Archive for the ‘story’ tag
Utah Endangered Missing: Ethan Stacy
05.13.10: Ethan's Injuries
Original Post: May 11, 2010 | I read the story this morning about little Ethan going missing in the middle of the night from his mother’s and step-father’s home. According to his mother, Ethan had just arrived ten days ago to visit for the summer. He normally resides with his father in Virginia. His mother also told police that Ethan had a habit of “running off” and had done so at least five times in the last ten nights. She had gone after him on those prior occasions and had been able to locate her 4-year-old, but not last night.
There was just something not right about the story. I knew he was already dead. I didn’t write about Ethan’s disappearance. I checked the news this evening to see if Ethan had been located, and was met by the following headline:
4-Year-Old Layton Boy was Murdered, Police say
According to the article police believe Ethan was murdered by his new stepfather and then of course, he and Ethan’s mother tried to cover up the crime by burying Ethan’s body in a remote area thirty miles away. The happy couple just tied the knot May 1. *note sarcasm*
Nathan Sloop, 31, was arrested for investigation of aggravated murder, child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse. Stephanie Sloop, 27, was arrested for investigation of child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse.1
Now, instead of Ethan’s father looking forward to welcoming him home at the end of the summer, he has to plan for his son’s funeral. I just wonder what Ethan could have done to deserve what he got.
Updates
May 12, 2010
The preliminary information released today regarding what happened to Ethan Stacy at the hands of his stepfather and mother is horrifying to say the least. I will never understand the absolutely heartless and truly barbaric ways people can treat their another person’s child let alone their own child or allow someone else to harm their child.
According to the new accounts I have read, the stepfather, Nathan Sloop, began abusing Ethan almost as soon as he arrived to stay the summer in Utah. Police confiscated pictures from the cell phone of Ethan’s mother, Stephanie Sloop. Those photographs show the progression of Ethan’s injuries over a period of a week. Why she was taking pictures of her son’s injuries instead of taking him the hell out of harm’s way is something I just can’t understand. According to police reports all of this abuse was done in the name of discipline.
The injuries resulted from the stepfather, Nathanael Sloop, “engaging in a systematic and progressively more violent pattern of abuse toward Ethan,” detectives wrote in interview summaries. The documents say Sloop was angry with the child and “tried everything” to discipline him; however, they don’t say why the boy was being disciplined.2
Sloop told police that he had hit Ethan and caused his face to swell. One would think that at that point Stephanie would have done something to save Ethan. No, what she did on May 6 was to lock Ethan in a bedroom for a few hours so they could take a 10 mile trip to get married. Yep, she locked her injured little boy in a room and left him alone to go get married to the brute who was beating her son. She said she didn’t take Ethan with them to get married because she was afraid people at the courthouse might ask questions about Ethan’s injuries. Can you imagine how badly beaten he must have been to make her worry about what people would say if they saw his little face all swollen and bruised? It gets worse.
Ethan died on Saturday night, they found him dead in his bed Sunday morning. According to Stephanie Sloop, Ethan had been vomiting, laying around and refusing food three days before he died. So that would have been starting on Wednesday or Thursday. On Friday she found Ethan badly burned from his feet to his buttocks apparently from being scalded in the tub – she told police she thought Nathan was responsible. I don’t understand this part. They forced Ethan to drink two 16-ounce bottles of water, a 16-ounce bottle of Kool-Aid, and a glass of orange juice over a two hour period of time. They did try to treat his pain and swelling with Motrin and Benedryl.
It wasn’t enough for Nathan Sloop that he had killed Ethan. Of course he did not want to pay for his actions so he had to hide the body and then make up some sort of story. So this is what they did:
…used a hammer to disfigure his face and teeth before burying his body in the mountains…to delay, prevent identification…wrapped his body in plastic…
Stephanie Sloop told investigators she bought two cans of lighter fluid for Nathanael Sloop to burn the body before it was buried. The reports didn’t say whether that was actually done. 3
What a horrific ending for this little boy’s short life. The saddest thing of all is he didn’t want to go visit his mom. According to family members he never even wanted to talk to her on the phone when she called. At least Utah has the death penalty, I hope it is sought for both of these monsters. Of course there will probably be a plea arrangement where she will agree to testify against him in exchange for a punishment which will amount to a slap on the wrist.
Sources
Pat Reavy, Layton Police Search for Missing 4-Year-Old Boy, Deseret News, Last Accessed: 05.11.10
- Pat Reavy, 4-Year-Old Layton Boy was Murdered, Police Say, Deseret News, Last Accessed: 05.11.10 [↩]
- Utah Man Beat Boy to Death, Disfigured Him, ABC3340.com, Last Accessed: 05.13.10. [↩]
- Ibid. [↩]
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.
