Well it’s over, at least Part I is.
As this monster, Christopher Rhodes, has finally been found guilty of murdering that poor little girl Jerica.
I extend my sincerest condolences to the mother of that poor kid, Lisa Mason (Colon) as well as to Jerica's brothers and sisters (who never got to meet their sister due to this monster unjustly being giving custody).
Dozens of questions still remain unanswered; however, and a full investigation is still needed to be undertaken on this case.
The people of this state (especially its mothers) need to know how this monster got custody of this kid to begin with… As that issue has YET to be addressed.
"Justice for Jerica
Rhodes guilty on all counts
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
omackson@th-record.com
Goshen – People will ask "why?" for years when they talk about the murder of 7-year-old Jerica Rhodes, but a jury yesterday left no doubt about the "who:" The killer was Christopher Rhodes, who called himself Jerica's father.
Rhodes, 28, of Highland Falls, was convicted of murder and seven lesser felonies yesterday in Orange County Court. The jury delivered its verdict at 2 p.m., after about eight hours of deliberations over two days. The verdict could send him to prison for 29 years to life.
Rhodes showed no emotion at the verdict, heeding a warning from his lawyer that the judge would not tolerate any outbursts. His parents and his younger brother were a daily presence during the trial, but they weren't in the courtroom for the verdict. When they got the news from Rhodes' lawyer, Sol Lesser, outside the courthouse, Rhodes family members quickly got into their cars and departed.
The verdict arrived nearly 10 months to the day after Jerica's body was found on the morning of Jan. 27, in a boys bathroom at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Highland Falls. Jerica, a first-grader, had been stabbed 16 times, an act of violence that thrust the little village into the national spotlight.
From the start of the three-week trial, prosecutors told the jury that they might never know why Jerica was murdered. Rhodes insisted he didn't kill her, and he even took the unusual step of taking the stand in his own defense to proclaim his innocence.
The jury didn't buy it.
"There was no motive when we began. There was no motive today. But at least today we have accountability, and that's more important," said Assistant District Attorney David Byrne, the lead prosecutor."
Can someone explain to me WHY we need a motive when a drug addict commits a crime?
When you are high on dope you can do ANYTHING and not even remember it the next day…You could probably wipe out your entire family, including the dog, and pass a lie detector test the next morning claiming you had nothing to do with it.
Could we wake up here please, and realize we do NOT need a motive.
He was on DOPE…that’s the motive.
"In addition to murder and possession of a weapon, Rhodes was convicted of six felonies for concocting bogus letters that purported to be "confessions" to Jerica's killing by another inmate at Orange County Jail. Rhodes told the jury that he cooked up the letters out of desperation to get out of jail for a crime he didn't commit.
The phony letters backfired. Byrne pointed out to the jury that they contained details that only the killer could know, such as Jerica's muffled screams of "Daddy, Daddy" as she was stabbed."
I’m against the death penalty but for this detail ALONE, I’d be willing to pull the switch on this dirtbag…
The only consolation here is that for the next 29 years to life, Rhodes will be hearing this muffled voice screaming 'Daddy' every night in his dreams.
Pleasant dreams, you monster.
"The weapon was never found, which was another detail contained in the fake letters.
When Rhodes is sentenced on Jan. 4, prosecutors will ask Judge Jeffrey G. Berry to treat the murder and the bogus letters as separate crimes and impose consecutive sentences.
That would expose Rhodes to a maximum sentence of 29 years to life in state prison."
AND I say good riddance to bad rubbish…
Not that this will help much as ten to one, Rhodes will CONTINUE this lie in jail and have other inmates convinced he is only in prison due to a conspiracy by the establishment against him.
In fact it was really an establishment conspiracy against mothers and their children that led to Christopher Rhodes getting custody of this poor kid to being with…as Jerica Rhodes SHOULD have been with her mother and her other siblings.
She would still be alive today if these gender neutralized social engineers hadn’t chosen this poor kid to be used like a lab rat in a vast experiment, trying to see how many kids they can wrestle away from mothers to hand over to fathers.
They are the real criminals here the ones who aided and abetted this Christopher Rhodes.
"His mother, Linda Rhodes, watched and wept when her son testified on Friday. When the jury got the case on Monday, a well-wisher from Highland Falls passed by her, lightly squeezed her shoulders and whispered, "May God be with you."
Oh hold the pail while I puke.
This woman helped her drug addict son steal a child from it’s mother, aids and abets him in keeping this kid from its mother and her siblings for almost SEVEN YEARS and now she’s painted sympathetically in this article.
It’s been very clear for a while now that the news coverage of this crime was very inadequate, very inadequate.
Instead of focusing on the people, including the Judge and whole legal establishment up there in Highland Falls, who helped this guy kidnap this kid and keep her away from her mother for almost SEVEN YEARS, we have been given nothing but story after story trying to smear Jerica Rhodes mother, Lisa Mason.
Now Lisa Colon, I was just informed by email--so I believe she may have recently married. Congratulations!!!
Anyway, I believe we are owed an explanation for this lack of proper news coverage on this case. As the people of New York State were denied the full story of how this was allowed to happen.
Why was Christopher Rhodes given custody of a 5 month old infant, which was not his?
Why was his record of domestic violence ignored by the police when they responded to the initial 911 call, as well as the courts later?
Why was Lisa Mason and this child not taken to a shelter immediately by the police officers who initially responded to the first 911 call, seven years ago?
Was there a mens/fathers’ rights group or attorney aiding and abetting this guy to get custody and if so, are they liable for any damages in helping a drug addict get custody of and eventually murder an innocent child?
Why weren’t the grandparents, the girlfriend or the teachers charged in this case as well, as I find it hard to believe that this man was a good father figure for seven years and then just up and stabs this little girl 16 times in the head, face and neck…
Surely there were things happening right along and these people’s silence aided this guy, as this 16 times stabbing sounds to me like the culmination of YEARS OF ABUSE, YEARS, ending in this final horror.
Finally I think this newspaper, the Times Herald-Record, needs to assign another reporter to do a series on this case, as this Oliver Mackson did a very sorry job on this story. Ten months after the fact and we know as much today as we did the day it happened, which is absolutely nothing, except the dirt he dug up on Jerica's mother which had NOTHING to do with the murder, NOTHING...
The people of this state (especially its mothers and innocent children) deserve better.
11 comments:
DID YOU EVER THINK THAT LISA DIDN'T WANT JERRICA...WELL I KNEW SOMEONE THAT WAS CLOSE TO BOTH SIDES AND THE TRUTH IS, SHE DIDN'T WANT JERRICA...SHE WAS JUST LIKE CHRIS...ON DOPE.,, THE GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER DID EVERYTHING FOR THIS CHILD AND LOVED HER LIKE SHE WAS THEIR OWN...THE ONLY PEOPLE I FEEL SORRY FOR IS JERRICA NAD THE GRANDPARETNS...DON;T JUDGE UNLESS YOU KNOW THE WHOLE STORY...LISA KNOW THAT THIS WASN'T CHRIS' DAUGHTER./....SHE AND ONLY SHE KNEW....KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE YOU JUDEGE....SHAME ON YOU
You know it really makes me sick how people keep trying to justify what this guy did by saying that Jerica's mother wasn't a 'good mother'...Can I just say this: I don't care what kind of a mother she was. It doesn't excuse anything Christopher Rhodes did.
Okay.
If someone has a problem with a system, they should be specific with accusations and not use generalities to attack. A post from a person who doesn't reveal her (or his) name carries very little weight. Who are you? By the way, I'm Kevin Childs, a native of Highland Falls who also wishes that God is with Linda Rhodes....and knows that Jerica is now with God. May God bless you.
hello I was a student at the school when Jerica was murderd and I agree with everything said about christapher rhodes, but his parents are good people who took care of that little girl like she was their own and Jerica's birth mother left, she just picked up and left one day so obviously she didnt desirve to have Jerica and i have no pitty for her the only people i have pitty for are Jerica's Grandparents, and this bein the 4 year anniversary of her death I feel for every one in this little town i call home and everyone who knew her personaly for the tragic loss we all faced
Don't you understand if those grandparents hadn't intervened, both of Jerica's parents rights would have been terminated and she would have been given up for adoption.
She would have been with another family and not exposed to her father's violence...
AND this is assuming I believe that Jerica's mother abandoned her. It sounds like "spin" to me from the father's side.
Jerica most def. did not belong with her mother. Her mother left her, basically gave her away. The grandparent are WONDERFUL people and did everything imaginable for this girl. KNOW THE FACTS BEFORE YOU MAKE JUDGEMENT! I personally knew Jerica and she is smiling down in heaven.. <3 Miss you sweetie
It's sad that even after all this time there is still some support for Christopher Rhodes and his side of the family...and who wants to take odds this is a woman supporting him?
We are often our own worse enemies...
Christopher Rhodes got what he deserved. Hopeful the inmates at what ever correctional facility will take care of this dirt bag. I've known Chris Rhodes for a long time, and he was a bully, a drug dealer, a fake gangster. I don't feel sorry for his mother. For years her son was running the streets of Highland Falls, terrorizing all the kids. Selling drugs on Center Street, or on Main. I remember one time he was running from the cops down main street in the middle of the day. This is the type of individual you'd let raise a baby? I wouldn't trust him to look after my dog. It's a shame that Baby Jerrica fell through the cracks and was left to Chris Rhodes to kill her. Don't judge unless you know the whole story? Seriously? What type of idiot actually thinks that the public doesn't have a clear cut picture of what type of person Chris Rhodes was? Yeah Let's blame Jerrica's mom, for contributing to Jerrica's Death. That makes perfect sense. We should blame the Highland Falls Police Department for not getting child services involved. We should blame Chris Rhodes Family for allowing Chris Rhodes to continue his mental, physical, and probably sexual abuse of Baby Jerrica.
Also, I want to say that I'm sure the grandparents of this child might have been very nice people.
Unfortunately they were also enablers, similar to Casey Anthony's parents, who right up until the end were lying to protect her...
Actually Florida is considering pressing charges against Cindy Anthony, Casey's mother, for lying on the stand and saying she, herself, did the search for chloroform on the internet. Meanwhile they called her job in to testify and they testified Cindy Anthony was at work on the day and time the search was performed.
Sad really.
Its funny how people say Jerica didn't belong with her mother. Its crazy that the ones that said they knew Lisa say that she didn't want Jerica. How about you should really stop lying to yourselves. Because I was there from day one. I remember everything that happened. I remember the day Jerica was TAKEN away. Rhodes are such good people then ask them how the 2st DNA test went. Ask them how they really got custody ... if you want to know the truth ... do your research .... the Rhodes family can't hide from that. You take the side of a man that MURDERED A CHILD. Because he knew the truth was about to be revealed .... so unless you know the full story I suggest you don't speak on it.
I personally knew the Rhodes family and I was close to Jerica. I grew up in Highland Falls. It's a small town. Everybody knows everybody and everything.
The only thing that matters is Jerica. Who are we to judge her mother and grandparents? We weren't with them 24/7, so we're just speculating. I'm not sticking up for Chris either. We as people don't know what we're truly capable of. It's sad that Jerica had to die such a horrible death. I miss her.
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