Friday, March 25, 2011
Monster’s Charges prior to Somer Thomson
Story copied from
http://jacksonville.com/community/clay/2010-03-09/story/jarred_harrell_faces_more_child_sex_counts
An additional charge of child molestation and 12 counts of using a child in a sexual performance were filed today against Jarred Mitchell Harrell,
the Clay County man also named as a person of interest in the Somer Thompson slaying, court records show.
The 13 new charges against Harrell, 24, were added to a case in which he was charged two weeks ago with molesting the same unidentified young girl and promoting a sexual performance involving the girl. There are now 26 counts against Harrell in that case, which investigators said did not involve Somer.
The case centers on accusations of molestation and graphic videotaping and photographing of a girl between the ages of 3 and 5 in a home once owned by Harrell's stepfather at 1152 Gano Ave. in Orange Park. The incidents occurred between May and November of 2008, records said. The images were found on a digital camera taken by investigators during a search of the Callahan home of Harrell's mother, records show.
The video and still images show a partially naked girl, known to Harrell's family, being asked to pose in a number of positions, court records show. Other images show Harrell using his hand to expose parts of the girl, the records said.
A family member identified the girl and Harrell's bedroom where the images were taken.
That case was brought on top of 29 counts of child pornography filed against Harrell Feb. 11. He was arrested in Meridian, Miss., on a warrant in the 29-count case, which stemmed from graphic images found by Harrell's former Orange Park roommates on his laptop and computer discs last summer.
Harrell is set to be arraigned in Clay County Circuit Court Wednesday. He is being represented by the public defender's office. Harrell has not responded to a Times-Union request for an interview.
Sheriff Rick Beseler named Harrell a person of interest in the Oct. 19 disappearance and slaying of Somer Thompson, 7, whose death remains unsolved. The announcement came after Harrell's Feb. 11 arrest on the child-pornography charges, but the sheriff has not said what evidence investigators have that may link him to the slaying.
SOMER THOMPSON
Story copied from
http://www.bloggernews.net/122714
Somer Renee Thompson was on her way home after school Monday afternoon with her twin brother and her older sister when after a fight she ran ahead of them running towards her home. This was the last time this 7 year old child was seen alive.
When her mother started wondering where she was when she knew she should have been home by then went out in the neighborhood looking for her daughter. After about 2 hours roaming through the neighborhood she saw a sheriff’s car passing by so she flagged them down to report that she couldn’t find her daughter which set the off search.
Two days later the body of a child was found in a landfill in Georgia that was later identified to be that of Somer Renee Thompson. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said the legs of a child were sticking out with the rest of the body covered with garbage. Somer’s father, Samuel Thompson identified the body by a circular birthmark on the child’s shin.
Excerpts copied from
http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-18/story/house-where-police-say-somer-thompson-was-slain-haunts-orange-park-0
_______________________________________
Words of Diena Thompson
A year ago today, 7-year-old Somer Thompson vanished while walking home from her Orange Park elementary school. Somer was found dead in a Georgia landfill two days later. Jarred Harrell, who police say had an obsession with child pornography, has been charged in the slaying. Diena Thompson continues to battle with a wild array of emotions that have dominated her life since Oct. 19, 2009. Here are some excerpts from an hourlong interview Thompson gave the Times-Union last week:
“It’s your worst kind of rollercoaster. No matter how much you scream, cry, yell, give up, you can’t get nobody to turn the ride off and you’ve just got to hang on.”
“I’ve only seen him [Harrell] once. If I could have burned holes in him with my eyes ... I did try but it didn’t work.”
“He chose to murder my child, my 7-year-old, who hadn’t even lived yet, hadn’t even got to get her driver’s license or go to a dance or fall in love or have her first kiss. He had all of those.”
“He deserves death as far as I’m concerned. An eye for an eye.”
“I literally have pictures [of Somer] in various places. I lot of times if I’m sitting here by myself ... I talk to her. I look at her and just tell her how much I love her and how sorry I am this happened and her mommy is going to do what I can to make her proud. Because that’s all I want is for her to be proud of me.”
“I don’t necessarily go out in public a lot. I know people are curious about me and my story, but it’s hard when there are so many stares. I’d rather someone come up and ask me and talk to me than just to stare and point and whisper.”
“They [Somer’s siblings] don’t like to talk about it and I don’t force them to. There have been times I’ve been on the phone and I’ve been talking about Somer to my older sister and Samuel was laying his head on my lap and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, 'Can we please not talk about that, it really makes me sad.’”
“Samuel probably has the hardest time with it because he was her twin. They were made together. It’s like salt and pepper. You can’t cook without both of them and now one of them has been taken away from me. I’m left to figure out how to make something without salt.”
“I go [to Somer’s gravesite] but I don’t go a lot because when I go I have this overwhelming urge to not want to leave and to literally just lay there with her. She shouldn’t be there. She shouldn’t be there.”
“In the end, my goal is for no one to forget. Let’s stay vigilant. We need to empower our children. We need to show them how to get away. They should teach their children to follow their gut instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, then it’s not right.”
The Monster
March 26, 2010 Story copied from
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/sources-suspect-jarred-harrell-charged-connection-somer-thompson/story?id=10208882
Clay County police chief Rick Beseler was applauded earlier today when he announced the first-degree murder charge against Harrell from under a banner that read "Justice for Somer." He was also charged with sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12.
Calling Harrell a monster, Thompson said she was glad "someone is finally going to pay for this horrific crime."
Police said they believe Harrell, 24, encountered Somer as she walked by his house on her way home from school. Beseler said police have evidence that Harrell then assaulted Somer, killed her and disposed of her body. Two days after her death, Somer's body was found in a landfill in Georgia. She died, police said, by asphyxiation.
"I don't believe that this was anything more than a crime of opportunity," Beseler said.
Citing witness testimony, statements by Harrell and DNA samples, among other evidence, Beseler said investigators were "confident that Jarred Harrell committed this crime."
Beseler said Harrell's own statements gave investigators "the amount of probable cause [necessary] to make the arrest today."
Harrell was already in custody on a battery of unrelated child pornography and child molestation.
"He's just a monster and he got out that day," Diena Thompson said. "Why? Why would you do this?"
Harrell's attorney, Clay County public defender Kate Bedell, did not return requests for comment from ABCNews.com.
Harrell had been named a person of interest in the case in early February when he was arrested on 29 unrelated counts of child pornography. Additional unrelated pornography and child molestation charges followed, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Somer was last seen walking to her Orange Park, Fla., home from school with her older sister, Abby, and twin brother Samuel. Her body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill.
In August, two months before Somer went missing, Harrell's former roommates turned over to police a computer Harrell allegedly used that had sexual images and videos of children, according to the February arresting documents. The computer, which had a filed called "Toddler Insertion," held "a large amount of child erotica and also child pornography," the documents said.
Apparently responding to criticism that police had not picked up Harrell earlier, Beseler said the suspect "did not come onto anyone's radar screen as someone who would commit a crime like this.
"We did our job," he said.
Neighbors described Harrell as antisocial and withdrawn, and said they saw Thompson occasionally stop to pet a little white dog near his former home.
Harrell had moved to Mississippi after the girl's death and was extradited to Florida last month.
Beseler said that Harrell would be eligible for the death penalty should the state attorney choose to seek it.
Days before Harrell was named a person of interest, Somer's mother said the girl's killer should die.
"I want them to get the death penalty," she told ABC News Chief Law and Justice correspondent Chris Cuomo in February. "So in that sense I care, but other than that I don't, you know, I don't care."
Today, she said, "If they're asking for the death penalty, then they're asking for the death penalty.
"I have faith that a jury of 12 people, of his peers, are going to have no problem finding him guilty," she said.
Monster’s Legal Timeline:
• Oct. 19, 2009
Somer Thompson of Orange Park was last seen wearing a cranberry colored jumpsuit with pink-striped sleeves. Oct. 20, 2009
An Amber Alert was issued in Somer's disappearance.
• Oct. 21, 2009
The body of a small child was found in a Ga. landfill where authorities were looking for Somer Thompson.
• Oct. 22, 2009
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler confirms that the body is that of Somer Thompson.
• Feb. 11, 2010
Jarred Mitchell Harrell, then 24, is named as a person of interest in Somer's disappearance and slaying. He is held on $1 million bail in a Meridian, Miss. jail on 29 counts of child pornography.
• Feb. 18, 2010
Gov. Charlie Crist signs an extradition order that Jarred Harrell be returned from Mississippi to Clay county to face child porn charges.
• Feb. 23, 2010
Jarred Harrell is booked into the Clay County Jail after being transported from Mississippi by a three-vehicle police caravan.
• Feb. 24, 2010
Jarred Harrell is charged by Clay police with child molestation, as well as 12 additional counts of child pornography.
• March 10, 2010
Jarred Harrell pleads not guilty to charges of child pornography and child molestation.
• March 26, 2010
Jarred Harrell is formally charged with the murder of Somer Thompson, based on DNA matches and interviews with Clay police.
• April 1, 2010
State Attorney Angela Corey announces that she will seek the death penalty against Jarred Harrell in the rape and asphyxiation of 7-year-old Somer Renee Thompson.
• April 8, 2010
Jarred Harrell pleads not guilty to Somer Thompson's murder.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-19/story/hundreds-gather-orange-park-somer-thompson-vigil#ixzz1HePJmA5q
Somer Guestbook:
Two days later the body of a child was found in a landfill in Georgia that was later identified to be that of Somer Renee Thompson. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said the legs of a child were sticking out with the rest of the body covered with garbage. Somer’s father, Samuel Thompson identified the body by a circular birthmark on the child’s shin.
Excerpts copied from
http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-18/story/house-where-police-say-somer-thompson-was-slain-haunts-orange-park-0
_______________________________________
Words of Diena Thompson
A year ago today, 7-year-old Somer Thompson vanished while walking home from her Orange Park elementary school. Somer was found dead in a Georgia landfill two days later. Jarred Harrell, who police say had an obsession with child pornography, has been charged in the slaying. Diena Thompson continues to battle with a wild array of emotions that have dominated her life since Oct. 19, 2009. Here are some excerpts from an hourlong interview Thompson gave the Times-Union last week:
“It’s your worst kind of rollercoaster. No matter how much you scream, cry, yell, give up, you can’t get nobody to turn the ride off and you’ve just got to hang on.”
“I’ve only seen him [Harrell] once. If I could have burned holes in him with my eyes ... I did try but it didn’t work.”
“He chose to murder my child, my 7-year-old, who hadn’t even lived yet, hadn’t even got to get her driver’s license or go to a dance or fall in love or have her first kiss. He had all of those.”
“He deserves death as far as I’m concerned. An eye for an eye.”
“I literally have pictures [of Somer] in various places. I lot of times if I’m sitting here by myself ... I talk to her. I look at her and just tell her how much I love her and how sorry I am this happened and her mommy is going to do what I can to make her proud. Because that’s all I want is for her to be proud of me.”
“I don’t necessarily go out in public a lot. I know people are curious about me and my story, but it’s hard when there are so many stares. I’d rather someone come up and ask me and talk to me than just to stare and point and whisper.”
“They [Somer’s siblings] don’t like to talk about it and I don’t force them to. There have been times I’ve been on the phone and I’ve been talking about Somer to my older sister and Samuel was laying his head on my lap and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, 'Can we please not talk about that, it really makes me sad.’”
“Samuel probably has the hardest time with it because he was her twin. They were made together. It’s like salt and pepper. You can’t cook without both of them and now one of them has been taken away from me. I’m left to figure out how to make something without salt.”
“I go [to Somer’s gravesite] but I don’t go a lot because when I go I have this overwhelming urge to not want to leave and to literally just lay there with her. She shouldn’t be there. She shouldn’t be there.”
“In the end, my goal is for no one to forget. Let’s stay vigilant. We need to empower our children. We need to show them how to get away. They should teach their children to follow their gut instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, then it’s not right.”
The Monster
March 26, 2010 Story copied from
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/sources-suspect-jarred-harrell-charged-connection-somer-thompson/story?id=10208882
Clay County police chief Rick Beseler was applauded earlier today when he announced the first-degree murder charge against Harrell from under a banner that read "Justice for Somer." He was also charged with sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12.
Calling Harrell a monster, Thompson said she was glad "someone is finally going to pay for this horrific crime."
Police said they believe Harrell, 24, encountered Somer as she walked by his house on her way home from school. Beseler said police have evidence that Harrell then assaulted Somer, killed her and disposed of her body. Two days after her death, Somer's body was found in a landfill in Georgia. She died, police said, by asphyxiation.
"I don't believe that this was anything more than a crime of opportunity," Beseler said.
Citing witness testimony, statements by Harrell and DNA samples, among other evidence, Beseler said investigators were "confident that Jarred Harrell committed this crime."
Beseler said Harrell's own statements gave investigators "the amount of probable cause [necessary] to make the arrest today."
Harrell was already in custody on a battery of unrelated child pornography and child molestation.
"He's just a monster and he got out that day," Diena Thompson said. "Why? Why would you do this?"
Harrell's attorney, Clay County public defender Kate Bedell, did not return requests for comment from ABCNews.com.
Harrell had been named a person of interest in the case in early February when he was arrested on 29 unrelated counts of child pornography. Additional unrelated pornography and child molestation charges followed, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Somer was last seen walking to her Orange Park, Fla., home from school with her older sister, Abby, and twin brother Samuel. Her body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill.
In August, two months before Somer went missing, Harrell's former roommates turned over to police a computer Harrell allegedly used that had sexual images and videos of children, according to the February arresting documents. The computer, which had a filed called "Toddler Insertion," held "a large amount of child erotica and also child pornography," the documents said.
Apparently responding to criticism that police had not picked up Harrell earlier, Beseler said the suspect "did not come onto anyone's radar screen as someone who would commit a crime like this.
"We did our job," he said.
Neighbors described Harrell as antisocial and withdrawn, and said they saw Thompson occasionally stop to pet a little white dog near his former home.
Harrell had moved to Mississippi after the girl's death and was extradited to Florida last month.
Beseler said that Harrell would be eligible for the death penalty should the state attorney choose to seek it.
Days before Harrell was named a person of interest, Somer's mother said the girl's killer should die.
"I want them to get the death penalty," she told ABC News Chief Law and Justice correspondent Chris Cuomo in February. "So in that sense I care, but other than that I don't, you know, I don't care."
Today, she said, "If they're asking for the death penalty, then they're asking for the death penalty.
"I have faith that a jury of 12 people, of his peers, are going to have no problem finding him guilty," she said.
Monster’s Legal Timeline:
• Oct. 19, 2009
Somer Thompson of Orange Park was last seen wearing a cranberry colored jumpsuit with pink-striped sleeves. Oct. 20, 2009
An Amber Alert was issued in Somer's disappearance.
• Oct. 21, 2009
The body of a small child was found in a Ga. landfill where authorities were looking for Somer Thompson.
• Oct. 22, 2009
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler confirms that the body is that of Somer Thompson.
• Feb. 11, 2010
Jarred Mitchell Harrell, then 24, is named as a person of interest in Somer's disappearance and slaying. He is held on $1 million bail in a Meridian, Miss. jail on 29 counts of child pornography.
• Feb. 18, 2010
Gov. Charlie Crist signs an extradition order that Jarred Harrell be returned from Mississippi to Clay county to face child porn charges.
• Feb. 23, 2010
Jarred Harrell is booked into the Clay County Jail after being transported from Mississippi by a three-vehicle police caravan.
• Feb. 24, 2010
Jarred Harrell is charged by Clay police with child molestation, as well as 12 additional counts of child pornography.
• March 10, 2010
Jarred Harrell pleads not guilty to charges of child pornography and child molestation.
• March 26, 2010
Jarred Harrell is formally charged with the murder of Somer Thompson, based on DNA matches and interviews with Clay police.
• April 1, 2010
State Attorney Angela Corey announces that she will seek the death penalty against Jarred Harrell in the rape and asphyxiation of 7-year-old Somer Renee Thompson.
• April 8, 2010
Jarred Harrell pleads not guilty to Somer Thompson's murder.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-19/story/hundreds-gather-orange-park-somer-thompson-vigil#ixzz1HePJmA5q
Somer Guestbook:
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