NIGHTWATCH
Member
She failed to take rsponsability. She trusted the system. :banghead:
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2427267,00.html
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2427267,00.html
Another victim of CRIME...
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outfieldjack
Member
Interesting and SAD article.... You "topic" could have been a little more respectful though.
NIGHTWATCH
Member
It is respectful. Im angry at the system and that women have to die like this in front of their children. This didnt have to happen.
changed title.
changed title.
outfieldjack
Member
Not trying to be picky, and I agree with your disdain for the "system".... thanks.
Jack
Jack
Pilgrim
Member
The sad thing is that in all probability she continued her normal routine and habits in spite of the threats so that he knew exactly where to find her.
Pilgrim
Pilgrim
Holly76201
Member
As a former Parole Officer, I've got a bone to pick with the Denver County Jail. How stupid are they to release a convicted felon, facing a Parole Revocation hearing that will most likely sent him BACK to prison, and expect that he will appear? These guys are gonna run like rabbits being chased by coyotes.
:banghead:
And this is so sad for the Mom and her little boy. I hope the family sues Denver County over this policy. I'm not normally a litigiously minded person, but this kind of policy is grossly negligent and has now contributed to a woman's murder.
Holly
:banghead:
And this is so sad for the Mom and her little boy. I hope the family sues Denver County over this policy. I'm not normally a litigiously minded person, but this kind of policy is grossly negligent and has now contributed to a woman's murder.
Holly
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
Why I go to Denver only when it's unavoidable.
'This did not have to happen'
Stabbing victim's friends, family say system failed her
By Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News
November 14, 2003
Friends and relatives of a 25-year-old woman stabbed to death in front of her child lashed out Thursday at the system, saying it failed to protect a young mother who wanted desperately to escape an abusive relationship.
"This did not have to happen. She wanted out of this thing so badly," said Lakisha Smith, who wept after attending a hearing for the accused killer of her best friend.
Smith said the victim, Jamila Rochelle Allen, filed a complaint with Denver police against her boyfriend, Gregory Morris, a month and a half before her death.
Allen alleged that Morris - a 29-year-old felon wanted for violating his parole on previous drug and escape charges - had left phone messages threatening to kill her and those close to her.
"She went to the police, and they told her the only thing they could do was keep him 50 feet away from her," Smith said. "All the threats on the phone, with the previous record he had, and he couldn't be charged? How could they let that slide?"
Morris' alleged threats were made Sept. 22, while he was hiding from parole officers who wanted to send him back to prison, according to court records.
He was still on the run early Wednesday when, investigators say, he stabbed Allen in the chest and neck with a kitchen knife. Allen's 4-year-old son, Khalil, witnessed the attack, according to court papers filed Thursday.
"All my grandson sees now, when he sees his mother's picture, is blood," said Allen's mother, Denise Hood. "That's how he's going to remember her."
Detective Teresa Garcia, a Denver police spokeswoman, said an officer reviewed Allen's complaint when she filed it and determined Morris had likely violated a city ordinance.
Morris was not at the police station, so officers obtained a warrant for his arrest on municipal threat and disturbance charges. That warrant was entered into the computer, which already included a hold filed by parole officials. Notices about new warrants are typically included in a daily bulletin to all officers.
Garcia said the department considers domestic violence allegations "very serious."
"We try to do everything we can within our power" to address them, she said.
But the case did not rise to the level of being assigned to a detective. Although street officers are encouraged to follow up on all warrants, they are required to juggle new calls for service first.
Garcia said she did not know whether officers attempted to find Morris.
"In terms of these officers, they followed procedure. They did everything by the book," she said. "But if the family is upset it was not followed up on, they are right. There's only so many officers to actively pursue (warrants)."
Allen's family is also troubled by news that Morris benefited from a policy designed to alleviate overcrowding at the Denver County Jail.
Morris was jailed this year after he was accused of hitting a man in the head with a shovel. Prosecutors dropped assault charges against Morris because the woman Morris was dating at the time - not Allen - told investigators he had been attacked first by her estranged husband.
"It was pretty clear that he had a really decent self-defense argument," said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District attorney's office.
But the arrest, combined with Morris' failure to show up for drug testing and six positive tests for marijuana, concerned his parole officer, who filed papers to send Morris back to prison.
Normally, inmates remain jailed until such allegations - called technical violations - can be reviewed by the parole board. But Denver, burdened by overflowing jail cells, stopped holding such inmates earlier this year.
The policy had just gone into effect when Morris came up for release. The inmate hit the streets with orders to appear for a future revocation hearing. He disappeared two weeks later.
Undersheriff Fred Oliva said the Department of Corrections had 48 hours to transfer Morris to another facility to await his hearing, but corrections officials said there were no other beds available.
"To manage the population, you have to make some unpopular decisions about who is being held," Oliva said Thursday. "The Department of Corrections had to make a decision, too."
The sheriff's office has no plans to revise the policy.
Smith said the public needs to spend money to expand jails, and law enforcement should take a closer look at the kinds of criminals taking up beds. She said that white-collar offenders should be released.
"Fraud hasn't killed anybody," she said.
She says Morris' behavior should have raised red flags, and parole officers agree. They say technical violations are important, and sometimes disturbing, indicators of future problems.
Morris appeared before a judge briefly Thursday morning, shuffling into a courtroom in front of about a dozen of Allen's family and friends.
He kept his eyes down as the judge spoke with him.
Allen's mother hopes prosecutors seek the death penalty. "I want him to suffer for what he did to my daughter and to my grandson," she said.
Allen's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Community Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2455 E. 36th Ave., in Denver.
[email protected] or 303-892-5212.
Stabbing victim's friends, family say system failed her
By Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News
November 14, 2003
Friends and relatives of a 25-year-old woman stabbed to death in front of her child lashed out Thursday at the system, saying it failed to protect a young mother who wanted desperately to escape an abusive relationship.
"This did not have to happen. She wanted out of this thing so badly," said Lakisha Smith, who wept after attending a hearing for the accused killer of her best friend.
Smith said the victim, Jamila Rochelle Allen, filed a complaint with Denver police against her boyfriend, Gregory Morris, a month and a half before her death.
Allen alleged that Morris - a 29-year-old felon wanted for violating his parole on previous drug and escape charges - had left phone messages threatening to kill her and those close to her.
"She went to the police, and they told her the only thing they could do was keep him 50 feet away from her," Smith said. "All the threats on the phone, with the previous record he had, and he couldn't be charged? How could they let that slide?"
Morris' alleged threats were made Sept. 22, while he was hiding from parole officers who wanted to send him back to prison, according to court records.
He was still on the run early Wednesday when, investigators say, he stabbed Allen in the chest and neck with a kitchen knife. Allen's 4-year-old son, Khalil, witnessed the attack, according to court papers filed Thursday.
"All my grandson sees now, when he sees his mother's picture, is blood," said Allen's mother, Denise Hood. "That's how he's going to remember her."
Detective Teresa Garcia, a Denver police spokeswoman, said an officer reviewed Allen's complaint when she filed it and determined Morris had likely violated a city ordinance.
Morris was not at the police station, so officers obtained a warrant for his arrest on municipal threat and disturbance charges. That warrant was entered into the computer, which already included a hold filed by parole officials. Notices about new warrants are typically included in a daily bulletin to all officers.
Garcia said the department considers domestic violence allegations "very serious."
"We try to do everything we can within our power" to address them, she said.
But the case did not rise to the level of being assigned to a detective. Although street officers are encouraged to follow up on all warrants, they are required to juggle new calls for service first.
Garcia said she did not know whether officers attempted to find Morris.
"In terms of these officers, they followed procedure. They did everything by the book," she said. "But if the family is upset it was not followed up on, they are right. There's only so many officers to actively pursue (warrants)."
Allen's family is also troubled by news that Morris benefited from a policy designed to alleviate overcrowding at the Denver County Jail.
Morris was jailed this year after he was accused of hitting a man in the head with a shovel. Prosecutors dropped assault charges against Morris because the woman Morris was dating at the time - not Allen - told investigators he had been attacked first by her estranged husband.
"It was pretty clear that he had a really decent self-defense argument," said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District attorney's office.
But the arrest, combined with Morris' failure to show up for drug testing and six positive tests for marijuana, concerned his parole officer, who filed papers to send Morris back to prison.
Normally, inmates remain jailed until such allegations - called technical violations - can be reviewed by the parole board. But Denver, burdened by overflowing jail cells, stopped holding such inmates earlier this year.
The policy had just gone into effect when Morris came up for release. The inmate hit the streets with orders to appear for a future revocation hearing. He disappeared two weeks later.
Undersheriff Fred Oliva said the Department of Corrections had 48 hours to transfer Morris to another facility to await his hearing, but corrections officials said there were no other beds available.
"To manage the population, you have to make some unpopular decisions about who is being held," Oliva said Thursday. "The Department of Corrections had to make a decision, too."
The sheriff's office has no plans to revise the policy.
Smith said the public needs to spend money to expand jails, and law enforcement should take a closer look at the kinds of criminals taking up beds. She said that white-collar offenders should be released.
"Fraud hasn't killed anybody," she said.
She says Morris' behavior should have raised red flags, and parole officers agree. They say technical violations are important, and sometimes disturbing, indicators of future problems.
Morris appeared before a judge briefly Thursday morning, shuffling into a courtroom in front of about a dozen of Allen's family and friends.
He kept his eyes down as the judge spoke with him.
Allen's mother hopes prosecutors seek the death penalty. "I want him to suffer for what he did to my daughter and to my grandson," she said.
Allen's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Community Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2455 E. 36th Ave., in Denver.
[email protected] or 303-892-5212.
XLMiguel
Member
Very sad.
When are people going to understand that their safety is their responsibility. We should be keeping alog of this kind of tragedy to show how much blood the anti-self-defense-blisnninny-call-9-1-1 crowd really has on their hands. Even in states where 'shall issue' isn't, disobeying the law (i.e. for self-defense) when obeying it would cause greater harm is a viable defense.
Fight crime, shoot back!:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Which apparently isn't very much
When are people going to understand that their safety is their responsibility. We should be keeping alog of this kind of tragedy to show how much blood the anti-self-defense-blisnninny-call-9-1-1 crowd really has on their hands. Even in states where 'shall issue' isn't, disobeying the law (i.e. for self-defense) when obeying it would cause greater harm is a viable defense.
Fight crime, shoot back!:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
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