logo
Baby's dad did not call 911 after boy was killed from a gunshot wound

Baby's dad did not call 911 after boy was killed from a gunshot wound

Yahoo21-05-2025
LAFAYETTE, IN — Deonta Johnson found his 1-year-old son, Isaiah, dead in an upstairs bedroom on March 28, 2023, from a gunshot wound to the head and didn't even call 911.
He called Shatia Welch, the baby's mother, and she called 911, according to testimony Wednesday, May 21, in Johnson's neglect-resulting-in-death trial.
Isaiah's 5-year-old half-brother found Welch's handgun and accidentally fired it, killing Isaiah, according to prosecutors. Johnson told police he was asleep on the couch at the time.
He also told the first officer on scene that the baby died from a fall, not a gunshot. But evidence and a forensic autopsy concluded Isaiah died from a gunshot wound.
After Isaiah was killed, Johnson, now 29, is recorded on video apparently putting something inside the back seat area of a car parked outside of the Romney Meadows Apartment Homes. Police later found more than three-quarters of a pound of marijuana in a Ziplock bag and wrapped in a gray plastic shopping bag.
Police also located a bag of about 93 pills, which tested positive at the Indiana State Police lab for being fentanyl.
In addition to the neglect charges, including the charge that Johnson's alleged neglect resulted in death, prosecutors charged him with several drug charges, including dealing fentanyl and marijuana.
Jurors heard several pages of text messages and Facebook messages that prosecutors say indicate that Johnson was involved in dealing narcotics and marijuana, including a message in January 2023 that indicated four or five men robbed Johnson of his money from drug sales.
When court resumes in the afternoon May 21, prosecutors told the court they will play an audio recording of a phone call Johnson made from the jail, then they will rest their case.
Defense attorney Robert Hodges indicated they might call one witness.
Welch, who pleaded guilty in January to a lesser charge of neglect of a dependent, was brought back from an Indiana prison last week where she is serving a six-year sentence for her crime.
She might testify Wednesday afternoon, if she's called. Johnson also could testify, if he chooses.
This story will be updated later May 21.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette baby's dad did not call 911 after boy was killed
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Autographed Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady jerseys faked in Westfield sports memorabilia scam
Autographed Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady jerseys faked in Westfield sports memorabilia scam

Indianapolis Star

time27 minutes ago

  • Indianapolis Star

Autographed Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady jerseys faked in Westfield sports memorabilia scam

A woman in North Carolina tipped off Westfield police in February to a possible sports memorabilia scam being run in the town. That woman, who police didn't name, reported she had received fraudulent merchandise from Mister Mancave, LLC, a company run by a 45-year-old Westfield man named Brett Lemieux. What no one could have known at the time was just how massive the counterfeit ring Lemieux was running would allegedly be. Among the big names Lemieux allegedly made his fortune on — which Lemieux claimed in a Facebook confession was $350 million – were Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Judge. After the woman's tip, Westfield police began a 5-month investigation into Mister Mancave, a business allegedly selling counterfeit autographed sports memorabilia through its online store and other platforms. As the case progressed, additional victims of Lemieux were found, each claiming to have purchased autographed memorabilia from Mister Mancave that was later determined to be counterfeit, Westfield police said in its latest public statement on the case. On July 15, police executed a search warrant at the Mister Mancave business location in connection with the suspected fraudulent scheme. The following day, the investigation extended to a residence in the 300 block of Hoover Street. "Upon arrival at the residence, officers discovered an individual deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," the statement says. "That individual has been identified as Brett Lemieux, 45, of Westfield, the founder of Mister Mancave LLC and the primary suspect in this case." Police say they collected "a significant quantity of evidence during the searches, including documentation and items related to the alleged counterfeit operation. Investigators say they are aware of a social media post made by Lemieux shortly before his death in which he gave specific details about how he pulled off what he said was a crime that kept him awake at night. "I always took it as a challenge. I spent sleepless nights planning what items to counterfeit next," he wrote. Lemieux said he would illegally gain access to reputable sports memorabilia company's holograms, a security feature used to authenticate autographs and other collectible items with a serial number. Among the companies he replicated were TriStar Sports, Mounted Memories, Steiner Sports, Fanatics and Mill Creek Sports, Lemieux said in his post. He would then replicate items, using an autopen, which copies signatures, to forge autographs and then sell signed items – jerseys, footballs, baseball bats, photographs – by the thousands, Lemieux wrote. One of the biggest items Lemieux replicated were Brady jerseys, said those in the sports memorabilia industry. "We had started seeing these really weird looking Tom Brady (jerseys) and we kept saying, 'These don't look right. There's something really off here,'" Steve Grad told IndyStar. Grad appears as an expert on the television show "Pawn Stars" and is with Beckett Authentication Services, a third-party company in Plano, Texas, that authenticates autographs. "Well, it turns out, we were right," Grad said. "He did this with Aaron Judge. He did this with anybody you could really think of, Derek Jeter. These are all really big names." In his Facebook post, Lemieux named other individuals who may have been involved in the counterfeit scheme, which police said they are aware of. "This will require additional time to carefully review and investigate all evidence and leads," police said. "We are working with various authenticators for technical assistance and the authentication of all seized items." In its statement, Westfield police said the department "acknowledges that any loss of life is a tragedy, and we extend our condolences to Mr. Lemieux's family and friends during this difficult time." Anyone with information related to the case should contact Detective Don Bennett of the Westfield Police Department at dbennett@

Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell coming clean on Epstein case would be ‘a great service to the country'

Speaker Mike Johnson called on Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to come clean and told Americans that he "hoped" she could be trusted as he faces the growing uproar around the White House's handling of the investigation. Johnson appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, where moderator Kristen Welker asked him point-blank if the convicted sex-trafficker girlfriend of Epstein could be trusted to accurately testify about the crimes she and Epstein committed. Epstein was awaiting prosecution for sex trafficking underage girls after a previous conviction on similar charges when he died in federal custody. Maxwell has been thrust back into the spotlight as the MAGA base has grown frustrated with President Donald Trump and his administration's shutting down of the so-called Epstein files release. Last week, a top Department of Justice official met with Maxwell about the case. "Well, I mean, look; it's a good question. I hope so," Johnson told Welker in response. "I hope that she would want to come clean." "I hope she's telling the truth. She is convicted, she's serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking. Her character is in some if she wants to come clean now, that would be a great service to the country. We want to know every bit of information that she has." The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Agency officials did so for nine hours between Thursday and Friday, after making a statement seeming to confirm that her testimony hadn't been aggressively sought before. Some have called Maxwell to testify and suggested she should be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. She was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking for helping Epstein carry out crimes. Johnson touted the Oversight subpoena favorably Sunday, casting it as evidence that GOP leadership supported efforts aimed at transparency. The Trump administration turned speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators into a raging wildfire in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men and institutions. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his reversal, and a pair of scoops from the Wall Street Journal have reported on the president's connections to Epstein, to Trump's fury. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not mean wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The lead GOP co-sponsor behind a House resolution that would force the Justice Department to release the entirety of its collected evidence related to Epstein said Sunday that his push was to help the convicted pedophile's victims and would only grow stronger in the coming weeks. Earlier on the same network, Rep. Thomas Massie appeared alongside the resolution's lead Democratic co-sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, as the two promoted a resolution that would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release 'all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials' related to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations. Massie told Welker that 'the release of the Epstein files is emblematic of what Trump ran for' and explained that the president's MAGA base expected results. 'There seems to be a class of people beyond the law, beyond the judicial all thought that when Trump was elected, he would be the bull in the china shop and break that all up,' said Massie. Massie went on to say that the Trump administration had lost his trust on the issue after publicly supporting transparency around the investigation, then doing an abrupt about-face. The administration is now calling on its supporters to move on from the issue and focus on hashing out issues with the 2016 'Russiagate' investigation instead of Epstein. Top administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, also spent months calling for the very releases the Justice Department says it won't authorize. 'People who were allegedly working on this weren't sincere in their efforts,' Massie said. 'Somebody should ask Speaker Mike Johnson, why did he recess Congress early so that he didn't have to deal with the Epstein issue?' 'Politics is the art of the doable. There's enough public pressure right now that we can get 218 votes and force this to a vote on the floor,' said Massie. He also firmly rejected a DOJ memo explaining the administration's position against further releases of information from the Epstein files, despite the very public promises of Bondi and others to do the opposite. In the memo, agency officials said that explicit imagery involving children was 'intertwined' throughout the files collected by the Justice Department. Some have said the files should not be released to protect sex-abuse victims of both Maxwell and Epstein. 'That's a straw man [argument],' Massie responded on Sunday, after Welker read part of the memo. 'Ro [Khanna] and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names would be redacted, and that no child pornography will be released.'

California mom-of-four Whisper Owen, baby go missing on the way to buy formula
California mom-of-four Whisper Owen, baby go missing on the way to buy formula

New York Post

time3 hours ago

  • New York Post

California mom-of-four Whisper Owen, baby go missing on the way to buy formula

A California family is desperate for answers after a mother-of-four and her 8-month-old daughter went missing on their way to buy baby formula. Whisper Owen, 36, and her infant daughter Sandra McCarty disappeared while driving back home following a doctor's appointment in Fresno on July 15, with still no explanation available as police investigate the case. 'The not knowing, it's brought me to a point where I'm — it's a cross between anger and numb,' distressed grandmother Vickie Torres told local KCRA. 'I'm terrified. I'm just terrified.' 6 California mother Whisper Owen, 36, and her infant daughter Sandra McCarty went missing in on July 15. Fresno County Sheriff's Office 6 The mother and daughter were last seen leaving a doctor's appointment in Fresno. Fresno County Sheriff's Office The mother and child were last spotted just northwest of Fresno, in Atwater, where a traffic camera pinged Owen's silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer at around 8 p.m., according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Torres said that her daughter had briefly postponed the long ride home to stock up on baby formula in Atwater, which was located about halfway between Fresno and her home in Elk Grove. 'The only thing she had to do was stop and get a can of formula because she was on her last bottle,' Torres said. Owen's partner reported her and the baby missing when they failed to come home that night, with the rest of the family learning about the disappearance a few days later, the Owens told the local outlet. 6 Owen was last seen driving a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer. Fresno County Sheriff's Office 6 Owen was driving to buy baby formula when she and her daughter went missing. Whisper Owen / Facebook 6 Owen's mother Vickie Torres said she is 'terrified' for her daughter and granddaughter's safety. KCRA 3 'We just want to find them before it's too late,' Sandra's older sister, Andrea McCarty, said. 'Her car is no longer popping up on any traffic cams. Her phone's been off,' she said. 'Your mind goes through all the terrible possibilities.' The family said they do not believe Owen would run away with the baby, saying the family enjoys a good home life and that she would never leave behind her three other children. 6 Sandra's older sister, Andrea McCarty said Owen's phone is turned off and the car hasn't been spotted on any traffic cameras. KCRA 3 McCarty said her family has driven to Atwater to try and find clues as they call on police to do whatever they can to find the missing mother and child. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store