Aspies For Freedom

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Autistic tot tied up and shot sees mother's murder

The Associated Press

AUSTELL, Ga. Jan 25, 2006 — A New Orleans couple who had been chased from their home by Hurricane Katrina died in an apparent murder-suicide, leaving behind an infant and a severely injured 4-year-old boy.

Police entered the couple's rented home in the Atlanta suburb of Austell early Wednesday after a call from a relative in New Orleans.

The woman "said that her nephew had called her and stated that he had an argument with his wife and that she was hurt pretty bad, and in fact she was dead," said police Chief Bob Starrett.

Police Lt. Gordon Firth said they found the woman dead in the living room, and her injured son strapped in a nearby high chair.

A SWAT team found Jerome Spears, 28, in a back bedroom, dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, Starrett said.

Starrett initially said the boy had been beaten so severely that both of his eyes were shut, but authorities later said he might have been shot. The boy, who Firth said is autistic, underwent surgery Wednesday morning at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

A 5-month old girl was uninjured, Starrett said.

Both children were to be turned over to the Department of Family and Children's Services.

Firth said the unmarried couple had lived in the rented house for about two months and police had no record of prior calls to that address. A string of Christmas lights still decorated the front porch Wednesday morning.

"The tragic thing is this 4-year-old boy most likely saw his mother killed and was (injured) and tied up right there where his mother was lying in a pool of blood," Starrett said. "It's as bad as it could get."

The names of the 24-year-old woman and the children were not immediately released. Starrett said authorities were having difficulty finding the couple's relatives because so many Louisiana residents scattered after the hurricane.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=15...SFeeds0312

Murderer who shot autistic boy in face was \"gangsta\" rapper

Fox News and AP
26 January 2006

AUSTELL, Ga. (AP) - A man who fled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina fatally shot his girlfriend and himself in their home, leaving her 4-year-old son with a gunshot to the face and the couple's infant daughter wailing in an upstairs bedroom.

Police entered the couple's rented home in the Atlanta suburb of Austell early Wednesday after a call from a relative in New Orleans.

The woman "said that her nephew had called her and stated that he had an argument with his wife and that she was hurt pretty bad, and in fact she was dead," Police Chief Bob Starrett said.

Authorities said they found Rachel Harris, 23, dead of gunshot wounds in the living room, and her son, who had been shot in the face, strapped in a nearby high chair and bleeding.

A SWAT team found Jerome Spears, 28, in a back bedroom, dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, Starrett said.

He left no note, police Lt. Gordon Firth said.

The boy, who is autistic, was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of an Atlanta hospital after undergoing surgery.

Officers followed the sound of crying to find the couple's 5-month-old daughter unharmed in an upstairs bedroom. A .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol was recovered from the scene.

Both children were to be turned over to the Department of Family and Children's Services.

Firth said the unmarried and unemployed couple had lived in the house for about two months and police had no record of prior calls to that address. A string of Christmas lights still decorated the front porch Wednesday morning.

"The tragic thing is this 4-year-old boy most likely saw his mother killed and was (injured) and tied up right there where his mother was lying in a pool of blood," Starrett said. "It's as bad as it could get."

Although police would not discuss Spears' background, research by The Associated Press matched his birthdate to that of Jerome "Slim Rome" Spears of New Orleans, an independent rap producer and CEO of On Top Enterprise Management and Production.

His flashy Web site contains photos of several rap and hip-hop artists he managed with such names as GunSlanga, Tru Thug and Menace - many of them posing with their hands cocked like pistols.

Firth viewed the photos from the Web site and said the shooter and "Slim Rome" "appear to be the same person."

Spears' friend Andy Koch, who designed the Web site, worked with Spears as a tow truck dispatcher until the Aug. 29 hurricane.

He said Spears was trying to tone down his company's "gangsta" image at the request of a record executive.

"That's not really how he is," Koch said. "He's just like your regular young guy. It's all just a show - I hope."

Phone messages left with relatives of Spears and Harris in New Orleans were not returned.

Associated Press writer Allen G. Breed contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.

Source: http://www.fox23news.com/news/national/s...C69353D48B

Offers of help pour in for kids after standoff

By YOLANDA RODRÍGUEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
01/28/06

The two children found in an Austell home after the apparent murder-suicide of two Hurricane Katrina evacuees have struck a chord with metro Atlantans, who have called local police with offers of help.

Austell police Lt. Gordon Firth said people wanting to help the children have "called all over the place, the sheriff, Cobb police. They are seeing the story and are interested in helping."

Police found the bodies of Jerome Spears, 28, and his girlfriend, Rachel Harris, 24, Wednesday in their home off Humphries Hill Road, near the Cobb-Douglas county line.

After police broke into the home, they also found the woman's 4-year-old autistic son by a prior relationship critically injured. He had been shot in the back of his head, left bleeding and tied to a chair. He was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where he underwent surgery.

Children's Healthcare would not release his condition.

The unmarried couple's 5-month-old daughter was found unharmed.

"This story has really torn me up," wrote Mark Oreszko of Alpharetta in an e-mail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"Honestly, I will go down there and hold his hand at night if the hospital will allow it."

Both children are in the custody of the state Division of Family and Children Services, spokesman Ari Young said.

Because so many people have called to donate money, police are working to establish a trust account for the children and will publicize the information when banking arrangements are complete.

On Wednesday Austell police said the couple were evacuees from New Orleans. Police said Spears' aunt, who is also from New Orleans, alerted them after getting a call from Spears. Spears called his aunt and said that Harris was dead.

Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins said he was told by Police Chief Bob Starrett that Spears had called his family to say he had killed Harris. Spears also told them to check into collecting her life insurance, Jerkins said.

Spears "made a call to New Orleans, and New Orleans called us," Jerkins said.

Jerkins said the police chief also told him that Spears was found in an upstairs bedroom with a gun in his hand.

"For both families, it's just a sad thing," Jerkins said.

Source:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/c...ndoff.html

Orphaned siblings go to grandmother
Parents died in murder-suicide in Austell home

By DON PLUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
02/01/06

Two children orphaned by the apparent murder-suicide of two Hurricane Katrina evacuees were reunited Tuesday with their grandmother.

The fate of Jalen Lewis and his 6-month-old sister, Angel Harris-Spears, had been uncertain since last Wednesday when police found the bodies of their parents dead inside their Austell home.

The bodies of Jerome Spears, 28, and his girlfriend, Rachel Harris, 24, were found after police, alerted by family members in Louisiana, broke into the home off Humphries Hill Road, near the Cobb-Douglas county line.

The couple's daughter was found unharmed. But Jalen, Harris' 3-year-old autistic son by a prior relationship, had been critically injured, shot in the back of his head. Found bleeding and tied to a chair, the boy was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where he underwent surgery.

Madeline Watts, Rachael Harris' mother, was awarded custody of the children Tuesday by a Cobb County Juvenile Court judge, said Austell police Chief Bob Starrett.

Watts immediately retrieved her granddaughter from state child welfare workers and went to Children's Healthcare to pick up her grandson.

Bouncing her granddaughter on her knee Tuesday evening, Watts said the horror of hearing that her daughter had been killed is just beginning to seep in.

"I talked with her at

8:30 the night she was killed and everything was normal," Watts said Tuesday evening. "All four of them were with us at Thanksgiving, and there was never any hint of problems."

However, since the mayhem Watts said her daughter's friends have begun to reveal an underside to the relationship, things Harris never shared with her family.

"From what I'm hearing now, I think she was in an abusive relationship," Watts said, looking across the room at her grandson as he cuddled next to his father, Darren Lewis.

Spears, Harris and their children lived with Watts after they were forced from their Jefferson Parish Louisiana homes by Katrina. But Spears, who Watts said was a music producer, decided his prospects would be better in Atlanta.

The family moved to a rented home in Austell in October, and Spears said he was making contacts, Watts said. Neither he nor her daughter talked with her about the tensions that exploded last Wednesday. For that matter, police said they had not received calls to the home.

Watts said she will bury her daughter Saturday. She is making peace with the fact that she may never know what went so very wrong behind the manicured lawn and freshly painted facade of the Austell home.

"I just have to make the best for my grandchildren," she said as her cellphone rang with another concerned friend on the line. "Things will get better once we're back home," she said.

A fund to benefit the children was established by Austell police after they fielded an outpouring of concern for the welfare of Jalen and Angel, Starrett said. Donations can be made to the Jalen and Angel Fund at any Georgia State Bank branch, he said.