TRENTON SCOTT - 4 yo/ Accused: William Hedden - Candler (W of Asheville) NC

mermaid55 wrote:More warrants in beating death of Asheville-area child released

8:54 AM, May. 4, 2011

ASHEVILLE — A fourth search warrant in the beating death of 4-year-old Trenton Scott was released Tuesday.

William Godfrey Hedden, 24, of Sams Branch Road, is charged with first degree murder in the case.

The Police Department searched the home where Scott lived with his mother, Heather Benson, and where the crime occurred. During the search, authorities confiscated bed sheets, a syringe with needle, beer bottles, liquor bottles, a glass pipe, a plastic bag with marijuana residue, prescription pill bottles and other items.

Other warrants released in the case document bite marks and bruises on Scott's body and document child erotica found at Hedden's home.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110504/NEWS01/110504013/More-warrants-beating-death-Asheville-area-child-released?odyssey=obinsite

Bumping this post as it's the latest and we need to keep the posts chronological.

http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?45740-4-Year-Old-Trenton-Scott-Was-Beaten-To-Death-William-Hedden-24-Arrested
This site has a really cute picture of Trenton.

When 4-year-old Trenton Michael Scott was beaten to death in his mother's
mobile home here in April, two families fell apart.Both of Trenton's estranged parents
want justice. But they are divided, each handling the intense emotions in a different way.
The chasm between them is so wide, they had separate memorial and graveside services for the child.They
are in agreement that the killer should pay — either with his life or
with his soul and suffering. But they disagree on whether Trenton should
be called an abused child.Accused
in Trenton's death is William Godfrey Hedden, 24, a man whose Facebook
pages list his interests as guns, beer and violent TV shows.On
the eve of Trenton's slaying, April 18, Hedden was staying with friend
and PetSmart co-worker Heather Benson, Trenton's mother.The next morning,
a Tuesday, Benson called 911 shortly after 6 a.m. to report that she woke up
and found her son dead.“Oh my God,” she told a dispatcher. “He looks like he's been beaten to death.”Hedden
is charged with first-degree murder in the boy's death, and District
Attorney Ron Moore said he would seek the death penalty.Trenton's mother,
grandmother and relatives on Benson's side of the family insist he wasn't
an abused child.They say Trenton was cherished.“At
the Benson house, they are taking the death hard,” said Judy Benson,
Trenton's grandmother. The Bensons maintain Trenton was not abused but
suffered an unexpected one-time fatal beating.Trenton's
father, Justin Scott, 27, and his best friend, 30-year-old coworker
Jennifer Myers, are taking the death equally hard. Both believe Trenton
qualified as an “abused child,” and they are trying to make a difference
through volunteering and testimony.They
are partnering with Asheville-based Child Abuse Prevention Services to
go into schools and daycare centers to spread the word about Trenton and
how to prevent future tragedies.This is how they deal with the enormous grief.During
an interview with the Citizen-Times, Scott held up an 8- by 10-inch
portrait of his son in vivid color. He pointed to a red mark under the
child's eye and what he believes is a healing bruise across his nose.
The picture was made at Trenton's day care — Eliada Child Development —
shortly before he died.Scott assumed the mark was just the normal boo-boo
children get but now wishes he had checked up on his son.According
to Tracey McCrain, director of the center, “There were no signs of
child abuse whatsoever. We worked closely with both parents, and there
was just love between them all for Trenton.”She said Trenton was “full of life
and sweet as could be.” He loved being outside, doing anything.“He was just a
joy, and his eyes lit up whenever either parent came to get him,” McCrain said.

The case so far

William Hedden, of Sams Branch Road, now lives in the Buncombe County jail,
held without bond. Neither the assistant DA on his case, Chris Hess, nor
his lawyer, Robert Campbell, would issue a public comment.From
the Hilltop Mobile Home Park residence where Trenton lived with his
mother, police confiscated bed sheets, a syringe with a needle, beer and
liquor bottles, a glass pipe, a plastic bag with marijuana residue,
prescription bottles and other items, according to a search warrant.Other
warrants have documented the marks and bruises all over the boy's body,
possibly including bite marks, and what was described as four pages of
child erotica found at Hedden's home.DNA
samples were also taken from Hedden, who investigators said had what
appeared to be blood drops on his right shoulder, which had spread to
his arm.But many questions remain — most important: Why didn't Benson hear
anything the night her son was beaten?Scott has asked Benson about that night.
“She won't say much,” he said. “Just that she was asleep.”Another
question: How much did Benson know of this man who was, her mother
says, sleeping on her couch? A man charged with misdemeanor larceny in
April 2010. A man whose Facebook profile suggested a penchant for drugs
and violence.Judy
Benson said her daughter is not under investigation and is torn apart,
living in an undisclosed location and trying to heal enough to go back
to work. She could not be reached for this story.
“They were just friends,” she said of her daughter's relationship
with the accused killer. “She had no idea he was like that. She was just
as shocked as anybody.”Benson said her
daughter slept on one end of the trailer and her grandson on the other.
Heather Benson also kept a fan running in her room to drown out noise,
her mother said.“She was a great mother,” she said. “Some people have been so cruel.
“Nobody knew what went on in that mind of his (Hedden's).
Had she known, she wouldn't have had him around.”

The father's story

On the other side of the family divide is Trenton's father, who broke his
media silence to speak with the Citizen-Times in the company of his
friend Myers.Both wore blue ribbons, the color representing the fight
to stop child abuse and honor abuse victims.“They
are wanting to increase awareness of child abuse and do some
fundraising to honor Trenton and to help protect other children,” said
Bill McGuire, director of Asheville's Child Abuse Prevention Services.
“As a father and grandfather, I can't think of anything worse than the
death of a child.”Scott
and Benson met in 2000 when both worked at Toys R Us. They became a
couple a few years later and broke up in March 2010. They never married.While
they were together, Scott said, Benson was a “great mother.” Myers also
saw Benson in a mothering role and said, “I had complete respect for
her decisions as a mother.”“She
was always outside playing with him,” Scott said. “We played baseball
and watched it and wrestling on TV. He loved wrestling and video games.”
Both he and Benson agreed on disciplining their child with time outs. No spankings.
While Benson's mother claims Hedden and her daughter were just friends,
Scott's not buying it.“I believe he was her boyfriend,” he said.
“Neighbors told me he'd been living there for three months.”At
6:20 a.m. on April 19, Scott got a phone call from Benson, telling him
Justin was dead and it looked as if he had been beaten to death.
He said she seemed “moderately upset” on the phone and was crying but not hysterical.
When Scott arrived at the crime scene not long after that call, he found his ex and Hedden outside the tiny trailer.“William
had his hands folded, and she was already in her makeup because she was
on her way to work,” he said. “She thought at first something had just
happened to him in his sleep.”Scott
wants to see Hedden, if he's found guilty, get the death penalty, while
Myers isn't sure. Both want the perpetrator to pay to the fullest.In
the early stages of the couple's split last year, Scott said he had
joint custody of Trenton, keeping him two or three days a week. He
accuses Benson of not giving him time with his son in the last year of
his life.“By then it was barely twice a month,” he said.If
it weren't for his church, The River, and friends and family, Scott
said, he wouldn't be able to go on. “Nighttimes are the worst. That's
when I look at photos a lot and cry.”His new mission, with Myers,
o prevent and fight child abuse, is also helping him through the pain.
“Trenton died during Child Abuse Awareness month,
but child abuse occurs 12 months out of the year,” Myers said.

A message for parents

After Trenton's brutal death, Scott said everyone advised him not to view the
body. So he didn't. He chooses to remember what a special little kid
Trenton was when he was alive.“He was always smiling and kind-hearted,” he said.
“He was also sensitive to other kids,” Myers added.Scott
chose a pair of dark blue jeans, brown loafers, a blue hoodie and plaid
shirt for the boy to wear in his Carolina blue casket. They had the
funeral employees spike his hair with orange gel, just the way he loved
it.“We put his wrestling belt in there with him and a couple of stuffed animals,” Scott said.The
child is buried at Pisgah View Memorial Park in Candler. A colorful
cross made of race cars marks his grave until the bronze marker arrives.
On it will be crossed baseball bats and balls, along with these words:
“Fly High Sweet Angel,” and his dates of birth and death.Scott visits the gravesite almost daily.
About his ex, he just shakes his head. “She just got with the wrong person.”
This is part of their message in helping prevent child abuse:
Know who you're with. Don't just let anyone in your home.“If
kids are being abused, it's all of our duties to pay attention and
speak up,” Myers said. “Pay attention to who's living in your house.”
And children need to also speak up, and know there's an adult they can
talk to and trust, she said.

Accusations, memories

While Scott and Myers believe Trenton fit the definition of an abused child, Judy Benson disagrees.“My
grandson was not an abused child. Grant you that night he was murdered
he was, but to associate him with abused children” isn't accurate, she
said.Myers said whether a child is hit once or 50 times, it still constitutes child abuse.
Judy Benson said she was an active grandparent and saw Trenton at least
five days a week and never saw signs of abuse.Three days before his death,
the Benson family took Trenton on a trip to Myrtle Beach.“He
had the best time and was learning to stick his head under the water,”
Benson said. She also noted she would have seen any marks on the boy had
there been any.She
recently went back to work at Mountain Area Pediatrics. Hers is a
family in deep pain, she said, but “we have nothing to hide. … We
haven't done anything wrong.”One
of Heather Benson's best friends is Sarah Jennings, who will soon
complete her master's degree in music education. She teaches 550
children each week.She said Heather Benson is like a sister to her,
and she knew Trenton for most of his short years.“I
know children,” she said. “I know when they are having a bad day, when
they are excited about an upcoming event, when they are disappointed
about something, when they feel safe or unsafe, scared or fearless, when
they are cared for or could really use more attention at home.“Trenton
was always happy and full of life,” she said. “The relationship he and
his mother, Heather, shared was mesmerizing. … (Everyone) could see the
beautiful connection this mother and child shared.”She also said Benson
put her son first in all she did. “She was the best mother I have ever witnessed,” she said.After
Trenton's death, Jennings spent two weeks with Benson. She too believes
Trenton was not an “abused child,” but one “brutally murdered.”
“There was no abuse in Trenton's life that could have been stopped
in order to prevent this horrific tragedy,” she said.“If
Heather thought for one second that she or Trent's life would be
unsafe, or in the company of someone who could jeopardize their
beautiful life, he would not have been there,” Jennings said.Jennings
had a final message. “I don't want anymore heartache for anyone,” she
said. “We could all use a little light in our hearts right now.”
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110605/NEWS01/306050044/Child-s-beating-death-crushes-families

The victim: Trenton Scott

Coroner: 4-Year-Old Beaten To Death Was Legally Drunk
Boy Was Strangled, Beaten And Bitten
POSTED: 7:28 am EDT August 3, 2011

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. -- An autopsy shows a 4-year-old Buncombe County boy who was beaten to death earlier this year appears to have been legally drunk.

The autopsy showed that Trenton Michael Scott died from a cut to his liver caused by blows to his abdomen and chest.

The autopsy at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center also showed evidence that Trenton had been strangled, had eight broken ribs, a fractured skull, broken ribs, bite marks and cuts and bruises.

The boy also had a blood alcohol level of 0.12 percent. A reading 0.08 percent is the legal limit to drive in North Carolina.

The boyfriend of the child's mother, William Godfrey Hedden, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the boy's death.

The child was found dead by his mother on April 19. She called 911, and said the boy looked “beaten to death.” (Full Story)

Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/28749676/detail.html#ixzz1U4Pi3g1N

Candler man arrested in child's death now facing child abuse charge

9:34 PM, Sep. 16, 2011

ASHEVILLE — A Candler man charged with killing a 4-year-old boy now faces a felony child abuse charge.

William Godfrey Hedden, 24, of Sams Branch Road, Candler, was indicted on the additional charge by a Buncombe County grand jury this week.

Hedden was arrested in April and charged with first-degree murder stemming from the death of Trenton Michael Scott. The child was found beaten to death the morning of April 19 in his mother’s Candler mobile home.

The grand jury indictment alleges Hedden assaulted Scott “on or about April 19,” using his hands and feet and causing serious injuries to the child, according to indictment.

“At the time defendant inflicted the injury, the defendant was supervising the child and providing care for the child as a friend of the child’s mother,” according to the indictment.

Lt. Randy Smart with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department said it’s not unusual for additional charges to be filed after an initial arrest.

The child’s mother called 911 the morning of April 19 and told dispatchers she woke up to find her son dead.

An autopsy later revealed the child died from a laceration to the liver caused by blunt force trauma to the abdomen and chest.

The autopsy also found evidence of ligature strangulation of his neck, eight broken ribs, a fractured skull, broken teeth, bite marks on his back and chest and numerous bruises and lacerations.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Hess said Friday he could not comment because the case is pending.

Hedden was scheduled for a first court appearance on the latest charges Friday, according to officials with the Buncombe County Clerk of Court.

The grand jury also indicted Hedden on the murder charge, according to court records.

That case is on the docket for Monday.

Keith Hanson, one of Hedden’s attorneys, declined to comment Friday.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110917/NEWS01/309170021/Child-abuse-charge-added-boy-s-death