Archive for the ‘story’ tag
NC Amber Alert – Harmony Jade Creech
11.11.09: Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Heuser.
Original PostUpdated: 11.11.09Sources
There are some stories that come out about missing children that I hesitate to blog about because I can almost feel the outcome is going to be bad. I read the story last night about missing 11-month-old Harmony Creech last night. There wasn’t much information available at that time so I decided to wait.
I read another article this afternoon and I discussed the story with a friend.
Below is what was told to police:
“…Harmony was last seen in her crib in the family’s Spring Lake home, at 1680 Ray Road, around 11 p.m. Thursday. Investigators said Harmony’s mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, claimed to be the last one to see the child after putting her to bed Thursday night.(…)”
“…A pink bed sheet, a few bibs and most of her clothing were also taken, authorities said.(…)”
“…Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said the window in the baby’s room was open. The screen had been removed and was sitting outside of the house…”
The father of the missing child has been deployed to Iraq and was not in the country when Harmony was born. However, he flew into the country on Friday morning and Harmony’s grandmother picked him up at the airport, leaving a sleeping Harmony and the mother behind with her other 3 children.
When I read this account things just did not ring true. The first thing that did not ring true was not bringing this returning soldier’s new baby to the airport to greet her new father. The second thing not ringing true was the grandmother picking him up at the airport.
The last thing that did not ring true was the baby was not discovered missing until approximately 11:00 a.m. after the grandmother and father returned from the airport. Having been a mother I know children just do not sleep in until almost noon at 11 months of age.
So I discussed my misgivings with my friend. She was quick to ask me why I thought the child was dead. What could be the reason for someone killing a baby? Well, my response was of all of the babies and children I have heard of being murdered by someone, there never has been a good reason for the murder – there never can be a good reason to murder a child.
So I just checked for new developments in the story. Harmony’s body was located this afternoon in the attic of the home where she lived. Apparently she has been dead for several weeks. I suppose they needed to come up with a story to explain to the father why his daughter was not there to greet him at the airport.1
There have been no arrests made at this time. The baby’s mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, told police she discovered Harmony’s deceased body in her crib a few weeks ago and concealed the death out of fear. An autopsy will determine if there was anything the mother should have been fearful about regarding the death of her baby.
I will continue to update this story.
That poor little baby. If she did die of natural causes she deserved to have a decent burial — not stuck up in an attack like an unwanted doll.
After several hours of questioning regarding the death of her 11-month-old daughter Harmony, Johni Michelle Heuser was charged with first-degree murder. She is being housed at the Harnett County Detention Center on a no bond hold.
An autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death. Johni told authorities that she found her daughter dead in her crib a few weeks ago and decided to hide the body and the death because she was afraid. News accounts do not elaborate on the cause of that fear.2
September 4, 2008
October 20th will mark the 1 year anniversary of Harmony Jade Creech’s alleged murder at the hands of her mother. At least that will mark the anniversary of the discovery of her badly decomposed body. Harmony’s motherĂ‚Â has yet to be indicted for the crime.
In case you don’t recall Hueser reportedly discovered her baby dead in the crib several weeks prior to reporting her missing. Instead of calling authorites on the day of the discovery Hueser decided to place her dead baby in a plastic bag, place that inside a diaper box and put the box up in the corner of the attic.
She then waited until the day the baby’s father was returning from a tour of duty in Iraq to report the baby missing which prompted the activation of a statewide Amber Alert.
What a piece of work.
In January of this year authorities were awaiting test results from Harmony’s skeletal remains that had been sent to a Texas lab for analysis. Then on March 11 it was reported that the autopsy discovered nicotine in Harmony’s body and there was no way to figure out how that happened.3
On March 18 it was determined that the cause of death was inconclusive. Other tests are being conducted and the investigation is ongoing.4
November 11, 2009
Prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty in the first-degree murder case of Johni Heuser. It has been difficult for investigators to determine exactly how Harmony Creech died in 2007. What they have determined after having Harmony’s remains examined by an anthropologist is that Harmony was starved to death.
Harmony’s remains were found in the attic of her mother’s home on Oct. 20, 2007. Investigators believe Harmony died sometime between August 31, 2007, September 30, 2007.
Death Penalty Sought Against Mother in Toddler’s Death, WRAL.com, Last Accessed: November 11, 2009.
- Missing Harnett County Baby Found Dead in Attic, WRAL.com. [↩]
- Mom Charged with Murder After Baby Found Dead, WRAL.com. [↩]
- Autopsy Finds Nicotine in 11-month-old’s Remains, WRAL.com, March 11, 2008. [↩]
- Infant’s Cause of Death Remains Under Investigation, WRAL.com, March 18, 2008. [↩]
Alandus Weaver Charged in Daughter’s Death
An AMBER Alert was issued in early June for a 9-month-old baby who was allegedly abducted by a stranger. According to the child’s mother, Tamaira Creagh, age 19 an Hispanic male wearing a hooded sweatshirt came into her apartment and tried to sexually assault her. She was able to fight off the intruder but then she said he grabbed her infant daughter, Daisja Weaver, out of her car seat and ran out of the apartment.
Tamaira Creagh and the child’s father, Alandus Weaver, 20 called police to report the alleged abduction. Dallas Police department officials then activated an AMBER Alert to aide in the search for the abducted child. In fact, the AMBER Alert is still active on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.
After a few days of searching and the parents being interviewed in the media police began to doubt the parents’ story of what happened to their child. Eventually the mother told police the truth about what really happened to her baby.
According to Creagh, she went to work on June 8 and left Daisja with Weaver. When Weaver came to pick her up from work that evening he did not have the child with him. He told Creagh that he had given Daisja a bath and left her at home alone in order to pick up Creagh from work.
When Creagh entered the apartment she saw her daughter lying naked on the livingroom floor. She was cold to the touch. When asked what happened to the baby Creagh told police Weaver became violent with her. He told her they had to stick together and make up a story. They went to bed and Creagh went to work the next day. When she got off work she claims Weaver made her go with him to Lewisville Lake. He tied a sandbag to Daisja’s body and dropped her over the side of the bridge into the lake below. They then called police with the fabricated abduction story.
After hearing that version from Tamaira Creagh they first took Alandus Weaver into custody charging him with tampering with evidence. They then arrested Creagh and charged her with the same thing. Numerous attempts at searching for Daisja’s body have proven fruitless. The search has been suspended.
Today, the Prosecutor announced they have charged Alandus Weaver with the murder of his daughter. According to news accounts Weaver gave a statement to police explaining what happened on that day in June.
Investigators say Alandus Weaver, 20, has told them he accidentally drowned the baby while giving her a bath on June 8. He said he poured too much water over her head and she drowned.
Weaver and Creagh told police they then panicked and put the dead child in a car overnight. The next day they finally disposed of the body in Lewisville Lake.
The parents then concocted their story of the mother being attacked, and they faked an assault by having Weaver beat Creagh.
Alandus Weaver is charged with capital murder. Creagh is still facing charges of tampering with evidence. The sad part is they are no longer trying to find Daisja’s body because they have enough evidence with the confessions to get a conviction. Another sad ending to this story is Creagh is pregnant with Weaver’s child.
Brett Shipp, Dad Offers Details of Baby’s Disappearance, WFAA-TV, Last Accessed: July 9, 2009.
Isaiah Vargas Located Deceased
12.12.09: Heather Miller Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder
I have been in a sort of a I don’t know, I guess a daze since the discovery of Christopher Barrios’ body last month. It seems as though the Amber Alerts and missing children reports come in bunches. Frankly, I could not manage to blog about another missing child because I was feeling so emotionally spent after following Christopher’s story.
I skipped blogging about Lars and Remi Baugher, kidnapped by their father after a scheduled and court-ordered visit. I almost blogged the initial Amber Alert but then I felt myself holding back from writing the story because the father had mental problems according to published reports. I became even more frustrated about the story when I found out the reason the parental visits had stopped 9 months ago.
There were some allegations against the father of sexual abuse regarding the daughter. After an investigation the judge ruled that the allegations were unproven. The judge ordered the father to have an unsupervised visit that weekend but also told the father he needed to get a psychiatric evaluation.
I could not understand why the judge would order the unsupervised visits to resume prior to the psychiatric evaluation being done.
So there is another judge sitting somewhere wondering if he/she made a mistake in approving the visitation. Thankfully the father was apprehended after I think 3 days or so and the children were found unharmed. If the children never had a reason to fear their father before, they certainly do now. I would hope he will not be getting any visits any time soon.
So, I read about the story but did not blog about it.
There was another story that I saw for a potential blog entry and that was Isaiah Vargas who was reported kidnapped by two unknown black males outside of his apartment building in Mesa, AZ. The story broke this afternoon that the father’s girlfriend led authorities to a shallow grave where his body was buried on Wednesday.
Heather Nicole Miller — who is the girlfriend of the boy’s father — has confessed to killing Isaiah Vargas on Wednesday.
Police say she grabbed the boy’s arm and pushed him into his bedroom after he refused to go.
Miller apparently tried to cover up the crime by burying him near a child daycare center, then fabricating a kidnap story.
With all of the missing children in this country it really makes me mad when people make up a story to cover up the murder of an innocent child.
So, Heather Miller is now facing 2nd-degree murder charges and Isaiah’s father gets to plan a funeral for his 3-year-old son and people can become just a bit more jaded about reports of abducted child.
December 12, 2009
A jury in a Maricopa County, Arizona courtroom returned a guilty verdict of first-degree murder and felony child abuse against Heather Nicole Miller in the death of Isaiah Vargas. Initially Miller was charged with second-degree murder. I am guessing the reason the first-degree charge was also sought was because it was determined that little Isaiah died from blunt force trauma to his head at the hands of Miller.
Miller faces a sentence of forty-five years to life when she is sentenced on February 8, 2010. I wish they would have sought the death penalty.
Thanks to a reader for the heads up on the verdict.
Mike Sakal, Woman Guilty of Killing Fiance´s Son, The East Valley Tribune, Last Accessed: December 12, 2009.
