FL - Tony Youmans, 12, Jacksonville, 29 July 2007

[sherri79]

The Times-Union previously reported based on two confidential sources that Tony's best friend, 12-year-old L.J. McMillian, told police he was with Tony when the boy accidentally shot himself in the head while they played in the woods.
Records obtained Friday also showed that police collected the T-shirt and shorts L.J. was wearing on the "night of shooting." It didn't say what night that was or when police believe Tony died.
The records revealed that when a search party found Tony's body, his baseball hat was still on his head. Insects were on the body, which showed signs of decomposition. The boy's remains were face-up under a tree.
Police recovered three unknown hairs or fibers on Tony's body and tested his hands for gunshot residue, the records show. What the public records that were available didn't show was whether police matched those hairs or fibers to anyone else, or if the residue test came back positive.
On Thursday, Judge Charles Arnold sealed additional public records in the case, including any statements the defendant made to law enforcement officials and evidence photos of the victim's body.
The ruling came after several motions from Glover's public defender, Ann Finnell, asking the judge to seal records that normally would be public. Lawyers for The Times-Union and WJXT TV-4 challenged those motions in court.
Finnell said the amount of publicity the case was getting was going to prevent her client from getting a fair trial in Jacksonville and sealing records would help.
Arnold also denied a request by media lawyers to let reporters view photos of the victim's body, saying it could be of "great discomfort" to the boy's relatives if even descriptions of the photos became public before a trial.
A photo of a police search warrant a reporter viewed Friday also confirmed a previous Times-Union report that when police searched the home of Glover's mother and seized a computer and related items, they were looking for images of the defendant holding a gun they've charged him with selling to Tony.
More photos of his apartment showed police found a .32-caliber bullet casing on a closet shelf and a live rifle round under a large bedroom mattress. In a previous interview from jail, Glover told The Times-Union that he didn't kill Tony, didn't sell him a gun and didn't own a gun himself.
L.J.'s family has told The Times-Union in the past that Glover made L.J. swear to a secret pact the night Tony disappeared and that Glover dumped a gun after the boy's disappearance.
Tony's mother, Kelly Kidd, said in reaction to the public records the newspaper obtained Friday that she's still waiting for answers about her son's death. "I don't know the complete story myself," she said. "All I know is my son is gone because a grown man gave him a gun." http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092207/met_201780230.shtml

 

[sherri79]

http://www.cbs47.com/content/topstories/story.aspx?content_id=88fdc444-f197-477f-b6ef-df7ae3ed032a
The only charges filed in the case so far are against Derrick Glover, for “giving a gun to a minor.” But Glover is not charged with shooting Youmans.

Tony Youmans’ parents do not believe their son committed suicide.

Documents we obtained today indicate police believe Tony Youmans got the gun that killed him, from Derrick Glover on July 29. Police seized that gun and other weapons during raids on homes and an apartment frequented by Glover. Police searched other evidence linking Glover to that weapon. They also seized a computer containing digital pictures of Glover with the gun.

The day Youmans’ body was found, police also searched Glover’s girlfriend’s apartment. They found evidence of a just-bleached floor and seized the mop and bucket used to clean the floor. However, documents released today indicate Tony Youmans’ blood and DNA were not found on the mop.

Another document released is from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
It concludes there was gunshot residue on Tony Youman’s hands, but does not conclude Youmans shot himself.

 

[sherri79]

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/100507/met_205399584.shtml

The claims of a Jacksonville jail inmate recently led police to seize a .32-caliber revolver that matches a witness' description of the gun that killed 12-year-old Tony Youmans.

Court records showed Thursday that authorities found that gun and another weapon in the home of Derrick Glover's uncle.
Glover was the father figure of Tony's 13-year-old best friend and the man police arrested on a charge of selling a gun to Tony hours after they found the boy's body in a wooded lot.
The July 31 discovery of the boy's decomposing body with a single gunshot to the head happened two days after Tony's mother reported him missing.
Based on information from jail inmate Harold Dickerson on Sept. 11, police got a warrant to search the East 47th Street home of Glover's uncle, Anthony Marcus Glover.
They found a .32-caliber revolver and a box of six live .32-caliber rounds, along with a 9mm semi-automatic gun and a magazine for it with 11 live rounds.
"Listen, I ain't got nothing to say to you all," Glover's uncle told the Times-Union on Thursday. "You all need to stop and leave my family and me alone."
The Times-Union previously reported, based on two confidential sources, that Tony's best friend told police that Tony killed himself accidentally while they were playing with the gun in the woods.
Authorities have not confirmed that report and still won't say if they think the boy shot himself or if someone else did, either by accident or on purpose. They have talked about the possibility of bringing a manslaughter charge against Glover.
According to court records, Dickerson told police he learned that the .32-caliber gun and the 9mm gun were at the home of Derrick's uncle after talking to his ex-wife, Derrick's mother, whom he identified as his common-law wife.
Many courts records in the case remained sealed after a judge's order following motions from Glover's assistant public defender, Ann Finnell. She said the amount of publicity the case was generating would prevent her client from getting a fair trial.
He claims innocence
It's not clear if authorities found any fingerprints on the guns they seized or if a ballistics match was made with the bullet that killed Tony. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda wouldn't comment on the new information Thursday, "based on the judge's order not to talk about the case," he said.
However, Finnell broke her silence, granting a Times-Union interview to talk about the guns that police seized.
"The guns, as far as we know, are not related to the death of Tony Youmans. They are not our client's guns," she said.
The lawyer called Dickerson an inmate who was looking at 30 years behind bars and said his cooperation with police apparently was motivated by that.
Finnell also said her client maintains that he is innocent, something Glover also said in an August interview with the Times-Union from jail.
Dickerson is in jail on an escape charge. The 43-year-old's July 7 arrest and booking report shows he listed the Lexington Avenue address of Glover's mother as his own. Records show police have arrested Dickerson 10 times since 1985, including on charges of selling cocaine and marijuana, along with grand theft and bank fraud.
They arrested the felon in July nearly two years after a Sheriff's Office report showed he disappeared from a work detail while serving a nine-month jail sentence for grand theft. Dickerson told police he considers Glover "his son" and that two days before his arrest he saw the 23-year-old with a silver .32-caliber revolver with a brown handle. That description matched the one that court records show Tony's best friend gave police of the weapon that Glover handed over to Tony before it was used in his shooting death.

 

[sherri79]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=94791

 

[sherri79]

update on this case. it is now believed the boy got the gun from a convicted felon that was the step father of a friend of his. after the child bought the gun he is believed to have shot his self in the head infront of his friend. the felon has been charged with manslaughter. the DA says he should have known when he sold the 12yr old the gun death or serious bodily injury was likely to occour. one poster on a local forum compaired it to a drunk driver. i will post links to the latest stories.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/14760342/detail.html
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=97032
http://www.cbs47.com/content/topstories/story.aspx?content_id=630e8ec2-fc85-44c9-ab0f-ef010989c0c6

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120407/met_222555243.shtml

 

[Taximom]

Thanks for the update, sherri. I wondered how this would turn out. Do you think Tony shot himself on purpose? I thought he wanted a gun for protection. Poor thing.

I hope the boy that witnessed that will be able to get that picture out of his mind eventually. That will be hard to live with.

 

[sherri79]

Thanks for the update, sherri. I wondered how this would turn out. Do you think Tony shot himself on purpose? I thought he wanted a gun for protection. Poor thing.

I hope the boy that witnessed that will be able to get that picture out of his mind eventually. That will be hard to live with.

the police have a eye witness. the stepson of the man who sold the was tony's best friend. he was with tony when he bought the gun and then the boys went together through a wooded field on the way to tony's house. the boys were playing with the gun and tony was shot. the friend went back to his step father and told him what happened. the step father said not to talk and the gun disappeared. the day tony's body was found the boy told his mother and she called police. this is what has been reported so far.

rumor in town has this added but take from it what you will. rumor says as the boys walked through the woods tony spun the loaded gun on his finger like a old west gun fighter. as it spun the barrel hit tony's thumb and the gun went off shooting him at a odd angle in head.

 

[sherri79]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/15023896/detail.html
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For the first time since his arrest, the man being held in connection with the death of a Jacksonville boy took the stand.

Derrick Glover testified on Thursday during a pretrial hearing as lawyers attempted to have evidence tossed out.

According to prosecutors, Glover gave a gun to 12-year-old Tony Youmans. They believe Youmans fatally shot himself while playing with the weapon.

 

[sherri79]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=100651
Glover, 24, is the only person charged in connection with the death of Tony Youmans, 12.

After a two-day search, Youmans’ decomposing body was found in a wooded area, July 31, 2006. He suffered a fatal gun shot wound.

Glover has been charged with providing a gun to Youmans. He has denied the charge.

Earlier this week, the judge in the case rejected defense attorney’s requests to suppress photographs found on a computer at the home of Glover’s mother.

According to our news partner, The Florida Times-Union, the photographs show Glover and friends holding guns.

Glover’s manslaughter trial will begin Monday morning with jury selection.

 

[sherri79]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/15194988/detail.html
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Duval County jury on Friday found Derrick Glover guilty of manslaughter and providing a handgun to a minor in a case that resulted from last year's shooting death of Tony Youmans.

The six-member jury returned the verdict about 2 p.m., just over two hours after closing arguments ended.

Holding up the gun, a prosecutor told the jury that Glover sold the weapon to Youmans, who then used it to accidentally shoot himself.