Jerice Hunter charged with murder of Jhessye Shockley. Why wasn't Elizabeth Johnson?
Glendale Police and the Maricopa County Attorneys' Office have charged Jerice Hunter, the mother of missing baby Jhessye Shockley with murder. This is despite the fact police have not found Jhessye's body after searching a Tempe landfill for weeks.
As Crystal Cruz of KTVK 3 reports in "Investigative report reveals more about Jhessye Shockley case":
A woman told investigators she met Hunter at a shelter, and Hunter wanted to have an affair. The woman stayed a week with Jhessye and her mom at their apartment... The woman was also questioned about a suitcase she left at the apartment when she moved. The woman told investigators the suitcase was big enough to put Jhessye in... Glendale Police searched the Butterfield Landfill, south of Phoenix, unsuccessfully for Jhessye’s body.
If this is all the evidence that the Glendale Police department has against Ms. Hunter, then the case against her, to say the least, is pathetic. Even worse, the Maricopa County Attorney has even less evidence to charge Ms. Hunter with murder than Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of Baby Gabriel. Despite that fact however, the Maricopa County Attorney only charged Ms. Johnson with kidnapping, which resulted in a hung jury, and two less severe felonies.
That, I believe, leads to the obvious question. In neither the Baby Gabriel or Jhessye Shockley case was a body found; so why did police police charge Ms. Hunter with murder but not Ms. Johnson, in particular when the evidence for murder against Ms. Johnson seems so much stronger than the evidence against Ms. Hunter? Remember that Ms. Johnson sent a text message to Logan McQuerry, baby Gabriel's father, that she killed Gabriel. In contrast, Ms. Hunter has never admitted in any form she murdered Jhessye.
Could it be that Ms. Hunter is charged with murder simply because of her personality and demeanor? Is there is any real evidence proving she is guilty of murder beyond the trite evidence police have released so far? I hope the difference in charging is based on substance and not on a cynical calculation by the Glendale police department and Maricopa County Attorney.
Comments (1)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endFaye Rolofson - November 9, 2012 5:09 AM
Jerice Hunter was charged for no other reason than she abused her little girl that she had not been with in over 4 years. because she was locked up for child abuse of another child. Jhessye's cousins took in that baby and loved and cared for her for 4 1/2 yrs. Child Services made them give her back when Jerice got out. withinn months little Jhessye was locked in a closet, made to live there, while her so called mother did horrific things to her. The middle of Sept. 2011, she killed her, dumped her in a suitcase and left her in the garbage to be taken to the landfill, where she still lays somewhere. Then in Oct. Jerice called the Police and her and the grandmother lied to the police that Jhessye went missing that day. That and only that is why she deserves to rot in prison. oh, and by the way, she has had 2 more children in this time frame. I know the first one was taken, am sure they would have taken the other one by now. Please Pray for all missing and abused children.