GUILTY FL - Mia Brown, 24, Holmes County, 16 Dec 2010

Prayers for Mia's family and friends. Thankful that they have made arrest. So so so sad.
 
Authorities now have suspect Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun in custody at the Holmes County Jail. Formal murder charges are expected shortly. The case is still under investigation.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact:

Holmes County Sheriff’s Office: 850-547-4421

Geneva County Sheriff’s Office: 334-684-5660

Alabama Bureau of Investigation: 334-983-5614 <snipped>

http://www.zwire.com/news/newsstory...45&PAG=461&CATNAME=Top Stories&CATEGORYID=410
 
Mia Chay Brown was reported missing on 12/16/10 and her body was found in the trunk of her burned car on 12/20/10. Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun was charged with her murder and his trial began 2/22/12 in Bonifay, Fl.

The link to her missing thread:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122894&highlight=mia+brown

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Calhoun's attorney implies evidence planted

http://www.newsherald.com/news/bonifay-100618-calhoun-evidence.html

BONIFAY – Day one of the Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun murder trial began Wednesday, with defense attorney Kim Dowgul suggesting that evidence in the case may have been planted.

“The one thing you’ve got to ask yourself during the course of this case, what if this evidence is movable, what if this evidence had been moved there, what if this evidence is too perfectly planted there?” Dowgul said during her opening statement to the jury.

Calhoun is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the slaying of 24-year-old Mia Brown of Bonifay. Brown went missing after she left work at Charlie’s Store in Esto on Dec. 16, 2010. Her body was found in the trunk of her burned Toyota Avalon, which was abandoned in the woods of Geneva County, Ala.

Representing the state, prosecutor Brandon Young painted a different picture for the jury during his opening statements.

“It all started with agreeing to give someone a ride and as sad as this saying is, it holds some truth: No good deed goes unpunished,” Young said. “Instead of her giving him a ride, he put her in her trunk and took her for a ride. He then took her to the woods and set fire to her car. It wasn’t just her car set on fire; it was her car with a very much alive Mia Brown in it, which she then died being burned alive.”

State Attorney Glenn Hess began calling witnesses, starting with Brown’s boss from her employment at the store and her dentist, for purposes of verifying Brown’s identity through dental records.

More at link....
 
Day two of trial:

http://www.newsherald.com/news/examiner-100638-inhalation-bonifay.html

Medical examiner: Brown died of smoke inhalation, burns

BONIFAY — Jurors in Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun’s murder trial were told by the medical examiner on Thursday that Mia Brown died of smoke inhalation and burns.

Steven Burdrow, medical examiner for the state of Alabama specializing in forensics, testified Brown was most likely alive when the car was set ablaze, based on the findings of the autopsy.

In response to questioning by State Attorney Glenn Hess, Burdrow described the autopsy in graphic detail. Burdrow said the body weighed 29 pounds and was identified as a badly burned female. No items of clothing or personal effects were remaining on the body.

“Some parts of the body were so badly burned they were carbonized,” Burdrow said.

Burdrow said the arms were bound in cable confirmed to be a television coax cable.

He said he tested a sample of her blood for presence of carbon dioxide, which confirmed she was alive when the fire was started and that she inhaled the smoke. He also confirmed the dental records were a positive match for Brown.
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Mixon (Johnny's girlfriend who searched for him that day) said she then went to Calhoun’s mother’s residence and then back to her father’s house. She said she was going to call Brown because she had seen law enforcement officers at the store where Brown worked. She said she couldn’t get an answer.

Later that day, she was visited by law enforcement officers and questioned about the disappearance of Brown and Calhoun.

Also testifying Thursday was Detective Jayson Deese with the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office, who testified he was involved in the car fire investigation and he personally inspected the vehicle. He confirmed the fire was not caused by faulty wiring or by a gas leak; it was started in the driver and passenger seat area and intentionally set.

More at link...
 
Day Three of Trial:

State rests case in Calhoun trial

http://www.newsherald.com/news/trial-100683-calhoun-case.html

BONIFAY — Blood and DNA matching slaying victim Mia Brown were recovered from several items found in Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun’s trailer after her death, a state investigator testified Friday during the third day of Calhoun’s murder trial.

State prosecutors rested their case at the end of the day. The trial will continue Monday, when the defense will start calling witnesses.
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Trevor Seifret, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime scene investigator, testified Friday that DNA matching Brown and Calhoun was found on a roll of Duct tape recovered from Calhoun’s trailer during the investigation. Also, blood from both Brown and Calhoun was found on a white quilt recovered at Calhoun’s trailer, he said.

Seifret confirmed that tests showed hairs found on several articles of clothing at Calhoun’s trailer belonged to Brown.

Harry Hamilton with the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office testified about the day he found Calhoun at his trailer, ending the hunt for him after Brown disappeared. He said he had arrived at Calhoun’s trailer and discovered that evidence tape officers had placed there had been broken. He then went in and found Calhoun hiding in his bed frame.

Hamilton described Calhoun as having scratches on his hands, legs and neck. He said he took several photos of Calhoun’s injuries.
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Law enforcement officer Michael Raley testified that during a search of Calhoun’s trailer, a coaxial cable was missing from a television. .......
Earlier during the trial, testimony disclosed that Brown was bound with a coaxial cable when she was killed.

More at link....
 
Calhoun found guilty of murder, kidnapping

http://www.newsherald.com/news/calhoun-100758-guilty-kidnapping.html

BONIFAY — After a little over two hours of deliberation Tuesday, jurors found Johnny Mack Sketo Calhoun guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Mia Shay Brown.

Court resumes Wednesday to determine whether Calhoun will be sentenced to death or life in prison.
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Tuesday’s proceedings began with closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution began presenting its case to the jury Feb. 22 and concluded Friday. The defense presented its case Monday morning. Calhoun did not testify in his own defense.

“The state made an interesting case, but their case had several inconsistencies in their presentation,” defense attorney Kimberly Dowgul told the jurors. “We’ve never got any evidence to prove that he was ever at (Calhoun’s) trailer with her.”


More at link....
 
Updated: Jury recommends death for Calhoun

http://www.newsherald.com/news/calhoun-100758-guilty-kidnapping.html

BONIFAY — A jury recommended Wednesday by a 9-3 vote that Johnny Mack Sketo Calhoun should be put to death for the murder of Mia Brown.

The final decision and sentencing will be made later by a Judge Christopher Patterson.

Holmes County Sheriff Tim Brown, who is not related to Mia Brown, said he hopes the court proceedings will help give solace to the community that came out to help in the search — and now seeks justice — for Brown, who was from Holmes County.
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The next phase of the proceedings will be a hearing to allow the attorneys a chance to present additional evidence directly to the judge to help him make his decision. Generally, the judge takes another month or so to prepare written findings in advance of the sentencing hearing.

According to the State Attorney’s office and the state Department of Corrections, there are currently no inmates on death row from Holmes County and the last men to be executed from Holmes County were Pleas Dixon in 1945 and Frank Peterson in 1959.


More at link...
 

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