Jonathan James

On July 25, 2011 ten year old Jonathan James died from dehydration according to a medical examiner.

According to the reports, the boys’ father, Michael Ray James and his stepmother, Tina Alberson, both 42 years old, had punished the boy by not allowing him to drink any water because he stole some guitar strings from one of his siblings. Some reports say it was because he had wet his bed.

During an investigation of his death the detectives found out that Jonathan was not allowed to drink water for 5 days and died after collapsing and hitting his head on the floor. He was taken to a hospital where doctors were told that the boy was sick. The medical personal at the hospital were unable to revive Jonathan and he was pronounced dead.

Sue Shotwell, Jonathan’s grandmother said he had called her in late June to tell her he was afraid to live with his parents during a month long court-ordered custody visit. Also living in the home was Jonathan’s twin brother, Joseph, was not injured at all. Shotwell said her grandson had asked if he could go live with her instead. She said he told her, “I know I’m going to be in trouble while I’m there because I always am.” Shotwell said she had never heard that from him before.

Joseph told reporters that he wanted to help his brother but was worried he would face similar punishment. “I wanted to do something, but I couldn’t,” he said. “I couldn’t do nothing because I would get in trouble.”

Michael James and Tina Alberson

Michael Ray James and Tina Alberson were both arrested and charged with injury to a child causing bodily injury. Bodily injury? Are they serious? I would say it was more like causing death, not injury. If convicted  of the charges though which is a first degree felony, they will be facing a sentence of up to 99 years in prison. This won’t bring Jonathan back but it will get him some justice at least.

Jonathan was described by his grandmother as being an easy-going kid that never held a grudge. She said, “This kid, if you know Jonathan, he could forgive you for no matter what you did. You could ground him and he would say, ‘I love you, Mimi,’”

The death of this boy is so tragic. I’d like to see this father and stepmother treated this way so they could feel what this child was feeling. I know when I get thirsty I want something to drink and I don’t like it when I can’t find something within minutes. I can’t imagine going 5 days without water.

I do pray that this man doesn’t get his other children back with him. I’d hate to see a repeat of this happening to them as well. I will keep them all in my prayers. I pray God will watch over them.

Jan Barrett

Alizae Mosconi

Alizae Mosconi is just under 2 years old and has already experienced the fear of death in what I would call a very frightening way that most people would not have survived.

All because she hit a distant cousin with a ball, the cousin decided to teach Alizae a lesson by dangling the child outside an open window on the third floor of the apartment building they were in. Apparently the baby started to struggle and scream out for help and as she reached out she scratched 27 year old Terra Hill of East Liverpool, Ohio. That is when Hill said she accidentally dropped her the 21 ft down to the sidewalk.

Alizae which has been described as a remarkable little girl that is indeed a little fighter as well as she is feisty and lovable.

Dr. Jennifer Wolford from Children’s Hospital said the 23 month old suffered numerous facial fractures, a big fracture to her temporal bone and fractures around her ear and in the middle of her face. She said her face was very fractured and she also had two broken arms, has fluid in her lungs and a lacerated spleen which caused blood to flow into her abdominal cavity. The injuries have caused extensive bruising and swelling to Alizae’s head and face including black and blue and swollen eyes, a swollen nose and swollen lips. She had scrapes on her left side and bruises and scrapes on her legs and she still needed a breathing tube as of Thursday.

Dr. Wolford reported to the courts through a video testimony that Alizae’s brain does look normal right now but she has suffered one seizure as a recult of her injuries, but it is too soon to tell what kind of long term problems she might have. She said the child will probably need the help of plastic surgeons and will have to have consultations with neurologists.

Terra Hill

She seems to be determined not to let this stop her though. Her mother, 24 year old Beth Newman says that Alizae is doing great right now. She said she is talking and she even ate mashed potatoes, pudding and peas for her dinner Thursday.

Family members say she watches cartoons with her good eye and listens to music. SpongeBob SquarePants is her favorite cartoon. Her great-grandmother, 68 year old Donna Fisher said she has asked for pop and she wanted her shoes. Fisher said, “We can’t figure out why because she usually doesn’t want to wear them.”

She has improved so much that the Doctor’s at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburg, Pa. have upgraded her condition to fair and they have removed her from the Intensive Care Unit into a private room.

New Brighton police have arrested Hill and charged her with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. District Judge Tim Finn called the evidence in this case “graphic” and ordered all charges on Hill to be held to court. He also ordered that the $25,000 bond remain in place. “I’m saying a prayer for this child. Bless her,” said Finn.

I am saying a prayer for this child as well. I pray she continues to fight for her life and that one day she can conquer it and be able to live a full life. She has proven that she has the fight in her now. I just pray it stays with her. Bless her little heart.

Jan Barrett

5 ft. gator

I have to admit when I read this story I had to think of my husband Simon. He is a book reviewer and he loves to read. He seems to be able to read better while sitting outside in the natural light where he can see better. Luckily we have a nice front porch where he can go out on and sit and read peacefully.

It was his love of the front porch that made me think of him. A man from Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida walked out on his front porch and got a huge surprise. There was a 5-foot alligator on the porch as though it was just there hanging out. I have to giggle when I think of what Simon would do if here were this man. I can just picture him coming back inside telling me, “Honey, you aren’t going to believe this, but there is an alligator on our porch!”

The man, identified as Ken Murray said the gator didn’t try to attack him or anything but it did open its mouth a few times.

Murray said he noticed his dogs outside had been barking but at first he just brushed it off thinking they could possibly just be barking at an armadillo or something like that. When they continued to bark he decided to check it out.

“My dogs were raising Cain and I came around the corner and looked and there’s a gator on my front porch,” said Murray.

A trapper came to the house and got the gator but he said it was going to have to be killed. Apparently the gator put up a fight when they were trying to catch it but it finally lost the battle.

Jan Barrett

LATEST FILM FROM THE PRODUCERS OF OUR IDIOT BROTHER & THE SITTER

(New York, NY) — August 22nd, 2011 — Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswalt have signed on to co-star in Todd Rohal’s latest, an outlandish yet poignant comedy about a pair of battling brothers who attempt to honor their ailing father by taking a troop of boys on a last ditch camping trip that goes wildly wrong. The film marks the first time comedic foils Knoxville and Oswalt will be sharing the big screen. Joining the team for the ensemble comedy are Rob Riggle, Maura Tierney & Patrice O’Neal.

The still untitled film is written and will be directed by emerging comedic auteur Todd Rohal, hot on the heels of the Sundance success of his second feature film, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. The film, which is loosely based on Rohal’s experiences growing up, begins production this week.

The film is being financed by Marc Turtletaub’s and Peter Saraf’s Big Beach Films. Turtletaub, Saraf and Lisa Muskat are producing, David Gordon Green is executive producing, and Michael Clark and John Hodges will oversee production for Big Beach.

“Todd looks at the world through a different set of lenses than the rest of us, and yet his vision managers to be simultaneously unique and universal,” Saraf said. “I think that’s because his humor, while twisted at times, is fundamentally compassionate and truthful. The combination of Todd with this hilariously amazing cast is going to make for an exciting ride, and we’re tightening our seatbelts.”

After co-creating the massively successful “Jackass” franchise (which ultimately spawned three theatrical films) in 2000, Knoxville has starred in a number of feature films, including MEN IN BLACK II, LORDS OF DOGTOWN, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, THE RINGER, WALKING TALL and John Waters’ A DIRTY SHAME. Knoxville’s production company, Dickhouse Productions, which he co-owned with Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine, has produced all iterations of “Jackass,” as well as the acclaimed documentaries THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA and THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR.

Widely regarded as one of the best and most transgressive stand-up comedians of the last decade, Oswalt has released four hit comedy albums, the last of which, “My Weakness is Strong” in 2009, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Small roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s MAGNOLIA, Milos Forman’s MAN ON THE MOON and Todd Phillips’ STARSKY & HUTCH led to Oswalt’s breakout leading roles as the voice of Remy in the hit Pixar film RATATOUILLE and Robert Siegel’s acclaimed Sundance drama BIG FAN, for which Oswalt received a Gotham Award nomination for Breakthrough performance. For the last three seasons, Oswalt starred on Showtime’s Emmy-nominated “The United States of Tara.” This Fall, he will appear in A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS and Jason Reitman’s YOUNG ADULT with Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson. His latest one-hour special “Finest Hour” debuts on Showtime on September 5th, with the CD/audio available September 20th on Comedy Central Records.

Big Beach is one of the leading indie film production companies. The Weinstein Company is releasing the Big Beach-produced OUR IDIOT BROTHER across the country on August 26th.

Todd Rohal, Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswald are repped by CAA. Patton is managed by Generate and Knoxville is managed by 3 Arts.

ABOUT TODD ROHAL

Todd Rohal wrote and directed The Guatemalan Handshake in 2006, which he theatrically self-distributed around the world with a single 35mm print. He participated in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s lab in 2009 and has collaborated on music videos and DVD projects with filmmakers Cory McAbee, Jeff Krulik and the band Ola Podrida.

Todd’s latest film, THE CATECHISM CATCALYSM, an absurdist buddy movie about a disillusioned priest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is being released theatrically by IFC Films in October 2011.

Andrea Fox

A grandmother in League City, Texas reported her 14 year old granddaughter that was visiting her from Timpson, Texas, missing. She told the police that she found a note from the girl stating that she was going to New York but she would be back before school started. The girl also told her grandmother not to go looking for her. Apparently they don’t think the girl is heading to New York, though. An Amber alert has been issued.

Investigators have reason to believe that Andrea Love Fox is with 21 year old James Dean Martin who is a member of the US Army that is stationed in Ft. Carson, Colorado. They think that is where the pair is headed to, since Martin is expected to report back in on the base Friday. According to Andrea’s cell phone records she had spoken to Martin the same day she disappeared at about 1 a.m.

Andrea Fox is described as being a white female that is about 5 ft tall. She weighs about 170 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

James Martin is described as a white male that is about 5 ft 11 inches tall. She is said to weigh approximately 150 pounds. He has blonde hair and blue eyes.

James Martin

The police believe the two are traveling in a blue Chevrolet Aveo that has a buyer tag on the back. The League City Police Department is asking anyone that has any information about the whereabouts of Andrea Love Fox or James Dean Martin to please contact them at 281-332-2566 or 281-338-4183.

This girl could have possibly left with Martin willingly but authorities aren’t quite sure yet so they don’t know if she is in any danger right now. But either way she is too young to be on her own with a 21 year old man and her family wants her home. So my prayer will be that she is returned to her family safe and unharmed.

Jan Barrett

Jasmine Colleen-Ila Fike

Teenager, Jasmine Colleen-Ila Fike, was talking on the phone with her mother this morning telling her that Franky Lamont Session who is 37 years of age was driving up and down the street where she was in Aurora, Co. and that he was also banging on the front door of the home.

The Police were called but by the time they arrived at the home all they found was the front door wide open and the girl was gone.

Aurora police are now investigating the disappearance of Fike as a missing or endangered teen. An Amber Alert was issued at the advice of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation just before noon today.

Apparently Fike and Session have been known to have a relationship of some sort previously.

The 15 year old girl is described as a white female, standing about 5 ft. 5 inches tall. She weighs about 130 lbs and her hair is brown shoulder length. She has hazel color eyes.

Franky Lamont Session

Session is described as being a black male that is about 6 ft 3 inches tall. He weighs about 210 lbs and he has black hair and brown eyes.

The police think Fike was wearing her school uniform which is dark blue sweat pants and a dark blue T-shirt with the letters “Cottage” on it.

It is believed that the two are traveling in a green Chevy Tahoe with Colorado license plate number 616-XGD on it.

The police are asking anyone that has any information on the whereabouts of these two people to please call them at 303-627-3100 or you can just call your local law enforcement agency and explain to them what information you might have. You could also call metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP  if you would like to remain anonymous or you can send a text message to 274637 (CRIMES) but remember to put DMCS in the title.

I do pray this young girl is safe where ever she is. May God be with her to keep her safe.

Jan Barrett

BreeAnn Rodriguez

On August 6, 2011 in Senath Missouri three year old Breeann Rodriguez was outside in front of her family home rising her bicycle with training wheels on it. That was the last time the child was seen, she just disappeared. According to Police Chief Omar Karnes, “She was there (then) she was gone. There is nothing. No trace. We don’t have any trail.”

Saturday, August 13, 2011 it was announced that Shawn Morgan, 43 had been arrested and charged with first degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with physical evidence.

An affidavit was released where Morgan told authorities that he saw little Breeann standing on his pool ladder on the 6th of August. He claims he grabbed the child and carried her inside his house. He then used a white plastic trash bag to suffocate her by holding it over her face and mouth.

The statement goes on to say that he placed Breeann’s body inside the same trash bag that he used to suffocate her and then drove to the to the floodway ditches at Highway 164 and disposed of her body by throwing her over the railing. Morgan also said once he got back home he took the bicycle apart and threw it into the same river system.

A search in the river system was started and the child’s bicycle was found but so far Breeann’s body has not been recovered.

Shawn Morgan

Morgan is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, but right now he is being held at the Dunklin County Justice Center on a no bond order which was issued by the courts.

Breeann fell victim to this man. My heart goes out to her. I can only imagine the fear she had in her when he was holding that bag over her face. It is so sad. I hope and pray they find this little girl soon so she can be given a proper burial and then she can rest in peace with God. She was a precious little girl with a cute smile. If what this man is telling the police is true, I hope they find him guilty and that he gets at least life without parole or worse.

This case only goes to prove that we can’t let our little ones out of our sight for even a second these days. I remember going to K-Mart and leaving my oldest son in the toy department alone while I shopped so he could decide what he wanted but it was safe back then to do that, but when my youngest was small I was too afraid to leave him alone. It is ashamed we can’t live in our own homes and feel safe now. I pray that someone can come up with an answer for this huge problem our world has to protect these children more.

I know they don’t want to hear my answer to it. If it were up to me there would be no excuses. They wouldn’t spend 20 years on death row either if found guilty. They would be executed immediately once found guilty. They wouldn’t get benefit of appeals  or parole and would be given no second chances. Tougher laws and tougher sentencing might make them think twice before harming a child.

God is watching over Breeann now.

Jan Barrett

UPDATE: Breeann’s body was found by an officer of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Water Patrol, who was searching by boat and her family has been notified. My heart and prayers go to her family.

Benjamin Benson with Caesar

Their son, 18 month old Benjamin suffered serious injuries and was immediately sent to Amarillo Hospital where he was placed into ICU. Although the rest of the family searched high and low for Caesar they couldn’t find him.

Lee Harris, Monica’s father said, “The dog was probably thrown from the car. The accident happened out in the desert, there’s nothing out there but wilderness.” He went on to say, “We figured he must’ve ran away.”

Monica said while little Benjamin was in the hospital they put pictures of him with Caesar on the wall so he could see them. She said, “When he woke up he would point at the pictures and say, Caesar”.

Over a year has past and the family has been trying to move on but they haven’t forgotten little Caesar, which is a good thing because on Friday, a volunteer for the Tucumcari Animal Rescue Group was looking for dogs to adopt from the local animal shelter when she spotted a furry white Maltese. It was one of seven dogs that were taken to the veterinarian’s off ice to be scanned to see if they had microchips in them and Caesar did have one.

Christina Flemming, the volunteer, decided to call the chip company to try to track down the owner but the phone number given had been changed and apparently the owner had moved. Flemming wasn’t satisfied with dropping it there though. She went online and found an article about the accident the Benson’s were in and about them losing a dog during the crash. She located the funeral home where Gary and Emily’s funerals were held and she managed to make contact with the family through them.

Now little Caesar is on his way back to his family. Hopefully he will arrive Saturday. “The kids are really excited and looking forward to seeing their dog again,” said Lee Harris. “It’s been a really long year, so it’s nice to see them so happy.”

“It’s just a little Maltese, it’s so small… to survive where it’s been the past year is really an amazing thing,” he went on to say. “It was out in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, and it somehow made its way out. That little dog must’ve been really determined to get back to Monica and the children.”

It is so good to find a sad story with some happiness added to the end. I know this family suffered a great loss when Gary and Emily Benson died in that accident and my sincere condolences go to them for their loss but my heart is overwhelmed that at least the remaining children will be able to get some joy by being reunited with their family pet, Caesar. And a special thanks to, Christina Flemming, the woman that thought it was worth the extra effort in finding this little white Maltese’s family. I don’t even know this family but I personally pin a star on Christina for the great job she has done for them. God bless all of you!

Jan Barrett

BreeAnn Rodriguez

Three year old BreeAnn Rodriguez was last seen riding her bicycle with training wheels on it, in front of the home where she lived in Senath, Missouri on Saturday, August 6, 2011. The street they live on is a dead end street but no one in the neighborhood saw anyone or anything suspicious when the child disappeared.

No one noticed any suspicious vehicles on the street. The investigators are however looking for information on a white cargo-type van that was seen near BreeAnn’s home a few days before she disappeared. The van had no side windows and there was a ladder mounted on the back of it.

Police say BreeAnn was last seen wearing a pink top and pink and purple pants. She is described as being Hispanic and she is about 2 ft. 4 inches tall. She weighs about 30 pounds and she has black hair and brown eyes.

BreeAnn’s parents, Claudia Ramos and Edgar Rodriguez are pleading for the return of their daughter. Ramos went in front of reporters begging the person responsible for her daughter’s disappearance, “I really want to hold her and tell her she is my princess. Please, if somebody has her, bring her back to me.”

Rodriguez said, “I realize people make mistakes and I don’t care where you drop her off, just make sure somebody can get hold of her and bring her home.” He said his daughter is very friendly with people but she would never ride her bike away from the street where she lives.

Police Chief Omar Karnes said, “She was there (then) she was gone. There is nothing. No trace. We don’t have any trail.”

Although an Amber alert has not been issued in this case since it is not known if the child wondered off or if she was kidnapped, the FBI is treating this as an abduction unless it receives information leading them to believe otherwise. There is a total of $45,000 in rewards being offered for the successful recovery of the child. The FBI is offering $25,000 and the Senath Marshall’s office is offering the additional $20,00 to make the total.

This little girl is very precious to her family. I pray that someone will find it in their heart to return her to her family. They love and miss her and are very worried about her.

If you or anyone you know have any information that can help find this little girl please call the FBI’s command post at (314) 791-1205.  I pray BreeAnn is found safe and is returned to her family unharmed.

Jan Barrett

Addison Lanham with her mother, Shanna

Here we have a precious 2 year old child, not old enough to harm a fly living with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend in a room at the America’s Best Hotel in North Carolina.  Addison Lanham was given a nickname “Little Miss Beautiful” by the people that knew her.

For a child that seemed to be so full of life, it is so sad to see her life ended so tragically. Her little swollen body was rushed to the Gaston Memorial Hospital on July 21 where she later died from an infection in her blood stream called sepsis.

According to reports the night that Addison died, her mother, Shanna Lanham had gone to work but she left her daughter with her boyfriend, Jason Wells. Later that night Wells called Shanna and told her that something was wrong with Addison so she went back to the hotel in Bessemer and they called 911. Addison wasn’t breathing right and they couldn’t wake her up. Her little face was swollen and covered in boils. Shanna begged the 911 operator to please send someone in a hurry.

Shanna admitted to the 911 operator that her daughter had been sick but she had been attempting to treat her herself. She said the baby had hurt her private parts and “Split herself” when she was getting out of the bathtub. The child had boils on her face that her mother tried treating by popping the boils and then cleaning them out with peroxide.

A medical examiner said that poor little Addison had suffered a broken leg at least one to three weeks before she died and it had never been treated. Can you imagine the pain this little baby was in? The baby had MRSA (a staph infection) which had entered into her bloodstream which is what killed her.

Shanna Lanham

The part that gets me other than the fact that this innocent child was not taken care of by her mother is that reports are that the Department of Social Services were supposedly investigating Shanna Lanham and her daughter since May or June of this year but never removed the child from her mother’s care.

Now all we are hearing is about how many reports they get and how they are so unemployed. I don’t want to hear that, if the government doesn’t want to give them more money then let people that volunteer work for them. I still think our government needs to pay more attention to the children in this country more. I understand other countries have their problems and I honestly hate hearing that but we need to take care of our own first. Give Social Services a larger budget so they will have the manpower to tend to all the reported cases. Every time a report comes in they need to be investigated, even if it turns out to be a false alarm.

Jason Wells

Five days after little Addison died, her mother and her mother’s boyfriend have been arrested and both have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a child. They are both facing a possibility of 68 to 92 years in prison if they are found guilty. Wells has been placed under a $1.85 million bond and Lanham‘s bond has been set at $1.1 million.

How many more children will have to suffer abuse or as in this case death, before our government steps in and helps? It breaks my heart that yet another baby died from neglect and abuse. It could have been prevented. I blamed the Department of Social Services as much as I do the mother and boyfriend for the death of this child.

Please help me by praying with me that something will be done to help protect the innocent children more. It has gotten totally out of hand and people need to stop using their children as a punching bag or as a way to take their anger out on from something else that made them mad. A little child can’t be blamed for anything. How can a two year old baby be blamed for anything? I just don’t understand it.

May God be with these children. I know Addison is no longer in pain now, bless her little heart. She is being well taken care of now, Thank God!

Jan Barrett