Every year, Smithville has their jamboree. He ended up pleading guilty to improper sexual activity with a person in custody, and kidnapping. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Check for a confirmation email, and then you're all set with MyNewsLA.com! Required fields are marked *. Officers said they responded to a call shortly after 2:30 p.m. in Orchidland. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Daily Pilot e-newspaper: Sunday, April 30, 2023, Newport Beach woman who survived abusive relationship uses her experience to empower others, Laguna Beach High students to install pop-up floral art mural at Promenade on Forest, Vanguard University unveils Patty Arvielo School of Business and Management, Newport to Ensenada Race: 21-year-old sailor hopes for robust winds throughout event, Daily Pilot e-newspaper: Saturday, April 29, 2023, O.C. Hes trying to put the pieces together to create a new world for himself., This is a person that is supposed to protect you, Lear said. Riverside County Firefighters Stop Forward Progress of Brush Fire in Thermal, Walk to End Genocide Held Sunday In Fairfax District, Asian Couple in Bel Air Terrorized in Home Invasion Robbery, Police Arrest 24 During DUI Checkpoint in Riverside, Riverside Police Arrest 24 People During DUI Checkpoint, Coroner IDs Man Who Jumped or Fell From Freeway Overpass. Im proud of the work my entire staff did on this case, Tew said. BASTROP, La. Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook, District Attorney Bryan Goertz and other county officials looked on last week as Dr. Harrell Gill-King, director of University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, extracted bone samples from the woman's decaying skeletal remains. That's why you look at all of the extraneous evidence as well in conjunction with just the DNA.. Investigators asked if he strangled Stites and if he was involved with her death, and to both he answered no.. He has long maintained his innocence and claims that he and Stites had a secret, consensual relationship. While deputies wait on an official cause of death they are doing what they can to identify the caller so they can get a statement from him. I cant imagine DNA will in any way, shape or form, 40 years later, open a criminal investigation, Goertz said. Upon arrival, officers discovered 29-year-old Jessica Lee dead inside of the apartment complex from at least one gunshot wound. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph . Family and relatives of a woman found dead three weeks ago in Bastrop County are demanding answers. Carol Stites remembered the family had just held a bridal shower only days before. Davion Mar'Keith Veal, 22, who is wanted for murder in Bastrop County, was arrested Nov. 1 in Louisiana. Calm Monday; watching for storm chances Thursday evening into Friday, Austin group hosts vigil for those affected by violent crimes, Mammatus clouds over Central Texas as severe threat comes to an end. Deputy Bryan Reyes says the door to the vehicle was ajar and she was lying on the ground next to the car. ET on ABC.*. A hearing for the defense to present new evidence, including questions about Stites time of death, has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And never once have I ever had a case where I didn't at some point say, gosh, I wish law enforcement would have done whatever it is, X.. The police have not released how the woman died or made an arrest in this case. Please reload the page and try again. I knew it was a lie instantly. Hopefully theyll patrol the area a little more, like I said weve been hearing gunshots a lot more around here. (KTVE/KARD) On Monday, the Bastrop Police Department responded to a fatal shooting that occurred on 915 E. Cypress Ave, where officers were notified of a woman who had been. The woman was identified as Shalynn Jones, according to the Los Angeles . His DNA had been collected and stored in the system, though those charges were ultimately dropped. It was locked, but he noted a bag of clothing in the back of the truck and a broken piece of belt with the buckle attached, just outside of the drivers door. Later the same day, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely stayed Reed's execution. Carol Stites remembered how Fennell said goodbye to his fiance. Shea Maloney, who hosts a podcast that covered the case, said Carol Stites saw her daughter and Fennell embrace outside her window, then saw them laughing and joking together as they made their way upstairs. The man was identified as Josue Saravia-Argweta, 34. 19-year-old found dead in Bastrop Stacey Stites was the youngest of Carol Stites' five children. City and county officials are calling this data extremely concerning. Angela Hamby, 12, was raped in September 1989, and prosecutors said that evidence from her case also matched Reeds DNA. It raked away the dirt that had been the final resting place of "Jane Doe," an unidentified woman whose remains were buried at the unmarked grave site on June 21, 1979. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. They say now, all they can do is hope police find answers soon. They hope to present new evidence at a hearing thats been delayed due to the pandemic. That same morning, Carol Stites got the call that her daughter didnt make it to work. What makes the story even more bizarre for Waller is how the day started. Five days before his scheduled execution date, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that Texas Governor Greg Abbott grant Reed a 120-day reprieve. Bastrop Police have yet to identify the woman, so who she is, remains a mystery. She worked hard for that wedding dress, and we all decided that that's what she should be buried in.. (KNOE) -It was on this trail right through here. I think he felt bad that he didn't get up and take her to work that day., Fennell himself has always maintained his innocence. Waller says he and his fiance are not taking any chances with their familys safety. According to the report from the 2007 Ranger investigation, other women had come forward with allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Fennell. I saw that Rodney had been given an execution date. For a 19-year-old thats kind of a big transition., Stites sister Debra Oliver told 20/20 Stacey didnt share any concerns with her. Eleven years after Stites murder, Texas Rangers investigated Fennell after a woman named Connie Lear accused him of raping her while he had her in custody. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Fast forward to 2014, and I'm at work and I jump on Facebook. Someone called 911 and summoned officers to a residence on the 17000 block of Santa Suzanne Street at about 5:30 a.m., Fountain Valley police wrote in a news release. Anthony Bernard Fender, 31, of Tustin, was arrested Monday after a grand jury indictment alleged he sold fentanyl powder that led to the death of a 40-year-old man, officials said. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). Fennell explained he was emotional and that all he could visualize was Stites lying dead in her casket. Most of the time the criticism is not founded on sufficient fact, so it is generally ignored. AUSTIN, Texas . Stacey was always on time, she said. They found Jones lying in an area overgrown with weeds near an unused railroad track in what authorities called the middle stage of decomposition. Those who choose to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Officials added that the family of the female reported they were concerned because she had gone missing. Experts for the defense also claim the time of Stites death was hours earlier than the 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. window the prosecution argued at Reeds original trial. Raymerio Lee, known as "Red" by family and friends, has been missing since Monday. It says that a preliminary autopsy report indicates that 29-year-old Samantha Dean died of an apparent gunshot. They found Stacey on the side of a road in a bunch of wildflowers, Carol Stites remembered. I thought he was heaven sent. The trial is happening in courtroom one of the Morehouse Parish Courthouse. Detectives are actively following up on leads. Cook said that investigators arent suitably confident in the veracity of that confession, and that this renewed examination aims to verify the confession as well as connect the man who claims he killed the woman to her death. The indictment. Family mourns teen they say was found dead in Bastrop, 10-year-old shot during argument, Marion man arrested, Black mans decapitated remains found after he warned his mom he was targeted by truckloads of white guys, KNOE Sunday Night Forecast with Jake Lambright, KNOE Sunday Evening Forecast with Jake Lambright, KNOE Saturday Night Forecast with Jake Lambright. By the time she was discovered there was not enough soft tissue to where you could tell whether shed been stabbed or raped or anything. Dr. Michael Baden, a physician and board-certified forensic pathologist known for investigating the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the Jeffrey Epstein and George Floyd autopsies, testified there are two reasons he believes Stites was likely killed earlier. The woman has not been identified and the cause of death has not been determined. He placed his utility belt and gun on the back of the car and pointed to what things were on the belt and then he jerked my pants down and he raped me., She says she didnt fight back because she was scared. (CBS Austin file image) Detectives are investigating an early Sunday morning shooting after a woman was found dead in Bastrop County. Stacey Stites was weeks away from marrying her fianc when she went missing. Bastrop dentist found guilty of manslaughter as trial comes to a close. Just 19 years old at the time, Stites didnt show up for work one morning in 1996, and was found dead hours later. Bastrop dentist allegedly shot and killed his wife following a domestic dispute. Stacey Stites cousin, Heather Stobbs, told 20/20 that as the family was gathering together, she realized, instead of going to Stacey's wedding, now we're going to Stacey's memorial.. Micheal Waller and his fianc still cant believe what happened on the edge of their property on Sunday afternoon. So little is known after Yuridia Espinoza's body was found in a grave on March 27 near Elgin. Through every trial, hearing and court update, Sandra Reed is standing by her son. Investigators determined her sex based off the morphology of the skeletons pelvis, which they said was broken at the time they found her body. She had her plans, and now somebody's taken that away, Carol Stites said at the time of the murder. The defense argued in legal filings the perpetrator would become Jimmy Fennell, because he said he was in the apartment with her that night. Bastrop County law enforcement officials are relaunching an investigation into the identity of the woman, whose badly decomposed body was discovered along U.S. 290east of Elgin by law enforcement officers 40 years ago. A woman is found dead inside of a crashed vehicle in Bastrop County but deputies say the fatal injuries were from something else. "It hit a little close to home for. The victim has been identified as 32-year-old Jessica Marie Jefferson Brown from Cedar Creek. Betty Carter, "Red"s grandma, says she got the call from a friend, who works with Bastrop Police. A host of celebrities and politicians have rallied behind Reed as well, pushing for him to be removed from death row and be granted a new trial, and bringing national attention to the case. Prosecutor Lisa Tanner said Stites left home at 3 a.m. to make her 3:30 a.m. shift at the grocery story, according to Fennell. On the day that her body was found, Sheriff Maurice Cook refused to comment on the evidence or . Goertz said that the outside agency is speculating that Jane Does death may be linked to the notorious serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who confessed to hundreds of killings in the 1980s and died from natural causes in 2001 while on death row. Because If Stacey was killed at midnight or earlier -- and not 3 a.m., then Reed would be excluded as the killer. She was 20 miles from her Cedar Creek home in the early hours of July 9 when she crashed into a tree. 14 children and 1 teacher were killed in the Uvalde school shooting, officials confirm, Moriah Wilson murder: What we know so far about the crime and Kaitlin Armstrong, Example video title will go here for this video. A Bastrop County grand jury declined to indict a woman accused of exploiting girls living at the Refuge Ranch, a rehabilitation center that treats survivors of sex trafficking, according to . She drove Jimmy's truck as she often did, Tanner said. Cook said the revived investigation was recently instigated by a request from an outside agency, which officials have declined to identify. She was lying face down. The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office also addressed its delay in releasing information on the case. The caller said they had heard a verbal argument and a loud noise coming from a bedroom. It is unknown what the dispute was about, Hsu said. Sign up here for our free newsletters. I didn't realize until then that what she told me had so much of an implication in the case.. He is facing up to 40 years in prison. Officials said the investigation began on May 6 when officials responded to a medical emergency on Upper Elgin Road. Officials would then compare that profile against the missing people in the NameUs database to begin building leads. DNA forensics was still in its infancy at the time of Stites murder. Lawhons attorney is a Monroe-based lawyer, Lavalle Salomon. The original version is as follows:The Bastrop Police Department is investigating the death of a woman. We cant give too much information, because even though we may have a glimmer of who we think this might be, we cant reveal that because we dont know that, Cook said. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). They're still investigating, but Campbell says they hope to have a suspect, or a better idea of what happened, soon. BASTROP, La. Stacey Stites went missing in 1996, when she was just 19. Raymerio Lee, known as "Red" by family and friends, has been missing since Monday. This was quite a unique crew to show up in this little, sleepy county of Bastrop. I knew we were in trouble, Clay-Jackson said. Ultimately, Fennell was cleared as a suspect. They said police never searched the apartment Stites shared with Fennell. A spokesperson says the person will be interviewed. All were trying to do is put a name and a face to an unknown body, and the best way we got to do that these days is through DNA.. After 10 years of hard time in a Texas prison, hes serving Christ in the mission field of the street of Austin. By the time the questioning was over, he was charged with Stites sexual assault, kidnapping and murder. Days later, Fennell was charged with aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated kidnapping, improper sexual activity with a person in custody and official oppression. When officials investigated after obtaining a warrant, they discovered the freshly buried body of Catherin Alonzo-Lopez, 28. The successful conclusion of an investigation is paramount to public safety. The body of an adult woman was found at the edge of the property on Gurden Avenue intersecting with White Avenue in Bastrop around 3 pm on Sunday afternoon. Who was the suspected gunman in the Uvalde school shooting? Officials say the Travis County Medical Examiner will be doing an autopsy to determine the cause of death. I thank the world for the support.. And, at the same time, I got to fight these people to save my son's life.. It's a concoction of creative, brilliant lawyers trying to save a condemned man -- who is worthily condemned, I might add., Prosecutor Lisa Tanner agreed that Reed, not Fennell, is guilty, saying that she is still sure the right man has been convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of Stacey Stites murder.. But the State of Texas and Stites family believe Reed is the man who murdered her and hes exactly where he belongs. That information would be entered into NamUs, a federal missing persons database that collects cases from law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners and family members of missing persons. Both resided in the home. (AP) A Louisiana woman accused of killing her boyfriend's 6-year-old daughter and leaving the child's body in a bucket outside the home where the girl's mother lives has been jailed without bond in a New Orleans suburb, authorities said. The sample was taken to UNTs federally-funded DNA lab, where Gill-King and the Forensic Anthropology Unit will build a genetic profile of the woman and enter it into a federal DNA database in hopes that it might match the genetic profile of a family member already in the system. After three hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a manslaughter guilty verdict on April 27 around 8 p.m., according to the Ouachita and Morehouse Parish District Attorney Steve Tew. Alicia Slater, one of Stites coworkers at H-E-B came forward in 2014, and in an affidavit she claimed Stites told her she was having an affair with Reed. It's awfully hard to find this evidence credible that he miraculously has this secret affair with this girl and somehow, his semen hangs around for several days, Tanner said. 2023 FOX Television Stations, North Austin neighborhood sees relief after flooding from storms, Wife arrested after shooting husband in Buckeye while kids were home, police say, Army says helicopters crashed in mountains, fair weather, Williamson County Deputies Association raising funds to give bikes to students with perfect attendance, 2 high schoolers killed, 4 others hurt in shooting at house party in Mississippi, Texas: The Issue Is - Armed officers on Texas school campuses, Texas: The Issue Is - Rep. Moody discusses HB 3 after it passed through Texas House, Austin weather: Another gorgeous day to start the work week, Hundreds of cyclists ride 150 miles to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis, How to get COVID tests now before it's no longer free, Pandemic pounds pushed thousands of U.S. Army soldiers into obesity, Biden signs bill to declassify information on COVID-19 origins, World Health Organization declares end date for COVID-19 'public health emergency', New study cites Wuhan raccoon dogs as possible origin of COVID-19, Nearly 90% of DPS misdemeanor arrests are people of color, data shows, 4 detained following 'military-style' weapons theft in South Austin, police say, Mass shooting gunman could be anywhere, says San Jacinto County sheriff, Man catfishing in Missouri snags prehistoric fish instead. Dr. Daniel Wescott, director of Texas States Forensic Anthropology Center who is not involved in the case, said that genetic profiles of unidentified people are often entered into the FBIs Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, which includes the genetic profiles of missing persons, convicted offenders and forensic samples collected from crime scenes. Police found a broken piece of belt with the buckle attached, just outside of the drivers door. In March 1997, investigators matched Reeds DNA to DNA recovered from Stites body. Staceys family also considered whether Fennell might be responsible. There's no 10-year sentence that frees me of the things that [Fennell] did to me.. The sheriff's office said he had unexplained puncture wounds to his body and neck and he was unable to talk. Breaking news for Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. We're gonna get the truth out there. A resident called 911 early Sunday and summoned officers to a residence on 17000 block of Santa Suzanne Street, Fountain Valley police wrote in a news release. Officials Sunday released the name of a 28-year-old woman whose body was found near an unused railroad track in Carson. He slammed me up against the back of his patrol car, on the side of it, she said. She grabbed the keys and she handed them to Jimmy so that he could go look for Stacey.. Stites said her daughter wanted to make more money to pay for her wedding, so she got a job at a local H-E-B grocery company. The suspect in the death of a young woman in Elgin is in the hospital after a police chase Wednesday. Relatives of a female who lived at the residence with the suspect found him injured in the driveway. With that said, certain aspects of a criminal investigation are protected from public release to avoid hindering or jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation. One of Stites coworkers at H-E-B came forward in 2014, and in an affidavit she claimed Stites told her she was having an affair with Reed. Make sure to check back for more details as the trial continues and more information becomes available. During Thursday's press conference, they also said Brown was working her 2nd job, delivering newspapers to homes along a rural road in Bastrop County when she was murdered. BASTROP, La. Officials Sunday released the name of a 28-year-old woman whose body was found near an unused railroad track in Carson. MyNewsLA.com wont sell your information and you can unsubscribe at any time. I wasnt seeing racism like that.. Bastrop Police Chief Allen Campbell says they're not confirming Lee was the one found dead until autopsy results come back, but in the meantime, they're leaving no stone unturned. Former Bastrop Police Det. He was born in the Philippines, raised in the San Fernando Valley and is a Cal State Northridge alumnus. Prosecutors presented the case of Vivian Harbottle Chapman, who was 39 at the time and was raped six months prior to Stites death in October 1995. The DA never, never talked to me about plea agreements, Lear said. The search is on for answers, and whoever is responsible, for killing a young man from Bastrop. Bastrop Police Chief Allen Campbell says they're not confirming Lee was the one found dead until autopsy. A Bastrop County murder suspect who told sheriff's investigators he beat the victim. Saturday, June 13, 2020, on Spanish Town Road near N. 10th Street in Baton Rouge, La. Ive stayed out here by this fire and watched just to make sure what if someone came back. Brown explained thats why, at first, he said he didnt know her. The family of a woman missing from Kyle since last month says she was found dead.