Fire thought to be caused by electrical problems

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

12-22-2007

The fire that destroyed an elderly Oxford couple's home Thursday morning is being investigated as an accident and likely resulted from electrical problems, according to Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sparks.

A charred hull is all that remains of the house at 1926 Cheaha Drive after the fire, which sent five people to hospitals.

As of Friday afternoon, homeowner Kenneth Owens, 76, remained in critical condition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center.

Owens' wife, Bobbie Owens, 73, was listed in stable condition at Regional Medical Center, along with their 2-year-old grandson, Noah Mattox.

Amy Owens, the couple's granddaughter and Mattox's cousin, was among family members who were in the house when the fire broke out. She and an injured firefighter were treated and released from RMC on Thursday.

The fire destroyed the home just as the Owens family was recovering from another traumatic event.

Amy Owens' 11-year-old brother, Slade Owens, had just been released Wednesday from a nearly three-week stay at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where he was treated for injuries from a four-wheeler accident.

Amy Owens, who lives in Chicago, was staying with her grandparents Thursday while visiting Slade.

Tired from weeks of worry, she said, she had dozed off on the couch in the living room. She awoke to the sound of her grandmother, Bobbie, screaming for her to get out of the house and call 911.

5 sent to hospital after Oxford house fire

By Todd South
Star Staff Writer

12-21-2007

Oxford firemen wash off a hose after a house fire on Cheaha Drive. Oxford EMS transported four family members and one firefighter from the scene. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

A house fire at 1926 Cheaha Drive in Oxford sent five people to the hospital Thursday morning. One resident remained in critical condition Thursday night.

Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sparks said the department got the call to the address at 9:56 a.m. and was on scene by 10 a.m. Firefighters had the blaze contained within half an hour, Sparks said.

Oxford EMS transported four family members and one firefighter from the scene to hospitals.

Sparks did not know the extent of the injuries late Thursday, but he said smoke inhalation was likely one of the problems the victims faced.

Kenneth Owens, 76, was transported to University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

Bobbie Owens, 73, and a grandson, 2-year-old Noah Mattox, both were admitted to Regional Medical Center.

Another grandchild, 24-year-old Amy Owens, was treated at RMC and released Thursday, as was an Oxford firefighter.

Teen charged in mother's murder released on bond

By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer

12-21-2007

Lindsey Danielle Morgan was released Wednesday afternoon from Calhoun County Jail on $50,000 bond.

The 17-year-old Piedmont girl is charged with murder in the Dec. 11 stabbing death of her mother, Brenda Ingram.

Law enforcement officials and a family member on Thursday did not identify who paid Morgan's bond. Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson said Morgan talked with counselors from the Department of Human Resources to determine where she will stay until her hearing.

The sheriff said officials had contacted DHR because as far as they knew Morgan's mother was the sole custodian.

In preparation for her release, provisions were established to ban Morgan from a geographic area that includes Pleasant Valley High School, the school she attended.

The area encompasses about 97 square miles of Calhoun County. It is bound on the east by Alabama 21, on the south by Alabama 204, on the north by U.S. 278, and on the west by U.S. 431.

Morgan is to wear a Global Positioning System tracking device that allows the Sheriff's Office to monitor her whereabouts.

Tammy Harkness, program supervisor for DHR child abuse and neglect investigations with the county, said she could not identify who Morgan is staying with for reasons of confidentiality.

Ingram's aunt, Sharon Anthony, said she did not know who bailed Morgan out and had not heard anything from other family members.

"I'm trying to move forward. It's been really really hard," she said.

Amerson said a court hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 7 in the courtroom of District Court Judge Gus Colvin Jr.

Bond conditions set for accused teen

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-18-2007

Morgan If Lindsey Danielle Morgan is released from the Calhoun County jail on bond, Pleasant Valley High School will be off limits to her. Morgan, the 17-year-old Piedmont girl charged as an adult in connection with the Dec. 11 stabbing death of her mother, Brenda Ingram, 45, remained in custody at Calhoun County Jail on Monday with bail set at $50,000. School authorities and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office last week successfully petitioned Judge Gus Colvin Jr. to add a list of stipulations to Morgan’s bond, effectively removing her from Pleasant Valley High School at least until a February court appearance. Two days after Morgan was arrested, court records show, Judge Colvin added geographic boundaries lining out an off-limits area for the 17-year-old. He also ordered that she wear a Global Positioning Satellite tracking system to be monitored by the Sheriff’s Office. Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said some residents have expressed concern that Morgan would be dangerous if released. “There was no specific threat or anything,” said Wade. “Some people are just nervous. Especially parents with children who’d ever had any sort of conflict with Morgan in the past.” Pleasant Valley High School Principal Charlton Giles said school officials and sheriff’s deputies drafted a recommendation for the geographic boundaries of the banned area. The result is that she will be banned from entering a roughly 97-square-mile area in Calhoun County that is bound on the east by Alabama 21, on the south by Alabama 204, on the north by U.S. 278, and on the west by U.S. 431. Pleasant Valley High School is deep within the off-limits area. The home where Brenda Ingram was murdered is just outside. Even if the bond conditions did not prohibit it, Giles said the school system has a policy that excludes students charged with violent crimes from going to their normal school.

Calhoun County Schools Superintendent Judy Stiefel said any student charged with committing a violent crime is subject to an administrative hearing at the board of education at which the superintendent would decide an appropriate learning situation for the student. Stiefel said such matters are handled on a case-by-case basis. She said the superintendent can choose to send the student to an alternative school, in-school or out-of-school suspension, expulsion, or homebound learning, which is predominantly used for students with serious medical problems but could be implemented in other scenarios as required. No decisions are made, however, until the student is “looking at returning to school,” she said. That’s largely contingent on what’s happening between the student and the judicial system. Chief Deputy Wade said Morgan is currently being treated like the other 80 to 90 female inmates in the Calhoun County Jail.

Family offers reward in Anniston rape case

By Steve Ivey
Star Staff Writer

12-20-2007

The mother of a recent rape victim is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of her assailant.

The Star is withholding the mother's name to avoid identifying her daughter.

The mother, who grew up in Anniston but now lives in Florida, said her family is offering a $5,000 reward.

A man kidnapped her daughter and another woman at gunpoint early Nov. 2 in the Victoria Inn parking lot, robbing them and raping the daughter before letting them go, according to Anniston Police.

"I was so excited to come back and visit, but to leave with such a burden was pretty overwhelming," she said.

According to Anniston investigators, the two women were in the parking lot of the inn about 1 a.m. that day when an armed man forced them to get into their sport utility vehicle. He ordered them to drive to an ATM and withdraw cash, ordered one of the women out of the car and raped the other.

If caught, the suspect will face two counts of robbery in the first degree, two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree rape.

The mother said anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 238-1414. Tips may be left anonymously.

"Something needs to keep going on it," she said.

"It can't be forgotten. We certainly haven't."

3 injured in I-20 wreck: Eastbound lanes near Oxford closed for 3 1/2 hours

From staff reports

12-19-2007

Crews clean up a wreck involving two tractor trailers on Interstate 20 near Coldwater on Tuesday. Photo: Trent Penny/The Anniston Star

An accident involving two tractor trailers sent three men to the hospital with injuries and closed both eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 just west of Oxford for 3 1/2 hours Tuesday.

Injured were driver Gevorg Toranyan, 33, of Glendale, Calif., and his passenger Seuak Hakobyan, 42, also of Glendale, and driver Kenderick Mitchell, 27, of Durant, Miss.

All three were transported to Regional Medical Center in Anniston by Oxford EMS.

Information on their conditions was not available by late Tuesday.

State troopers said the wreck occurred near mile marker 183 at 3 p.m., just inside the Calhoun County line.

Just before 6 p.m., traffic in the westbound lanes east of the accident was backed up as drivers slowed to look at the scene. A backhoe and bulldozer were working to remove debris spilled from a flatbed truck that appeared to have been involved in the accident. About 50 yards farther west, another tractor trailer sat smashed.

A night in the ER: A busy, busy place

By Mary Jo Shafer
Star Assistant Metro Editor

12-16-2007

Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

Everyone says it’s a slow night. But the rooms are full, and the staff is hustling. “Slow” is a relative term for the staff of Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department in Anniston.

It’s just another night in the ED — routine stuff, the staff says.

On this Thursday night, they will treat sick kids, a man with pneumonia and a patient delivered by ambulance from a car accident. There will be cold and flu symptoms, coughing, congestion and bruised limbs.

Routine means dealing with everything from car wrecks to cardiac arrest. It means coffee gulped out of paper cups through the night and feet that never stop moving.

Emergency departments throughout the country have an increasing workload. That’s why RMC has chosen to supplement its nursing staff with paramedics.

Star Multimedia

Slideshow: RMC Emergency Room

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, from 1995 to 2005, the “annual number of ED visits increased from 96.5 million to 115.3 million visits. … There were, on average, about 219 visits to U.S. EDs every minute during 2005.”

Meanwhile, during that same time period, “the number of hospital EDs decreased from 4,176 to 3,795.”

Volume increased while capacity decreased. This led to more annual visits per ED — “from 23,119 in 1995 to 30,388 in 2005.”

Coupled with the nationwide nursing shortage, EDs are getting creative in dealing with the challenges they face.

RMC’s strategy of using paramedics is one that staff members say they heard other emergency departments trying. It sounded like a good idea.

Car hits cart carrying baby; hit-and-run suspect charged

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-15-2007

Jamie Carroll pushed her cart out of the garden center at the Jacksonville Wal-Mart Thursday afternoon. She’d said goodbye to the door greeters and was headed across the marked pedestrian crossing between rain showers, avoiding puddles.

The little legs of her 6-month old infant daughter, Jocelynne, were sticking out through the openings in the buggy seat; mama and daughter were facing each other.

“I made it about halfway across the marked crosswalk,” Carroll said.

A gold Honda Accord that had backed into a parking space shifted into gear and sped toward the crosswalk, she said.

“I figured she’d stop. There was a time when it looked like she was going to slow up.” But the car didn’t slow.

“She smashed the corner of the cart and ripped it out of my hand,” Carroll said.

Shopping bags spilled out and scattered.

Baby was face-down on wet pavement.

The driver’s side of the Accord had plowed into the cart’s middle, sending the cart one way and Carroll the other.

Shaken but not hurt, Carroll ran back toward her baby and the overturned cart.

The Accord stopped a few car lengths away and a panicked Tiffany Renee Lee, 19, of Anniston stepped out.

According to witnesses interviewed by Jacksonville Police, Lee yelled out an apology and an address, climbed back into the car with two children in the back seat, and sped off.

“She just hit the cart, yelled, and left,” Carroll said.

RMC employee alleges co-worker put cleaning agent into her drink

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-15-2007

A 22-year-old Regional Medical Center employee told Anniston police Tuesday she believes a co-worker poured germicide cleaner into her drink, according to police reports.

The woman told police she was on her lunch break at the hospital and was preparing to take a sip from a cup when she realized the contents didn’t smell right.

She said she believes a co-worker put Virex TB, a hospital-quality cleaning, disinfecting and deodorizing liquid, into the drink. She didn’t elaborate on why it might have happened.

According to the company’s Web site, Virex TB is a liquid – generally sprayed – formulated to kill a variety of viruses.

The incident as reported would result in a felony first-degree assault charge.

Police said they have a suspect in the case, but no one had been arrested as of Friday afternoon.

Oxford man alleges 3 men tried to rob him at his home

By Nick Cenegy
Star Staff Writer

12-15-2007

An Oxford resident told police three men tried unsuccessfully to rob him at his home Thursday night.

According to the police report, John George Paine Jr., 45, said the men approached his residence around 10:20 p.m. and tried to open the door.

Paine told police he was watching the men on a camera security system inside his house and saw that they were armed with handguns.

Paine said the men demanded to be let in and he told them he was calling the police, the report says.

Police arriving at the scene did not apprehend anybody, investigators said, and the incident remains under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Paine is awaiting two trial dates on charges that he barricaded himself into the Econo Lodge on Elm Street in Oxford last September and fired shots from his motel room through the walls into other rooms.

2 killed in head-on crash on I-459 near Hoover

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -- Authorities have identified the victims in a fatal head-on collision on Interstate 459 near Hoover.

Jose Antonio Quazada-Santillan and Cassandra Butler, 50, both of Birmingham, died in the wreck around 7:30 a.m. Saturday. They were driving separate vehicles.

The driver of a third car in accident, Sharon Frazier, also of Birmingham, was transported to UAB Hospital.

Part of the interstate near Acton Road was backed up for several hours as workers cleared the wreckage.

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Information from: The Birmingham News

Huntsville police officer dies from gunshot, suspect charged

HUNTSVILLE — A Huntsville police officer shot in the head in an arrest attempt died Saturday morning from his wound, police said.

At a news conference, police said Officer William Eric Freeman, 36, of Hazel Green, who was married and had five children, died from the wound he received Friday night.

Police Chief Henry Reyes said Kenneth Shipp, 53, has been charged with capital murder in the officer's death, The Huntsville Times reported on its Web site. Shipp was being held without bond.

Reyes said Freeman and Officer Kevin Lambert had been called to investigate a traffic accident with injuries at 8:43 p.m. When they arrived at 8:51 p.m., the chief said, they found Shipp sitting on the curb.

As the officers tried to arrest him for driving under the influence, Reyes said, Shipp pulled a pistol and shot Freeman in the head.

Lambert struggled with Shipp, Reyes said, and two bystanders helped Lambert subdue him.

Commission: State prison for women should close

MONTGOMERY — Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women would close under a preliminary proposal by a commission studying women and girls in the state’s criminal justice system.

Instead of locking up every woman who commits a crime punishable with prison, the commission wants the state to invest more in community-based alternatives such as work-release, substance-abuse and mental health treatment programs.

While the commission doesn’t advocate eliminating incarceration for women, commission member Genesis Fisher said at a meeting Friday that closing Tutwiler ultimately would improve conditions for women inmates, address the underlying issues that land women in prison and reduce the prison population.

“Tutwiler is dilapidated and understaffed, and what we recommend is building a new, smaller facility,” she said. “Women coming into the system would have risk assessment to determine if a person is high-risk.”

The commission recommends gender-informed risk assessment that takes into account, among other things, the difference between male and female offenders and the kinds of crimes they commit.

Those women classified as “low-risk” offenders could end up in community-correction programs if they are assessed to be fit for them and “high-risk” offenders would go to prison.

Beefing up community-correction programs — another of the commission’s recommendations — could be a cost-effective answer to a big problem for the state: prison overcrowding.

Bennet Wright, a statistician with the Alabama Sentencing Commission, said community-correction programs are far less expensive than incarceration.