SOMER RENEE THOMPSON - 7 yo (2009) - Clay County FL

FBI agents have arrested a 64-year-old
man who lives near the Somer Thompson family on child pornography
charges but say the man is not a suspect in the 7-year-old child’s
abduction or murder.
Sixty-four-year-old Charles Watkins of
226 Chestnut Ct. was arrested without incident early Thursday, March 18,
at his home, FBI Special Agent Jeff Westcott said. He said Watkins is
charged with one count each of receiving and possessing child
pornography.
The charges are related to computer
images, but Westcott declined to give further details.
He said the arrest follows a lengthy,
multi-agency investigation that based on tips and other information that
surfaced during an investigation into the murder of Somer, who was
abducted on her way home from Grove Park Elementary school on Oct. 19.
Her body was found two days later at a South Georgia landfill.
Watkins is not considered a suspect in her slaying, Westcott said.
He said the Clay County Sheriff’s Office
was one of several agencies involved in the Watkins investigation, but
the case was turned over to the FBI because of the nature of the
charges. A federal grand jury returned an indictment one day before the
arrest was made.
Watkins’ arrest comes on the heels of
the Feb. 11 arrest in Meridian, Miss., of former Orange Park area
resident Jarred Harrell.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler
considers Harrell, who initially was charged with 29 counts of
possession of child pornography but now faces additional charges of
molesting an unidentified child younger than 5 years old and promoting a
sexual performance involving the same girl, as a person of interest in
the Thompson case.
Investigators have said they believe
Harrell molested the child in a house once owned by Harrell’s stepfather
at 1152 Gano Ave. The house is situated near an area where Somer last
was seen.
The initial child pornography charges
were filed after two of Harrell’s roommates evicted him from the
apartment they shared on Wells Road. The roommates had become suspicious
of Harrell and turned over a CD allegedly belonging to Harrell to local
authorities. Investigators said they discovered numerous pornographic
images of children on the CD, as well as other images on a computer they
believe belonged to Harrell.
Harrell, 24, moved to Mississippi
sometime after his eviction, and now is being held in isolation at the
Clay County jail and is being held without bond. He is being represented
by a public defender.

http://www.wesh.com/news/22962434/detail.html

Authorities To Announce Development In Somer Case

Girl, 7, Found Dead In Landfill Last Year


POSTED: 6:42 am
EDT March 26, 2010
UPDATED: 7:01 am EDT March 26, 2010

Clay County FL ---- Clay County authorities will announce a
major development in the case of slain girl Somer Thompson
Friday.The announcement will be held at the gymnasium of
the First Baptist Church of Orange Park at noon.New information
will be provided on this case and a question and answer period will be
held with the Team Somer representatives, according to a news release.
Somer, 7, disappeared in October of last year as she walked home from school
in Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in a Georgia landfill.
Investigators have refused to reveal how Somer died.During the
four-month investigation, authorities said they pursued thousands of
leads.One person of interest, Jarred Harrell, 24, is jailed on
child pornography charges.No arrests have been made in connection
with Somer's death.

Investigators in Florida have charged a 24-year-old man with murder
in the slaying of a 7-year-old girl who disappeared while walking home
from school last year.Jarred Mitchell Harrell was charged Friday
in the killing of Somer Thompson. He has been in custody since Feb. 11,
when authorities arrested him in Mississippi on child pornography
charges in Florida. Harrell was then extradited to Florida.Somer
disappeared Oct. 19 and a massive search was launched in the
Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in
a Georgia landfill.Detectives say Harrell was living at his
parents' home near Somer's school and house when she went missing.

PRESS CONFERENCE: Man Charged With Somer Thompson's Murder

http://www.wftv.com/video/22966751/index.html

Somer Thompson's mom Speaks:

http://www.wftv.com/video/22967561/index.html

A “Justice for Somer” banner outside the
First Baptist Church flapped in the breeze as Clay County Sheriff Rick
Beseler announced inside the church’s gym that a 24-year-old man already
jailed on numerous counts of possessing child pornography has been
charged with murdering 7-year-old Somer Thompson.
Beseler said during a news conference
held Friday, March 26 that based on the man’s own admissions, DNA
samples, evidence taken from a Gano Avenue house where the man was
living and witness statements, he is confident that Jarred Harrell is
the person responsible for the “brutal” and “random” slaying of the
second-grade student.
He said it was Harrell who abducted
Somer as she walked home from Grove Park Elementary School on Oct. 19,
sexually assaulted her and asphyxiated her before tossing her lifeless
body into a dumpster that was found two days later in a South Georgia
landfill.
Harrell made his first court appearance
Friday afternoon on charges of premeditated murder and sexual battery
and lewd and lascivious molestation of a person younger than 12. He has
been staying in an isolated cell in the Clay County Jail since
mid-February, when he was extradited from Meridian, Miss., where he was
arrested for multiple counts of possessing child pornography while
living in the Orange Park area.
Harrell also is facing additional child
porn-related charges that surfaced after his initial arrest. He is being
represented by an attorney from the public defender’s office.
Beseler said the murder charge marks the
end of “an extreme roller coaster ride” for investigators as well as
Somer’s mother, Diena Thompson, and her family. He said Harrell had been
on the radar of “Team Somer” since the early stages of the
investigation, but team investigators, who represent six law enforcement
agencies, have endured public pressure to find Somer’s murderer quickly
in favor of their commitment to conduct a thorough investigation with
no loopholes.
“We feel confident that Jarred Harrell
committed this crime,” Beseler said. “His movements and whereabouts were
being monitored. We didn’t have a hard time finding him [in
Mississippi].”
Diena Thompson held a separate news
conference two hours later. As her immediate family, flanked by Team
Somer members, held hands, the 35-year-old mother spoke candidly of
being relieved that a “monster” is being brought to justice.
She said her slain daughter was “a star
that never got to shine,” and that the dreamlike state in which she has
been living is finally coming to an end.
“The alarm finally went off because the
monster is gone,” Thompson said. “Somer is forever going to be in my
heart and in my mind.”
She also made a plea for communities to
take action to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
“This isn’t Mayberry anymore,” she said
of her neighborhood and the Orange Park community. “We need to reclaim
our children’s innocence and their safety.”
Thompson said she is undecided about
whether she believes the person responsible for her daughter’s murder
should face the death penalty, though she supported corporal punishment
before her daughter was killed.
Still, she referred to Somer’s alleged
murderer with anger and disgust.
"A monster,” Thompson said. “That’s all
this person is – a monster.”

Prosecutors said they may seek the death penalty against the man charged
with murdering 7-year-old Somer Thompson.Jarred Harrell was
charged Friday with sexually abusing, then asphyxiating the girl in
October 2009 near her home before dumping her body in the trash.Somer’s
body was found in a landfill in south Georgia days after she
disappeared.Clay County deputies said they have evidence that
proves Harrell committed the crime, but they did not immediately release
many details.Sheriff Rick Beseler said Harrell’s name came up
among the thousands of tips received in the days leading up to Somer’s
body being found.Harrell was later arrested in Mississippi on
unrelated charges of child pornography.“I stood here in front of
all you 150-something days ago and said, ‘We’re coming to get you. We
will get you,’” Somer’s mother, Diena Thompson, said
Friday. “So I’d like to take this opportunity to say to Jarred
Harrell: We got you, and you ain’t getting away.”Harrell was
locked up without bond in Clay County. His public defender has hinted he
may ask the trial be moved, because of all the publicity in the case.

The mother of 7-year-old Somer Thompson, who vanished while walking
home from school in north Florida, says charges filed in her daughter's
murder have brought some relief.Diena Thompson told NBC's "Today
Show" Monday morning that her family is doing "a little bit better" after detectives charged
24-year-old Jarred Mitchell Harrell with premeditated murder Friday.Thompson
said she goes through a gamut of emotions and that the pain is
excruciating. She also said she thinks it would be fair for Harrell to
get the death penalty.Somer Thompson's body was found in a
Georgia landfill two days after she disappeared in October.Harrell
has also been charged with lewd and lascivious battery and sexual
battery. He was already being held on child porn charges in a separate
case.

http://www.wesh.com/news/23029131/detail.html
Jarred Harrell Indicted By Grand Jury
Man Accused Of Killing 7-Year-Old Somer Thompson
POSTED: 6:10 pm EDT April 1, 2010
UPDATED: 6:58 pm EDT April 1, 2010
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The man accused of killing a 7-year-old Clay County girl has been indicted by a grand jury.

State Attorney Angela B. Corey announced Thursday that the Clay County grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Jarred Mitchell Harrell with murder in the first-degree, kidnapping, sexual battery and lewd or lascivious battery in relation to the disappearance and death of Somer Renee Thompson.

Somer disappeared Oct. 19 from her neighborhood in Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in a landfill in Folkston, Ga.

On Feb. 23, detectives with the Clay County Sheriff's Office transported Harrell from Meridian, Miss., where he had been arrested, to the Clay County Jail on charges not related to Somer's death. At that time, Harrell was only considered a person of interest in the girl's death, investigators said.

On March 26, Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler gathered the "Team Somer" task force to announce that Harrell had been charged with murder.

On Thursday, evidence was presented to the grand jurors of Clay County, who returned the four-count indictment against Harrell at about 4 p.m.

Judge William A. Wilkes accepted the indictment and set no bond on the charges.

Harrell's arraignment on the indictment is scheduled for April 8 in Clay County.

Jarred Harrell pleaded not guilty this morning in the Oct. 19
kidnapping, sexual battery and slaying of Somer
Thompson.
Harrell, 24, was charged March 26 with the 7-year-old's slaying. His
not-guilty plea was made before Circuit Judge William Wilkes in a
hearing that lasted about a minute. His next court appearance is set for
April 26.
Harrell, also facing child pornography charges in two separate cases,
is being held in the Clay County jail without bail.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said investigators have DNA,
interviews and other evidence that link Harrell to the slaying. Somer
was last seen walking on Gano Avenue after she left school. Harrell's
stepfather owns a home on the street that police said Harrell used.

The report that 7-year-old Somer Thompson's body had been
discovered in a landfill shook the town of Orange Park, Fla., to the
core.
The little girl had disappeared walking home from
school two days earlier. Police quickly came to believe that the killer lived in the seemingly typical
suburban neighborhood.
It would take five months, more than 4,000 leads
and several blind alleys before police would hone in on someone who had been brought to their attention
even before Somer had disappeared.
Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m.
Twenty-four year-old Jarred Harrell, who lived just a few houses from
where Somer was last seen, is now charged with first-degree murder in
her death. A month earlier, Harrell had been arrested and charged with
dozens of counts of possessing and producing child pornography and
molesting a different young girl. He has pleaded not guilty to all the
charges.

"You would look at this guy and you'd say ... big, gentle giant," a
family friend, Rod Buchannan, told ABC News. "Wouldn't hurt a flea. He
was very polite, very nice, you know."
But after his arrest, Harrell's family background began to unfold, and
soon a different picture emerged.
Jarred Harrell: Family Secrets


Twenty-one years ago, Harrell's mother, Annis Dailey, made headlines of
her own when she fell under the spell of her much older employer, Joe
Newman, a married man, self-professed inventor and "messenger of God."
Among the messages he claimed to have received from God was an order to
marry Annis -- and her 8-year-old daughter as well.

Jarred Harrell: Family Secrets


"God spoke to me the morning of Feb. 13, 1989, telling me to marry [the
girl] which is exactly five months to the day that Hurricane Gilbert
became the greatest hurricane of the century..." Newman was quoted as
saying by Mississippi's Georgia County Times. "God has chosen [the girl]
and Annis and Ellen [Newman's wife] in a special way to glorify God's
word and righteousness."
Newman claimed God would tell him when to consummate the "marriage" with
the little girl.
The tabloid Weekly World News ran a feature on the couple. "Everything
that's happened, God has a definite purpose to it," Annis was quoted as
saying. "It's taken a genius like Joe to lead it."
Jarred Harrell was 3 years old at the time. A Mississippi court ruled
Annis an unfit mother and removed the children.
Six years later, Annis regained custody of her children, but relatives
say things were never stable very long.
Records show that Harrell's mother had at least 56 different addresses
in almost as many cities while Harrell was growing up. She has been
married four times, filed for bankruptcy three times, has been evicted
from at least one home and was found guilty of grand theft after
allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from an employer.
But by last year, there were signs that Annis Dailey was turning her
life around. Her business profile for the Amelia Island Chamber of
Commerce boasts of a loving family. Her husband, General Dailey, had
recently been featured in the local media for his Good Samaritan work
organizing volunteers during emergencies.
Jarred Harrell: A Picture in Contrasts


At 24 years old, Jarred Harrell still lived with his mother and depended
on her financially.
Relatives say Harrell had always been overweight and slow in school, and
had often been picked on, even by his two younger step-brothers.
A MySpace profile Harrell kept showed glimpses of someone who can't take
it anymore, seemingly wanting revenge.
The song that topped Harrell's playlist was "Waking the Demon" by Bullet
for My Valentine. In the song, a victim of bullying is transformed by
blind rage and viciously attacks and kills his tormentor.
Was it a peek into the mind of someone who was about to snap -- or
nothing more than average teenage angst?

Jarred Harrell: Warning Signs


It turns out police had been tipped off about Harrell's alleged interest
in child pornography two months before Somer disappeared.
Lisa and Rod Buchannan knew Harrell through his stepfather, who was
active in their church. In the summer of 2008, when Annis asked whether
Harrell could move into an apartment complex with the Buchannans'
daughter, Katie, and her fiance, the Buchannans agreed.
But the arrangement didn't last long.
"Things turned up missing" within a month or two, Rod Buchannan told ABC
News' Chris Cuomo. Katie and her fiance said that one night they found
their iPod in Harrell's car.
"Being that he was a family friend, they give him an option," Buchannan
said. "Get your stuff, get out right now, middle of the night -- or we
call the police and put you in jail."
The Buchannans say Harrell left -- but he left behind his computer.
That was a mistake. Buchannan's son knew a dark secret about what might
be on Harrell's computer. He told his sister.
"So they decided to search the computer at that point," Rod Buchannan
said. "And that's when they found -- I mean, it was right there on the
desktop. There was no effort made whatsoever to hide the material."
The Buchannan siblings told their parents they had found child
pornography on Harrell's computer -- a lot of it.
"Stuff that our children shouldn't have seen," Rod Buchannan said.
"Should have never had to see."
Rod Buchannan took his wife and daughter to the police to turn over the
computer. He said that Katie told police she feared that Harrell might
have known some of the children in the pictures.
Harrell had plenty of access to kids. He babysat his sister's children.
His sister ran a business selling toddler items out of her home. They
lived in a neighborhood filled with young kids.
As it turned out, Katie Buchannan's fears were justified, authorities
say. After Harrell's arrest, police said, they found his camera. It had
more photos and a video on it of a 3-year-old child whom Harrell knew,
they said.
Somer's Mom: 'I Don't Feel Sorry for Him'


After Harrell was arrested, Cuomo asked Somer Thompson's mother, Diena
Thompson, about her feelings about the murder suspect. Did it help her
understand how Harrell got to the point he allegedly did?
"No," Thompson said. "I don't feel sorry for him. You make choices in
life. And all of us go through trials and tribulations. ... I have been
through similar circumstances in my life, and I'm not killing, raping,
stealing children.
"You make choices to do things different. Stop the cycle, end the abuse,
don't do this."

http://www.wesh.com/news/23263346/detail.html
Harrell To Appear In Court On Somer Charges

Man Charged With Death Of Somer Thompson

ORLANDO, Fla. --

The man accused of kidnapping and killing a local
girl will appear in court Monday morning.Jarred Harrell, 24,
plead not guilty to murder and sexual assault charges in connection with
the death of Somer Thompson.Investigators said he grabbed the
7-year-old as she walked home from school last October.

SOMER NEWSER

Her body was found a few days later in a Georgia landfill

Diena Thompson kept her composure long enough to
take her first, in-person look at the man accused of abducting,
sexually assaulting and murdering her 7-year-old daughter last fall.

Thompson had been waiting for more than a month
to “see the face” of 24-year-old Jarred Harrell, who was charged March
26 with premeditated murder, sexual assault and performing a lewd and
lascivious act on a child younger than 12. Harrell already was in
custody on multiple counts of possession of child pornography after he
was arrested and subsequently extradited from Meridian, Miss., in
February.

Harrell has pleaded not guilty of the murder of
Somer Thompson, who disappeared Oct. 19 on her way home from Grove Park
Elementary School in Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in a
South Georgia landfill.

Harrell was led into a Clay County courtroom in
shackles on Wednesday, April 28, for a pre-trial hearing that had been
postponed two days earlier. He could face the death penalty if
convicted.

Diena Thompson, who sat between her parents,
Phillip and Debbie Bowling, remained silent but wary throughout
Wednesday’s 45-minute hearing that saw Circuit Judge John H. Skinner
deny three motions made by Harrell’s defense team. But she spoke
directly -- and with conviction -- afterward.



“He’s so much of a coward that he can't even
turn around and look at the mother of the child that he murdered,” she
said.



Harrell did not make eye contact with anyone
behind him, but appeared to fidget on and off as he listened to his
public defender’s request that prosecutors preserve as evidence any text
messages, instant messages or e-mails that might have been exchanged
during Harrell’s extradition.

The defense also requested that any notes
written by investigators prior to formalizing the murder and sexual
assault charges be preserved as well; and for the judge to issue a
protective order to minimize public communication about the trial.


All three requests were denied after prosecutors argued that the
first request was based on speculation, and that case notes basically
were irrelevant and “would not change the truth” about mounds of
evidence that already has been provided to the defense.

Thompson saw Skinner’s decisions as a step
forward in a long and painful process that won’t pick up again until
Harrell’s next pre-trial hearing on May 20.
“I hope the whole trial goes as well as today went,” said Thompson,
who has vowed to “stay in Harrell’s face” until a verdict is reached.

The Somer Thompson foundation is
pushing for a new bill that could soon be in the hands of state
lawmakers.Somer's law, which is under final review by the
foundation, would require sex offenders and predators to live outside
Somer's safety zones -- or a one-mile radius from any school.The
petition also includes a change to the Amber Alert system, requiring an
Amber Alert status be issued within 30 minutes of a possible kidnapping.Jarred
Harrell, the man accused of killing the 7-year-old Orange Park girl, is
still in jail.He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday on
some of the 58 felony charges he is currently facing.Investigators
said Harrell kidnapped Somer on her way home from school in October.
Her body was found days later in a Georgia landfill.

The mother of a 7-year-old child whose
body was found in a South Georgia landfill two days after she went
missing will have to wait until August to see what progress is being
made in the prosecution of her daughter’s alleged killer.
Diena Thompson of Orange Park was with
her father in a Clay County court room on Thursday, June 24, but the
accused murderer was not. Instead, attorneys for 24-year-old Jarred
Harrell spoke briefly to Circuit Judge John Skinner, telling the judge
during the pretrial hearing that depositions still are being taken.
Thompson and her father, Phillip Bowling, have said they plan to attend
as many hearings as possible, but expect the legal process to unfold slowly.
Harrell was arrested in February on 29 counts of possession of child pornography
and later was charged with thekidnapping, sexual assault and premeditated murder
of Somer Renee Thompson shortly after school let out on Oct. 19.
Investigators say they believe the child was lured into a house on Gano Avenue,
a few blocks from Grove Park Elementary School, where Somer attended.
Procescutors say they plan to seek the death penalty.
Harrell’s next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 3.