Post by Floyd Looney on Apr 24, 2009 14:03:38 GMT -5
The town was just another quiet southern county seat far removed from the normal rigors and problems of major cities.
At least until one evening about a month ago when little Jackie Henry Morris had been found in a ditch. The ten year old had been bound, gagged and repeatedly tortured.
The search for the killer had taken weeks, the newspapers across the state had ran almost daily updates-at least in the beginning. Then it all erupted again with the arrest of Thomas 'Tawny' Johnson.
The small town was dominated by the white marble courthouse across the street from the police station and jail, which was also used by the county Sheriff's department.
Several officers worked to keep the out-of-state media away from the families of the accused and victim. The family of the victim caused a ruckus when they followed the Johnson family outside and started hurling curses and accusations.
The Johnson family seemed more shocked than anyone else but only hustled to their two waiting ancient Cadillacs. The gathering crowd started making noise and the few officers would probably be overwhelmed if the Johnson family hadn't already been pulling out.
The judge had simply set a hearing for the following week where he would probably set a trial date. The Morris family had demanded a capital murder charge against Thomas Johnson and that they wanted the death penalty. The District Attorney was dismayed by this outbreak of shouting.
As the Johnson family pulled away a white man in a plaid shirt and a camoflauge cap threw a bottle at the vehicles. This was captured by the photographer for the County Press-Courier. It was front page the following day, the NAACP accused the state and county of a racial witch hunt.
OK.... a John Grisham type story starting here.... who wants to add the next part?
At least until one evening about a month ago when little Jackie Henry Morris had been found in a ditch. The ten year old had been bound, gagged and repeatedly tortured.
The search for the killer had taken weeks, the newspapers across the state had ran almost daily updates-at least in the beginning. Then it all erupted again with the arrest of Thomas 'Tawny' Johnson.
The small town was dominated by the white marble courthouse across the street from the police station and jail, which was also used by the county Sheriff's department.
Several officers worked to keep the out-of-state media away from the families of the accused and victim. The family of the victim caused a ruckus when they followed the Johnson family outside and started hurling curses and accusations.
The Johnson family seemed more shocked than anyone else but only hustled to their two waiting ancient Cadillacs. The gathering crowd started making noise and the few officers would probably be overwhelmed if the Johnson family hadn't already been pulling out.
The judge had simply set a hearing for the following week where he would probably set a trial date. The Morris family had demanded a capital murder charge against Thomas Johnson and that they wanted the death penalty. The District Attorney was dismayed by this outbreak of shouting.
As the Johnson family pulled away a white man in a plaid shirt and a camoflauge cap threw a bottle at the vehicles. This was captured by the photographer for the County Press-Courier. It was front page the following day, the NAACP accused the state and county of a racial witch hunt.
OK.... a John Grisham type story starting here.... who wants to add the next part?