According to an incident report cited by KNWA/KFTA-TV, on Nov. 2, Tontitown Police Department officers went to Jon Thompson’s parents’ home because the Arkansas Department of Human Services requested help to bring a 5-year-old girl into their custody. Thompson reportedly did not allow officers inside the home for several minutes, but he later granted them access to the home.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett reportedly said when officers went inside, they “found the child inside a cut out portion of a closet.”

Body cam footage shared by KFSM-TV shows Thompson sifting through items in his closet and moments later, pulling a child out from the wall.

He was arrested on charges of false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor, interference with custody, and possession of body armor.

An officer reportedly wrote in the incident report that Thompson needed to “pull a board that was nailed to the wall”  to get his daughter out, according to the report cited by CNN. A second officer described the confined area as a “small possibly 6-foot by 4-foot space that was cut inside the master bedroom closet wall.”

The little girl was reportedly in the closet for about half an hour “without being able to leave on her own will.”

CNN reports the officer wrote in the report the girl was “afraid to go inside the hole in the wall but that her dad wanted her to do so and told her if she did not go inside she would be taken away from him.”

The space was also described as a “triangle-shaped void,” according to KFSM.

Thompson was booked into the Washington County Jail and later released on bond.

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MARYVILLE, Tenn. (TCD) — A police department’s oldest cold case reached a breakthrough this week following the arrest of an 80-year-old man who investigators allege killed his parents nearly 50 years ago.

In a statement, the Maryville Police Department announced a grand jury indicted Michael Fine on Tuesday, Nov. 7, on two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting his parents, Helen Fine and Maynard Fine, in 1977. Michael Fine currently lives in Alabama and was taken into custody in Jefferson County, where he is awaiting extradition back to Tennessee.

On May 20, 1977, Helen Fine and Maynard Fine were found deceased at their home in Maryville from apparent gunshot wounds. The investigation into their deaths went cold but was reopened in May 2021.

Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 8, and shared additional details about the slayings and Michael Fine’s arrest. According to Crisp, a telephone technician was working at a home on Everett Avenue when he discovered 54-year-old Helen Fine’s decomposed body in a car parked outside the home. The technician called Maryville Police, who arrived and discovered 67-year-old Maynard Fine’s decomposing body inside the residence.

Crisp said they both died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators were able to tie Michael Fine to the gun used in the killing, which was found a year later in a landfill.

Crisp called the arrest “rewarding” because it allowed police to “do our job, pursue justice, and bring the person responsible for such a crime to answer for that and the families to know that it didn’t end in 1977. No one’s forgotten.”

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