GUILTY TN - Kynsleigh Easterly, 1, & Trinity Tweed, 2 mos, beaten to death, 17 Dec 2014

How sad, both babies. I wonder if it was carbon monoxide. Not enough for the parents, but enough for the babies. Wendy, if you hear more, please keep us updated.

http://www.greenevillesun.com/xml/nitf/article_2a2424d0-ab1a-5dc8-a271-4475014b05d8.html?mode=jqm

This is a very overwhelming event for our small town that usually has only 1-4 murders per year. Hopefully, nothing criminal happened here.

No names released since no crime or public danger is known. Unbearable to think of having 2 children die on the same day, eight days before Christmas.

GPD Discusses Arrest Of Man In Deaths of Children

Saturday, December 20, 2014
by Jim Miller - Radio Greeneville News
Erick Eugene Jones, Jr.

Erick Eugene Jones, Jr.
Greeneville police held a press conference this afternoon to discuss the arrest of a man in connection with the deaths of two young girls at a North Hardin Street home Wednesday morning.

Captain Timothy Davis from the Greeneville Police Department explained that charges that were filed against 21-year-old Erick Eugene Jones Jr. for felony aggravated child abuse and neglect in the deaths of 14-month-old Kynsleigh Easterly and 2-month-old Trinity Tweed.

According to warrants issued by Greeneville police detective Kenni Carter, Jones committed crimes which resulted in serious bodily injuries to the children, under the "Haley's Law" legislation that was signed into law in 2005. The nature of the injuries was not included in the arrest warrants and Captain Davis did not elaborate during today's news conference.

The children were found unresponsive early Wednesday morning at a home along North Hardin Street and transported to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead. An autopsy was conducted in Johnson City and complete results could take several months. Some preliminary autopsy findings have been returned but are being used strictly as part of the ongoing investigation.

According to information provided by Captain Davis, Jones was not the father of the girls and was living at 304 North Hardin Street with the mother, who has been identified through obituary announcements as Kendra Tweed. Captain Davis added that further information into the details of the deaths of the girls will be released through court filings and once the full autopsy reports are returned.

The investigation into the deaths of the girls was conducted by the Greeneville Police Department in conjunction with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Third Judicial District Attorney's office and the Child Protective Services Division of the Department of Children's Services.

Jones is being held without bond at the Greene County Detention Center and will make his initial court appearance at 8:30 Monday morning at the Greene County Courthouse.

Next Story >>

So apparently he was the stepfather, who was home with the girls and a 22-year-old unnamed female. What in the world? He killed BOTH babies in one afternoon? I was not expecting to hear they were murdered. Those poor babies...

The stepfather of two girls whose bodies were found in a house has been charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect.
[...]
Authorities said emergency dispatchers received a call at 7:48 a.m. Wednesday about a 14-month-old infant in distress. Officials also found the other sibling unresponsive at the home.

Click to expand...

http://www.greenevillesun.com/news/ap_state_news/article_5a9fb327-ea48-56c5-a6a5-0ca2d127567b.html

Unfortunately, this is exactly what I expected. Next thing I predict is we will find out that the baby killer had no job and the babies' mom was the only one working to pay the bills.

Too bad he won't get life in prison. When he gets out he will be even more evil.

MOO

Stepfather Arrested - Nitf - Greeneville Sun
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Stepfather Arrested

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O.J. Early

Erick Eugene Jones Jr. stands for his first appearance in Greene County General Sessions Court this morning on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect.

Ken Little | Updated 7 hours ago

Erick Eugene Jones Jr. made his first appearance this morning in Greene County General Sessions Court.

Jones, 21, is charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in connection with the Dec. 17 deaths of two small children in a house at 304 N. Hardin St.

The alleged victims are Kynsleigh Easterly, who would have been 15 months old on Christmas Day, and Trinity Jones, 2, months old.

Security was heavy as Jones was escorted down from the Greene County Detention Center to appear before Judge Kenneth Bailey Jr.

Jones told Bailey that he will hire his own lawyer. A return court date of March 2 was set. At that time, a preliminary hearing may be held.

Jones, who had been living in the same North Hardin Street house where the infant and toddler died Wednesday, was charged early Saturday with the two felony counts and held on no bond until this morning.

Bailey set bond at $350,000 for each charge, a total of $700,000. Jones, standing next to other inmates waiting to have their cases heard, slowly shook his head before being taken back to the jail.

WARRANTS SERVED

Jones' arrest warrants state that he "did commit a crime in violation (of the law) by the act of abuse and/or neglect" against Kynsleigh Easterly and Trinity Jones.

A family source and a funeral announcement have identified Trinity Jones as Trinity Tweed, but police records refer to the infant as Trinity Jones.

Aggravated child abuse and neglect is a Class A felony.

Circumstances surrounding the deaths of the infant and toddler were not detailed in the arrest warrants or a news conference held Saturday afternoon at the Greeneville Police Department.

Jones is not the father of either girl, police Detective Capt. Timothy Davis said. But he is listed in two funeral announcements published Saturday in The Greeneville Sun as the children's stepfather.

Jones, mother Kendra Tweed and the two girls all lived at the North Hardin Street address. Neighbors said they recently moved to North Hardin Street.

911 CALL MADE

All were in the North Hardin Street house when Easterly was discovered "in distress" and a call was made at 7:48 a.m. Wednesday to county 911 Dispatch.

Trinity Jones was located in the house after first responders arrived. Both girls were rushed to Takoma Regional Hospital's emergency room, where they were pronounced dead.

Autopsies were conducted at the William Jenkins Forensic Center of the James H. Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City.

Davis said at the news conference that investigators wouldn't speculate on possible causes of death.

"It's an ongoing investigation. It may be several months before we get the autopsy reports," he said.

Preliminary autopsy findings released to investigators "are strictly for investigative purposes," Davis said.

Further details "will become available as the district attorney sees fit," he added.

'FINDING JUSTICE'

The first interview by investigators of adults in the house was on Wednesday. Erick Jones was not initially detained.

"We believe we are in the process of finding justice for those two children," Davis said.

Davis would not comment about the status of the mother in the investigation.

Obituary notices identified Kynsleigh Easterly as the daughter of Kendra Tweed and Kurtis Lewis, both of Greeneville.

Trinity Jones (listed as Trinity Tweed in the obituary) is identified as the daughter of Kendra Tweed and Michael Story, of Greeneville.

The family was to receive friends from 10 a.m. to noon today in Kiser-Rose Hill Funeral Home, with a funeral service following at noon in the funeral home chapel.

OFFICERS AFFECTED

Many of the police officers, first responders and hospital employees who had contact with the girls are also parents, Davis said.

"Any time children or the very elderly are involved in a criminal activity and are victims, it affects us more than any other time," he said. "Most of us have children and we can't help that to affect us more and more."

Assisting Greeneville police with the ongoing investigation are the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the 3rd Judicial District Attorney General's Office and the Child Protective Services Division of the state Department of Children's Services.

"It's been a team effort and it's been a trying time, as this has touched all of our lives as well as the community," Davis said.

ENCOUNTERS WITH POLICE

Erick E. Jones Jr. has been arrested at least twice since July and charged with incidents involving alleged violence to women, according to police reports in Sun archives.

Jones was charged Oct. 9 with aggravated domestic assault in connection with an Oct. 8 incident, Greeneville police said in a report.

Jones allegedly assaulted a woman at a Forest Hills Drive house. A witness told police officers that Jones "became enraged" and punched the victim in the face with his fist, knocking her out, according to the report.

A doctor at Laughlin Memorial Hospital told the alleged victim she likely had a broken jaw, the report said.

Jones was charged July 3 with two counts of aggravated domestic assault in connection with an incident on May 20, authorities said in a report.

Jones allegedly entered an apartment in the Greeneville Terrace Apartments, causing the occupant to fear for her safety and the safety of her children, a report said.

The alleged victim fled to a neighbor's apartment and Jones allegedly kicked in the front door, the report said.

The woman told Greeneville police that Jones grabbed her by her hair and choked her, the report said.

Both cases against Jones are pending.

PLACED ON PROBATION

Another case from earlier this year resulted in Jones being placed on probation. In July, he entered a guilty plea to vandalism under $500. Jones had been charged with aggravated burglary, burglary and vandalism.

At a General Session Court appearance in July, Jones was sentenced to 11 months 29 days suspended to 10 days in jail, with the balance on probation, ordered to pay restitution of $300, be restrained from the victim, and fined $50 and court costs.

Jones was charged Saturday with aggravated child abuse and neglect under a Tennessee statute sometimes referred to as "Haley's Law." The law makes it a Class A felony to abuse a child who is under the age of 9 in a way that leads to bodily injury.

Haley's Law was created in remembrance of a 2004 case in Campbell County involving a girl known as "Baby Haley."

oh great. He is on probation for assault, and so he is chosen to stay home with the two vulnerable babies. Great plan.

I do not understand why women must have a man.
Where did these girls last names come from?
They don't match the mother or the listed father?
Where was the older sister who looks to be about 4 years old when this happened?

I wish these ladies would just enjoy their KIDS and protect their kids.
I cannot ever imagine allowing ANYONE to babysit my 2 month old baby.
Unless it was the baby's loving father or a close family member.
These are so preventable. I just don't get it. Why these women keep letting it happen. :twocents:

And of course there is fundraising going on.
Same story over and over and over. :sick:

MsFacetious: One day I want to find a way to constitutionally remove infants born into these chaotic life situations from the so-called mothers before they leave the hospital. I am not even 100% certain from what I've read and heard that he was "babysitting." I am starting to get the idea she was there whenever what happened, happened.
I am all for people living their life the way they choose, until it violates someone else's rights. Some ladies just need their tubes tied at puberty and some men need to wear condoms every time until they have been in a stable marriage for 5 years.

http://www.greenevillesun.com/news/...a4a-8ae2-11e4-8c7e-ebe69d395d8e.html?mode=jqm

Longer violation of probation sentence than he was expecting. Too bad. Now the TBI and the Greeneville PD have plenty of time to build an airtight case.

This woman had two children almost exactly a year apart with different fathers (presuming that is why the last names are different), one of which is a newborn, and she was already onto hanging out with ANOTHER dude, who was on parole for assault before killing her daughters? Do I have that right?

Sick. That is some serious dysfunction. I wouldn't be surprised if this "mother" and her boy-toy were heavily into drugs. In fact, I'm sure of it. Poor little Trinity and Kynsleigh

TweekTweak said:

This woman had two children almost exactly a year apart with different fathers (presuming that is why the last names are different), one of which is a newborn, and she was already onto hanging out with ANOTHER dude, who was on parole for assault before killing her daughters? Do I have that right?

Sick. That is some serious dysfunction. I wouldn't be surprised if this "mother" and her boy-toy were heavily into drugs. In fact, I'm sure of it. Poor little Trinity and Kynsleigh

Click to expand...

My daughter had a son and then twin daughters one year apart and the sound of babies crying drove her husband nuts when they were the same ages of these girls. His "solution" was to call in his mommy. Her "solution" was to give the babies Benadryl to quiet them and not tell my daughter she was doing it. The problem with her solution was that Benadryl not only can kill children, it can also have the opposite effect in them. The two-month old twin girls would fall asleep after a feeding and wake up an hour later, dehydrated and wired, wide awake for hours.

I have to wonder if that's what they were doing in this case: drugging the girls.

I'm profoundly sad about this horrible tragedy, and am not making light of it by using it as sort of an example, if the children were still alive.

Infant was 2 months old. When did "stepfather" move in with the mother, before or after infant's birth? Step and mother weren't married, so I would like to know if a "step-anything" is now an appointed position as opposed to becoming a step when one marries a child's mother or father?

I'd also like to know where in the world the mother got the last names for her children? And why? How confusing for a child.

Step dad last name is A. Mother's last name is B. 13-month old's last name is C. Her father's last name is D. 2 month old's last name is E. Her father's last name is F.

Had these children been granted the right to LIVE, how would they ever figure out who they were?

If step dad had moved out, and someone else named "G" had moved in, would G then become the step dad?

This doesn't take into account that there was another child 4 years old at the time of the deaths of the children. That would take us even further along in the alphabet.

I don't understand the lifestyle that would bring about any of the above, most especially the deaths of two innocent little children.

This step-thing is a worthless , imo. Can't speak of mother in a victim-friendly forum, but what possessed her to let this animal into her home with her children there???

All JMO

WTH do I even read these threads?

http://www.greeneville.com/news/

Cause of Girls' Deaths Still Withheld

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/nation-and-world/abused-kids-die-as-authorities-fail-to-protect

Not on topic with Trinity and Kynsleighs' deaths but an interesting read nevertheless.
Jones sits in the Greene County Jail. Why am I paying for his food and medical care??!

http://www.greeneville.com/news/

These two babies died of blunt force trauma and other injuries, according to Greeneville Police Detective Kenni Carter.

During the hearing, it was revealed that an autopsy determined that the cause of death for both 14-month-old Kynsleigh Easterly and 2-month-old Trinity Tweed Jones was homicide, from blunt force trauma to the neck area resulting in a severed spinal cord. :thud:

http://www.greeneville.com/news/

http://www.greenevillesun.com/news/...a78-d846-5b5b-9b34-5e13677eae1e.html?mode=jqm

Finally! Murder charges filed!