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Archives > Volume 7 Issue 46 - August 21, 2009 Mom, boyfriend charged with murdering Idaho boy...The mother of an 8-year-old boy whose lifeless body was found floating in a Boise, Idaho, canal has been charged along with her live-in boyfriend with murder in the child's death. ABC News story here 
Robert Manwill, a little boy with an impish grin, disappeared July 24 and his body was found in the canal August 3.
The boyfriend, Daniel Ehrlick Jr., 36, allegedly tortured the boy, repeatedly beating him on his head and body with his hands, knees and fists, and also subjected him to other forms of physical and emotional abuse, according to the indictment against him unsealed today in an Ada County court. Robert died on or about July 24, the day he was reported missing, as a result of the injuries he allegedly suffered at Ehrlick's hands, the indictment said. Ehrlick tortured the boy "with the intent to cause suffering, to execute vengeance or to satisfy some sadistic inclination by inflicting on Robert G. Manwill extreme or prolonged acts of brutality with the intent to cause suffering," the indictment said. The boy's mother, Melissa Jenkins, 30, allegedly knew about the beatings but never got him medical attention. Instead, according to the indictment, she allegedly aided in the abuse and "actively and repeatedly" hid her son from anyone who might have stopped it or helped the boy. Jenkins and Ehrlick were both charged with first degree murder, which could carry the death penalty. Both were also charged with failing to report the boy's death to law enforcement. Robert was visiting his mother at the time he disappeared. His father, Charles Manwill, of New Plymouth, Idaho, is divorced from Jenkins and had custody of the boy. Jenkins only had visitation rights. Jenkins has a history of violence against her children, and is on probation for fracturing the skull of Robert's infant half brother. That boy was taken from her by the state in 2008. According to court records, Jenkins "did willfully inflict" injury to the infant "by striking the child's head on a surface, causing a fracture to the child's skull," on October 19, 2008. She received a sentenced of 29 days of work release and was put on probation for two years. The Associated Press reported that Jenkins also has a third child, a 2 1/2-year-old daughter, whose father has custody. Jenkins has visitation rights. Ehrlick is banned from being alone with the girl, according to the AP, but court documents don't say why. Ehrlick has a criminal record including convictions for burglary, grand theft, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia. See more at vol7_iss44. Huckaby indicted for Cantu abduction, murder... A grand jury in northern California on Monday indicted a former Sunday school teacher on charges of kidnapping, murder and rape in the death of an 8-year-old girl. CNN News story here 
Melissa Huckaby, 28, is accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who disappeared on March 27 in Tracy, California. Her body was found April 6 in a suitcase in an irrigation pond near the mobile home park where her family lived. Huckaby and her daughter, who played with Sandra, also lived in the mobile home park.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Henry Lee, who was in the courtroom in San Joaquin County on Monday as the indictment was read, told CNN: "Melissa began weeping as the judge read the charges of murder and rape aloud. ... She was shackled and wore a red jail jumpsuit. Otherwise, she said nothing." The grand jury heard two weeks of testimony. In June, Huckaby pleaded not guilty to all charges. The judge scheduled her next court appearance for September 10, giving her attorney time to review the indictment. No trial date has been set. See more on this story at vol7_iss24, vol7_iss25, vol7_iss26, vol7_iss27, and vol7_iss28. LA to review deaths of children reported as abused... A Los Angeles woman who decapitated her 4-year-old with a kitchen knife showed signs of mental illness nine months before the attack, yet Los Angeles County child welfare officials decided she wasn't a serious threat to the boy. CBS News story here 
Lars Sanchez was found dead on July 18 in a bedroom he shared with his mother. She was on the floor, her left wrist slashed to the bone.
Nine months earlier, Yolanda Tijerina was investigated after she began screaming and shouting, "I think you killed my son!" - apparently to no one in particular - outside the boy's Highland Park preschool, the Los Angeles Times said. The principal at Meridian Children's Center reported her to the county's child abuse hotline. Social workers, who investigated for several days, learned that Tijerina often spoke nonsensically, and the boy's adult sister told officials that she believed her brother was in danger. The investigation concluded that the mother's "emotional stability, developmental status or cognitive deficiency impairs her current ability to supervise, protect or care for the child." However, officials concluded that the boy could remain at the home if there were three months of informal monitoring by family members, neighbors and a neighborhood resource center, the Times said, citing documents released by the county Department of Children and Family Services. Last month, county supervisors voted to review the deaths of about a dozen children who had been the subject of abuse complaints to the county. The vote followed the July beating death of 6-year-old Dae'von Bailey in South Los Angeles. His stepfather is suspected of killing him. The boy reportedly had been the subject of about a dozen calls to child welfare authorities about possible abuse. Last year, social workers removed 4,468 children from Los Angeles County homes, and parental mental illness was the main reason in nearly a fifth of those cases. However, mental illness alone doesn't disqualify a parent from caring for a child. Social workers must also determine if the child is being abused or neglected, the parent is getting treatment, and whether there are other adults at home to care for the child. In other news... 
Monday marked the sixth birthday of Haleigh Cummings, the Florida girl who disappeared from her father's mobile home during the night back in February. CBS News story here Now, six months since Haleigh went missing, police say they believe her father's new wife - Misty Croslin-Cummings - has key information about the girl's disappearance. Croslin-Cummings was babysitting Haleigh at the time she vanished. Putnam County, Florida police say that, although Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, and father, Ronald Cummings, are no longer suspects in their daughter's disappearance, Croslin-Cummings remains a person of interest. Investigators say they also believe Haleigh was abducted by someone she knew. Croslin-Cummings says she was sleeping beside Haleigh when she disappeared. But police say her story doesn't add up. The 17-year-old, according to police, has failed to provide a detailed account of that night, and physical evidence contradicts what she told probers. For more on this story, see vol7_iss11, vol7_iss12, vol7_iss13, vol7_iss15.
A Vermont high school teacher police say had sex with a student is being held without bail after allegedly having sex with her again. WPTZ News story here John Buttura, 54, of Waterbury Center, was first arrested in April on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old Twinfield Union High School student. He was arrested again in May for allegedly contacting her on the Internet against a judge's order. On Sunday, he was arrested for a third time after police said the girl's father called them with a tip. Buttura, who taught technology and shop classes at Twinfield Union High School, now faces four additional misdemeanor charges accusing him of having sex with the victim again last week and contacting her on three other occasions. For more information, see eGuide.org/educator abuse.
The foster father of a missing Oakland 5-year-old boy sent a text message days before his disappearance threatening to leave the youngster unattended at a BART station, according to court documents released Thursday. http://www.ktvu.com/news/20467597/detail.html In an affidavit filed to obtain a search warrant of the home where Hasanni Campbell lives in Fremont with his foster parents, Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, Oakland police said they found an expletive laced text message on Ross cell phone. According to the document, the message sent to Jennifer Campbell said: "This is [expletive] over. I will watch [Hasannis sister] but he will be on the BART..." The investigating officers also told the court that Ross had "also voiced some misgivings about caring for a developmentally disabled child" and added that neighbors had not seen Hasanni for about two weeks. The latest revelations came less than 24 hours after authorities confirmed to KTVU that Ross had failed a FBI lie detector test. Hasanni Campbell was reported missing from a parking lot in Oakland about 4:15 p.m. on August 10. Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said that police remain "very concerned" about a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who has now been missing for nine days. Thomason said police are still treating Hasanni's disappearance as a missing persons case and that there is no evidence a crime has been committed. "We're asking the public to call if they have any credible tips," Thomason said.
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