IA - Todd Peek, 37, shot to death, 12yo stepson charged, Chariton, 10 Feb 2010

Report: Suspect’s grandmother contacted Iowa authorities alleging abuse

DES MOINES, Iowa - A 12-year-old boy was charged Friday with murder and other counts in a shooting that killed his stepfather and wounded a girl in Iowa.

Authorities responded to a shooting Wednesday afternoon in Chariton, about 40 miles south of Des Moines. When they arrived at the white farmhouse south of town, they found the body of Todd Peek, 37, who authorities say was shot in his upper body.

Authorities said 5-year-old Cheyanne Peek was also found in the home with a gunshot wound to the leg. She was taken to a Des Moines hospital. On Friday, the hospital said it had no listing for the child but would not comment further and it was unclear if she had been released. Lucas County Attorney Paul Goldsmith declined to comment on the girl or her condition.

The boy's mother, Sarah Peek, 33, and another girl, age 7, were in the home at the time of the shooting, police say, but neither was wounded. Someone in the house called 911, but authorities declined to say who made the call or provide more details about the shooting

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The Des Moines Register on Friday reported that the boy's grandmother, Shirley Pearson, said she complained numerous times to officials at the Iowa Department of Human Services, including once last summer, that the boy's stepfather abused the child.

She told the newspaper that the department never acted on the complaints.

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Roger Munns, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services, declined to comment on whether the agency had received any abuse complaints.




more here

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35378669/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/


Grandma: I tried to get boy out of house

The paternal grandmother of 12-year-old [name redacted] says she complained numerous times to officials at the Iowa Department of Human Services, including once last summer, that the boy's stepfather, Todd Peek, abused the child.

But those complaints were never acted upon, she said.

"All I can say is that I have tried for a number of years to get [name redacted] out of that house," Shirley Pearson, the grandmother, said Thursday. " [name redacted] was verbally abused by his stepdad a lot — a lot. There was some physical abuse, too, but DHS didn't think that was enough to get him out."

Meanwhile, the mother of one of [name redacted]'s friends also said that the child confided to her son about Peek being mean and abusive. In addition, a Chariton man said Thursday that he witnessed Todd Peek verbally abusing his stepson "to such an extent I had to leave because it was making me angry."

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Court records and interviews concerning Todd Peek, his wife, Sarah, and their three children paint a picture of a family beset by violence.

Police reports and court documents show Todd Peek was arrested for domestic abuse causing injury in 2006. He was accused of hitting his wife near her left breast weeks after she had undergone breast reduction surgery.

Peek first denied hitting his wife, but later acknowledged that he struck her, but said it was not intentional, according to a police report. The domestic abuse charge was dismissed, but Peek was found guilty of violating a no-contact order issued in the case.

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The grandmother was emphatic that her grandson had been victimized and attempts to get him out of the home failed. For example, she said that she and [name redacted] met with a DHS child abuse counselor last summer.

"I had a DHS child abuse worker in my home one of the times to report an abuse action. And [name redacted] told them right then that his stepdad did it to him," Shirley Pearson said.

She also said her grandson told her and other family members more than once about threats made by Todd Peek.

"[name redacted] told us many a time that Todd would tell [name redacted] that he wished he could knock his teeth out," Shirley Pearson said.



more here

http://dmjuice.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100212/NEWS/2120371/1001

i dont know what to think.
the court records tend to say the grandma isnt making this up just to get the grandson off or lienent treatment.
i hear alot about mental abuse but i think if he killed him there had to be phyiscal abuse too. why didnt the mom get the kids out of there sooner? oh yeah stupid questiion. she wouldnt protect herself, why would she protect her kids?
im assuming the sister was wounded by accident?

Seems like a really messed up family. The mother seems to have gone along with the abuse,

while I don't condone what this kid did, it just seems like a tragedy all the way around

and yeah, here again is another "case" where the family is well known to the state child service workers and to the courts

since there have been other incidents of alleged domestic violence- in fact this child called the cops once himself- I'm hoping another incident was occuring and the child shot stepdad in self defense. The half sister's shooting may have been accidental. Depends how accurate this child is with a shotgun. Will wait for more info on this case . This child my not
abe a lost cause. Here's hoping it will work out!!!

id have to know exactly the location of the sister and what angle from where the bullet went in...but it seems if she was a target he would have done a more accurate job considering how how accurate most of his shooting was.

dr dona said:

since there have been other incidents of alleged domestic violence- in fact this child called the cops once himself- I'm hoping another incident was occuring and the child shot stepdad in self defense. The half sister's shooting may have been accidental. Depends how accurate this child is with a shotgun. Will wait for more info on this case . This child my not
abe a lost cause. Here's hoping it will work out!!!

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I for one am glad that a abuser is dead instead of another child.I believe his sister was an accident.The grandmother tried to get help as a grandmother who's grandson is being abused by a mom boyfriend while the mom knows abuse is going on and allows it GOOD FOR HIM! he should be given counseling because he needs it not only for shooting this but also to understand why his mother allowed her child to be abused.The mom should be jailed for her part in the abuse.It really is sad that this child must now live the rest of his life knowing he took the life of someone because he was failed as so many children are.I hope his sister recovers and as long as she is okay he should not be prosecuted for killing his abuser.At such a young age he knew he had to protect himself because his mom and CPS,DYFS,DHS all the same they did not protect him.:banghead:

But Pearson's grandmother, Shirley Pearson insists that her grandson was abused and terrorized by his step father, according to the Des Moines Register.

"All I can say is that I have tried for a number of years to get J out of that house," Shirley Pearson told the paper, "J was verbally abused by his stepdad a lot — a lot. There was some physical abuse, too, but DHS didn't think that was enough to get him out."

dr dona said:

since there have been other incidents of alleged domestic violence- in fact this child called the cops once himself- I'm hoping another incident was occuring and the child shot stepdad in self defense. The half sister's shooting may have been accidental. Depends how accurate this child is with a shotgun. Will wait for more info on this case . This child my not
abe a lost cause. Here's hoping it will work out!!!

Click to expand...

The evidence must be showing that he intentionally shot his half-sister. A 5 year old child has the ability to tell LE what happened.

The boy was charged with first-degree murder for "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation" killing Peek, according to documents filed in Lucas County juvenile court by Goldsmith.

The 12-year-old was also charged with two counts of attempted murder including "the intent to cause the death" of his mother and a 5-year-old girl. The girl is not identified in the court papers, and it was not immediately clear the girl's relation to the boy.

Maybe if those two neighbors would have filed a report, DCF would have listened to the Grandmother and removed the boy from the home? I don't know - but I wish they would have used their voices and done what they could to get the matter investigated.

Salem

Salem said:

Maybe if those two neighbors would have filed a report, DCF would have listened to the Grandmother and removed the boy from the home? I don't know - but I wish they would have used their voices and done what they could to get the matter investigated.

Salem

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In our case neighbors have called as well as 8 different family members did not make a difference.

kbl--I'll shock you by beating you to the punch. I guess no one's going to miss this sorry excuse for a Dad.

And let me assure you that continuous verbal and emotional abuse CAN indeed incite violence in an otherwise well-balanced child. I'm almost certain that the baby girl's injury was an accident and one the boy is fiercely grieving. He's most likely grieving the loss of his Dad, also, even though he was driven to kill him.

Lots of therapy in going to be called for here. Lots.

well i know alot about suffering mental abuse but it never pushed me to such lengths.
but when you couple it with your mom deserting/betraying/allowing it on top of the physical abuse, how far can one go before they snap?
battered's woman isnt taken as badly as it was used to, so how about battered kid?

i do think shooting his sister was an accident, possibly a bullet went thru the wall or something.