Stark City man charged after allegedly beating, biting his father

A Stark City man faces a third degree domestic assault charge, a felony, in Newton County Circuit Court after allegedly beating and biting his adoptive father Friday.

Robert Lee Butler, (DOB 1986) is being held without bond

According to the probable cause statement, Butler became upset after his father asked him to feed the cows and the electrical fence shocked him.

(From the probable cause statement)

V1 said they started arguing on the front porch where Robert took it out on him. V1 said Robert then tackled him to the ground and continuously punched him on the head while he was down on the ground.

V1 stated Robert also bit his fingers while they were on the ground. {He} wants to press charges on Robert for assaulting him. 

Robert admitted to grabbing V1 by the shirt and throwing him to the ground, Robert stated, "I started beating the {f--k} out of him." 

Robert said they separated for a second and when he looked back, Vl tried to check him by attempting to punch him. Robert said V1 grabbed him again and tried to throw him over the railing of the porch. Robert said he got ahold of Vl's hands and bit his fingers while leaning over the railing of the porch.

The case was investigated by the Newton County Sheriff's Office.

Mount Vernon man cited for DWI, harassment, meth possession following road rage incident in Jasper, Lawrence counties

The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney filed multiple charges against a Mount Vernon man following an alleged road rage incident that began in Lawrence County and continued into Jasper County.

An arrest warrant was issued and bond set at  $25,000 surety or $3,000 cash for Alvin Alfred Reid (DOB 1972, who is charged with felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and harassment and misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The case was investigated by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office.

From the probable cause statement:

On 02/23/2024 I, Deputy Deras #350 was dispatched to incident location 1 in regards to a possible road rage incident with shots fired. 

Due to the seriousness of the call several units responded and a felony stop was conducted on Suspect 1. Once detained an investigation was conducted and it was determined an assault may have taken place in Lawrence County which they would respond to our location and investigate. 

While waiting I spoke with Victim 1 who stated no contact between vehicle happened within Jasper County but suspect 1 “rammed” his vehicle in Lawrence County and continued to follow them aggressively caused him emotional distress making him fear for his life and that of the of his juvenile children present in the vehicle as well. 

Both juveniles who were identified as Victim 2 and victim 3 also clearly visibly distraught crying very loudly in clear emotional distress. 

Once I finished speaking with victim 1 a plain view search was conduct of Suspect’s 1 vehicle and a glass pipe with white residue and burn marks was observed in a cup holder within reach of the driver seat where suspect 1 was located when stopped. Since Suspect 1 was the sole occupant of the vehicle a probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted. 

During the search a small plastic baggie containing a clear crystal-like substance suspected of being methamphetamine was located on the floorboard of the driver side again within reach of the driver being suspect 1. Suspect 1 was advised of their Miranda Rights at approximately 1013hrs. 

When asked when the last time he consumed methamphetamine was he stated “right before I got into the car” meaning just before following victim 1. 

When asked how much he had consumed he again stated “just a couple of hits." 

Suspect 1 was then transported to the Jasper County Jail for further processing. Once at the Jail he was informed of implied consent and denied any further cooperation. The suspected controlled substance was weight and showed to have a weight of .36grams with the packaging included. The substance will be sent to the Missouri Highway Patrol Lab for further confirmation.

Phil Cook, Craig Smith and the evils of Facebook

A month has passed since I read the Jasper County Citizen's thorough report on the arrest of former Carl Junction R-1 choir teacher Craig Smith on stalking and child pornography charges. The reporter, LaDonna Allen, did an excellent job of detailing how Smith's arrest came about, but her best work came in the final segment of the lengthy story.

A good interviewer can bring out the truth, even when the interview subject appears to be doing his best to avoid it.

In this case, the subject was R-1 Superintendent Phil Cook and the information and quotes that LaDonna Allen coaxed out of Cook revealed a lot, not only about the Craig Smith case, but about the attitudes Cook has about the people in his school district.

In 2014, as part of a story on Jessica Nugent's lawsuit against the R-1 District for the bullying that led to the suicide of her son Luke, I reviewed the deposition Cook gave and reported on it. Under oath, Cook said he didn't read Facebook and he made it clear the disdain he had for people who comment on Facebook.

While it's certainly understandable that a school administrator would be upset about some of the wild things people say about schools in social media, why would Cook be upset about it if he never read Facebook?

I thought of that deposition when I read Cook's answers to Allen's questions about social media comments concerning the Craig Smith case.

First, you don't believe anything you see on Facebook. People on Facebook don't know what they're talking about. I don't know any one of them who do. I guess all those people need to come run the school then.

 If Cook's 2014 statement about never reading Facebook was accurate and he still held to it, then that certainly doesn't say much about the way he deals with the public. Of course, in a few months since his retirement takes effect June 30 the public won't have to deal with Cook any more.

A lot of Carl Junction parents and taxpayers are on Facebook and while there certainly are times when incorrect information spreads, social media should also serve as a barometer letting an observant administrator know what the public is thinking.

It should also serve as a way for a superintendent to get out in front of potentially embarrassing or even dangerous situations.

Facebook members include everyone from doctors to ditch diggers and administrators should be interested in what each of them have to say. That doesn't mean checking Facebook comments every day, but checking in at least once every few days might offer an opportunity to correct some misinformation or give an administrator an idea of how to deal with it.

That wasn't all Cook had to say about his social media critics.

We keep kids safe. We do now and we did then and that's the rule. People are going to second guess after it's over with."

That's true. What Cook didn't say and what is just as true, is that he gave the public a lot to second guess about.

Cook defended his decision to allow Smith to retire instead of firing him, telling Allen the end result was the same- he was no longer in the district.

Even then, the superintendent's comment to Allen was dripping with sarcasm. 

It really shouldn't matter except it doesn't make you and the rest of the public happy that he wasn't terminated.

Naturally, Cook feels that everyone is at fault except Cook.

Craig Smith was being investigated by the Carl Junction Police Department. Cook told Allen the police had given him examples of some of Smith's "most disturbing messages," to the teenage girl he was allegedly stalking, in late October. 

Cook said he took steps to fire Smith, contacting the district's attorney to begin the process. Then after a meeting with Smith and his teacher's union attorney, Smith decided to retire, and Cook allowed that resignation to be submitted to the board of education.

Cook told Allen he permitted the retirement and didn't pursue termination because it would have cost the district $25,000 to hold a hearing and the article says Cook said, "he was going to make certain Smith did not end up at any other school, so it all worked out the same."

Think about what Cook said.

The Carl Junction Police Department provided Cook with some of Smith's most disturbing messages. Cook met with Smith and his union attorney and then almost immediately submitted his retirement.

There was never going to be any hearing.

Even if Cook gave Smith some kind of ultimatum- resign or get fired, for instance- Smith was never going to have a termination hearing. Those disturbing messages would have been revealed to the public and since the police investigation was ongoing, without a doubt more evidence would have piled up against Smith.

A termination hearing would have been a disaster for Smith.

Cook took the easy way out.

We have his word that he was going to keep Smith from winding up at some other school, but there appear to have been recent cases where Cook has allowed teachers and administrators who broke the rules to move on quietly and at least one case where he has welcomed back someone who was fired from the district several years earlier for unprofessional behavior.

I read that on Facebook.

I've been provided with the same information by thoroughly reliable sources.

Maybe Cook's biggest concern with Facebook is that it's difficult to face public scrutiny when you keep giving the public so much to scrutinize.

Agenda posted for Carthage City Council meeting

 

Carthage City Council hears statement of charges against Parks and Rec Director Abi Almandinger

A 5 p.m. March 5 personnel hearing is scheduled in City Council Chambers for Carthage Parks and Recreation Director Abi Almandinger following a February 11 closed session decision by Carthage City Council.

During the closed session, Councilman Chris Taylor made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Terri Heckmaster to move forward with a statement of charges against Almandinger. No specifics on the charges were provided.

The council approved the motion 6-0 with one abstention. Voting in favor were Taylor, Heckmaster, Derek Peterson, Ray West, Tom Barlow and Jana Schramm. Lori Leece abstained.

Joplin Globe opposes efforts to have Rowan Ford's stepfather fired

For some reason, the Joplin Globe editorial board felt the need to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the revelation that murder victim Rowan Ford's stepfather David Spears is receiving more than $40,000 a year in taxpayer money as an employee of the Missouri Public Defender's Office.

Par for the course for the Globe, it came down on the wrong side, heavily criticizing Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin and other legislators for threatening to defund the Public Defender's office unless David Spears is fired.

"Lawmakers urging that Spears be fired- though misguided- is fine; these threats are not," the Globe said in an editorial that ran on today's opinion page.

The editorial reeks of the kind of "we're smarter and we know better than you," thought process that the newspaper has inflicted on us for the past several years.

The court found him guilty, and Spears' sentence has been served. He has completed his parole. Such extrajudicial action by the Legislature to target an individual, piling on additional punishment through legislative action is flatly unconstitutional. The dangerous tendency of lawmakers to step into the arena of the courts is the reason the Founding Fathers banned bills of attainder in the Constitution.

The editorial then says the threat to "act against one person by defunding an agency that fulfills a constitutional role in our government is ill-considered and irresponsible. These legislators would be hurting all Missouri residents, acting against our best interests to go after one man."

Let's get something straight- the legislature is not going to defund the public defender's office, but it has every right to threaten to do so.

In this case, the threat is more of a message to the Public Defender's Office that it's not going to be business as usual.

The Globe editorial tried to play the role of the reasonable, rational voice that keeps the eye on common sense even as Lane Roberts and many of those who are reading this column, feel our money should not be paying David Spears' salary and benefits.

Part of the problem here may be the lurid nature of the crime. It is easy to condemn and attack anyone even tangentially involved in a horrific attack and murder of a child. But the law has to be applied fairly even in the most vile circumstance, or it stops being law.

As it often does, the Globe is overlooking some things that make this story a bit different than the one the newspaper is telling.

-When David Spears was hired, he had not completed his probation.

-As the editorial notes, the crime was lurid, but what it fails to mention is that prosecutors had the choice of prosecuting both men and risking the chance of losing both cases and receiving no justice for Rowan or making the deal with Spears. In the court filings of Chris Collings, the man who was executed for Rowan's murder, Spears was portrayed as being involved in Rowan's death and in the filings just before Collings was executed, his lawyers pointedly addressed the possibility that Spears was the guilty one. It should be noted that the lawyers who were representing Collings were from the Missouri Public Defender's Office. In other words, Spears' bosses were claiming he could be a murderer.

-The Globe neglected to tell the whole story. In this case, and I could be wrong, it appears that the editorial was based solely on the Missouri Independent's coverage of the House Budget Committee hearing. The editorial notes that Lane Roberts said he didn't care whether Spears was rehabilitated or whether he was doing a good job. "He has not, and will never, pay his debt to Rowan Ford."

That quote was mentioned in the Missouri Independent article.

Perhaps the Globe's approach might have been better if the editorial writers had actually watched the entire committee hearing. Roberts' anger wasn't just about David Spears, but about the cavalier attitude Mary Fox, the director of the Public Defender's Office took. She took issue with Roberts' contention that Spears was the one who took authorities to where Rowan's body had been dumped.

He did.

During the entire hearing, Fox displayed an attitude that she knew so much more than the people who were questioning her. In a past life, she may have been a Globe editorial writer.

I can't take issue with the idea that a state agency should lead the way in giving a second chance to those who have paid their debt to society. In this case, David Spears was hired before he paid his debt, received his opportunity only because the office had represented him in this case and continued to be employed even as his employers were filing legal documents saying he might be a murderer.

I have no problems with David Spears landing a job, even a high paying job. But there has to be something wrong with his salary and benefits being paid for by Rowan's family, her teachers, her classmates and the people of Stella who loved her.

Kidnapping, domestic assault charges against Neosho man, allegedly threatened amputee mother

A $2,000 cash-only bond has been set for a Neosho man charged with kidnapping and domestic assault.

According to the probable cause statement, Harly Albert Leon Haslip (DOB 1994) allegedly attacked his mother, an amputee, and took away her phone as she was attempting to call 911.

From the probable cause statement:

Upon arrival, I made contact with V1. V1 stated Haslip was tearing up the house and threatened his mother (V2) and herself. V1 stated Haslip had a hammer and was destroying the stairs in the home.

V1 stated V2 told Haslip to stop destroying the house or V2 would call. 911. When V2 said that, Haslip came into the living room and smacked her wrist, causing her to drop the phone on the floor. V2 is a disabled led amputee and was unable to pick up her phone. Haslip picked up the phone from the floor, turned it off, and threw it back on thte floor, further preventing V2 from calling 911.

V1 stated she walked out the front door to get her cat and Haslip slammed the door and locked {it} behind her. V1 is the caretaker of V2. {She} was concerned for V2 being an amputee and unable to defend herself.

When I went to make contact with Haslip, he opened the door aggressively with fists balled. I told him to sit on the steps. Haslip took a step towards me and started yelling.

In the probable cause statement, Officer Cameron Snyder notes, "Haslip has assaulted V2 multiple times in the past."

Newton County Circuit Court online court records show Haslip is currently awaiting trial on a previous domestic assault count, as well as charges of stealing, burglary and two counts of violation of a protection order.

Haslip allegedly committed all of these crimes in one year, after he was given a suspended sentence and placed on five years of supervised probation by Judge Jacob Skouby after entering an Alford plea to a possession of a controlled substance charge.

Newton County Prosecuting Attorney William P. Lynch filed a motion February 5 to revoke Haslip's probation. No date has been scheduled for a hearing.

Child abuse charges filed against parents of suicidal 10-year-old Neosho girl

The parents of a suicidal 10-year-old Neosho girl have been charged with child abuse.

The initial court appearance for Christina Marie Johnson (DOB 1977) is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 25 in Newton County Circuit Court. Online court records do not show a date the initial appearance of Michael Ian Johnson (DOB 1975).

The Neosho Police Department investigation began after the girl told the suicide hotline she was going to jump off a bridge after school December 9 "because of the things her father had been saying to her.

From the probable cause statement:

Juvenile one reported her father had been calling her a "worthless piece of s--t, useless son of a bitch, a stupid bitch, and an embarrassment." 

After further investigation of the conditions of the home, it was determined that the house was in deplorable condition. The house was filled with trash, the counters were covered with dirty dishes and food, and the carpets were saturated with animal feces. 

Mrs. Johnson acknowledged that she was aware of the poor living conditions and the way her husband, Mr. Johnson, had been treating her child but has taken no action to correct the behavior or protect her child from the mental abuse, which has aided in her ten-year-old juvenile daughter having suicidal ideations and developing a plan on how to execute it.

The father admitted to calling the child names, though he didn't remember what they were.

Mr. Johnson acknowledged the poor living conditions and the fact he had been calling his daughter inappropriate names. When Mr. Johnson was asked what he had called his daughter, he said he did not remember because he got so mad and forgot. Mr. Johnson stated he has never physically hit his daughter besides spanking her in approximately 2016, but he has raised his hand like he was going to.

Remembering Justene Womack

Justene sat in the middle of Room 210 at South Middle School and I don't think I'd be overstepping if I said she occasionally liked to talk when she was supposed to be working.

Still, it was hard for me to crack down on her minor transgressions, because the second I called her name, I was greeted by the most angelic smile, a smile specifically reserved for that type of situation.

I usually smiled back and kept walking.

I was always an old softie when it came to Justene.

Though she was capable of extreme silliness at times, those times never occurred when we were having one of our class discussions or when she was writing a paper in my communication arts (English) class. She was forceful with her opinions and expressed them well in her writing.

Justene was one of those students who occasionally checked in with me after she moved on to high school and to adulthood. Like many of my former students who learned how to create resumes when they were in my class, she asked me to check hers when she sought her first non-family job.

It didn't need any changes.

She also asked to use me as a reference. I gladly gave her permission. She landed the job, but it didn't have anything to do with me. No one ever called. My guess is the combination of her bubbly personality and her work ethic was enough for her prospective employer.

Justene also sent me a couple of her writing assignments to look over and make suggestions. I glanced over one of them earlier today. Here's part of it.

I will stand tall and do what I have been doing, which is live my American Dream. Be the mother and wife I'm supposed to be, teach my children the values I was taught, and stand for my country.

 

I will not have some politician tell me I'm wrong in what I think, and I will not have some terrorist scare me into submission. For us to get our country back we have to stand together and fight. We have to support our troops and we have to limit our government. You have to make the decision to stand or sit back and watch everything your father, grandfather, great-grandfather worked so hard for you and your fellow Americans to have disappear. That is your choice and you're going to have to make it sooner or later. I've made mine.

For the past few years, Justene has battled cancer and she broke the news to her Facebook friends October 4.

So I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to come out with it. The doctor gave me less than a year to live. Nothing is working, so I’m starting to talk to hospices now. Thank you so much for the support in all these years.

During the next few months, as she battled the killer disease, she worked to try to make her transition easier for her three children.

Justene Womack's battle ended Sunday when she died surrounded by her family.

Her obituary was accompanied by a photo that showed that same angelic smile that kept her from getting into any trouble for talking so many years ago when she sat in Room 210. As I looked back over the paper she had me read over several years ago, I kept going back to what she said about teaching her children the values she was taught.

Justene taught those values to her children, but she had to squeeze far too much education in far too short a time.

Justene Womack obituary

Joplin banker surrenders to Ottawa County authorities, posts $10,000 bond

 

A 9:30 a.m. February 27 arraignment has been scheduled for Aaron Allen Smith, who turned himself in to Ottawa County, Oklahoma authorities after a warrant had been issued for his arrest on an embezzling charge.

Smith, who formerly was a vice president and loan officer at Mid-Missouri Bank, allegedly stole nearly $70,000 from the Miracle League of Joplin, which provides baseball activities for disabled children, and used the money to gamble, primarily at Downstream Casino.

Smith was the treasurer for Miracle League of Joplin.

He is free after posting a $10,000 bond.

More information about the case can be found at the link below:

The Turner Report: Joplin banker charged with embezzling $70,000 from Miracle League, blowing it at area casinos