Suspected baby shooter's mom, aunt, arrested

BRUNSWICK, Georgia (CNN) —The mother and the aunt of one of the two teenage boys accused of fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in Brunswick, Georgia, have been arrested, according to documents in the case.


Seventeen-year-old murder suspect De'Marquise Elkins' mother, Karimah Aisha Elkins, 36, and his aunt, Katrina Latrelle Elkins, 33, are accused of "false statements or writings," among other charges, the complaint said.

Authorities held both women in the Glynn County Detention Center until they were released on $1,104 bond.

Katrina Elkins also was held for an unrelated probation violation.

Also Tuesday, police investigating the case found a weapon and are trying to determine if it is connected to the shooting, a Brunswick police spokesman said.

Last Thursday, Sherry West told reporters she was pushing her baby in a stroller in broad daylight when two teenagers approached her. One demanded money and pointed at her what West first thought was a fake gun. But he fired at her, missing her head and hitting her in the leg, West said, and then the teen shot her baby in the face.

Both of the suspects were charged with murder last week, and made their first appearance in court Monday.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hands and feet shackled, the 15-year-old listened as Glynn County Judge Timothy Barton read him his Miranda rights. The younger suspect is not being identified because of his age.

Previously, the boy's age was reported as 14.

Authorities have not yet said whether the teen will be considered a juvenile or adult, and the teen did not enter a plea.


Asked if he had any questions, the teen told the judge, "no sir."


The 15-year-old's mother, Brenda Moses, said her son was "just a witness," and that "he didn't do anything wrong."

"My feelings go out to the mother, and the baby and my baby," Moses said. "They've handled this investigation wrong, and the truth is going to come out."

Elkins also did not enter a plea when he appeared in court Monday.

He was dressed in regular clothes, but his hands and feet were handcuffed and he wore a belt shackle.

Elkins' attorney, Jonathan Lockwood, spoke for him during the appearance.

When he arrived in the courtroom, the teen turned to his mother, Karimah Elkins, and nodded.

At the end of the appearance, she said, "I love you, Marquise."

"I'll never hear his first word'

West said she was her way home Thursday from the post office last week when she was confronted by the teens.


"I thought he was just using a toy gun to scare me. And then he shot at my head, and the bullet grazed my ear and the side of my head, and then he shot me in the leg, and I still thought that it was a fake gun," she told CNN's "Piers Morgan Live."


"He kept asking me (for money), and I kept telling him I don't have any," she said. "He shot my baby in the face, and then I knew it was a real gun."

West, 42, said she started screaming. She took her son out of his harness and started CPR. She saw his lungs inflate but couldn't get a pulse, she said.

Police and medical personnel took over when they arrived, West said, but it was too late. Her son died.

"I'll never hear his first word," West said.

West has said she has no doubt that authorities have her baby's killer in custody: "It's definitely him."

"I just hope, you know, that the shooter dies. I mean, I had to watch my baby die and I want him to die. A life for a life," she said.

Immediately after the shooting, detectives searched her home for a gun and conducted gun residue tests on both her and the baby's father, West said, adding that the tests were negative and the search did not turn up a gun.

Citing the ongoing investigation, police spokesman Todd Rhodes declined to comment when asked about the search and those tests.

West also said she gave a detective a jacket she was wearing at the time of the shooting. She told police she was grabbed or shoved briefly by the suspected shooter, and they hope to lift a fingerprint off the jacket, she said.

http://www.wmur.com/news/national/Suspected-baby-shooter-s-mom-aunt-arrested/-/9857926/19474272/-/qisbcq/-/index.html

Horrific!

...and two of the three involved can vote from their jail cells...

(CBS/AP) ATLANTA - A Georgia city official was arrested Thursday on charges of obstructing enforcement and influencing a witness in the case involving the fatal shooting of a one-year-old boy.


An attorney for Brunswick city commissioner and mayor pro tem James Henry Brooks told WTLF-TV that his client was arrested for stepping between police and Karimah Elkins, the mother of 17-year-old suspect De'Marquise Elkins, when police tried speaking with her during a court appearance Monday.

Karimah Elkins and De'Marquise's older sister, Sabrina Elkins, were charged with evidence tampering. The indictment says they threw the revolver that police suspect was used in the shooting into a saltwater pond where investigators recovered it Tuesday.

Karimah Elkins and the suspect's aunt, Katrina Elkins, were also charged with making false statements to police.

Brooks - who also faces racketeering charges in Camden County - was held Thursday night in the Glynn County jail on $1,256 bond for obstruction. The Associate Press reports that sheriff's officials said he had been held without bond on a charge of influencing a witness, but according to CBS affiliate WTEV, a Glynn County judge granted bail and he is expected to be released Friday morning.

WTEV also reports that Brooks' attorney, Alan David Tucker, released a statement asserting that Brooks was tricked into believing the alibis provided by Elkins' mother and aunt. The statement read:

"It was [Brooks'] honest belief at the time that he was trying to protect the rights of his constituents by advising them to remain silent and not make any additional statements to the police without having a lawyer present. Unfortunately, he learned later that the Elkins were not being truthful with the police when they made statements about Mr. Elkins' whereabouts during the time of the shooting."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57576996-504083/georgia-baby-shooting-update-james-henry-brooks-brunswick-city-official-arrested-for-obstruction-and-influencing-a-witness/

Does anybody know what our presidents response was?

fshnski wrote:Does anybody know what our presidents response was?

Does it begin with the words,

"If I had a son..."

No.

fshnski wrote:No.

I have no idea. What did he say?

That's what I'm wondering too.

WHL wrote:

fshnski wrote:No.

I have no idea. What did he say?

Obama brought a room to silence with a simple point:

“The entire country was shocked,” he said. “And the entire country pledged we would do something about it and that this time would be different. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten. I haven’t forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.”

Oh no, that was a different case...

fshnski wrote:Karimah Elkins and De'Marquise's older sister, Sabrina Elkins, were charged with evidence tampering. The indictment says they threw the revolver that police suspect was used in the shooting into a saltwater pond where investigators recovered it Tuesday.

No bond.

Did you happen to hear about the car salesman who was killed in a road rage incident? The salesman was testing a car they just took in trade and the other guy hit him. He walked up to the guy to talk to him and the guy shot him. So scary.