LEXIS ROBERTS - 12 yo(2010)/ and her Mother, Suellen - Flagstaff AZ

Roberts had a gunshot wound to her head, but there was no definitive cause of death.

---Hmmm? What could it be? What could it be?

February 12th 2011
Thomas Steven "Spider" Sanders pleaded not guilty Friday to federal
charges of kidnapping and killing 12-year-old Lexis Roberts of Las Vegas
and dumping her body last year in the woods in Catahoula Parish in
east-central Louisiana.Sanders, 53, could
face the death penalty if found guilty of either of two charges spelled
out in new indictment handed down by a Shreveport grand jury in
January.Sanders
was indicted the first time Nov. 14, and on Nov. 19 pleaded not guilty
to one charge of kidnapping Lexis. The girl's body had lain in woods
near Harrisonburg, about 60 miles northeast of Alexandria, for a month
before hunters found her in early October 2010.Sanders,
hands and feet shackled and dressed in Rapides Parish prisoner orange,
was guarded Friday by two deputy U.S. marshals in Magistrate Judge James
D. Kirk's courtroom in the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria.He
was flanked by his attorneys Rebecca Hudsmith, a federal public
defender from Lafayette, and Ansel Stroud III, a Shreveport attorney who
enrolled as Sanders' co-counsel after the first arraignment.Hudsmith patted Sanders on the shoulder when she greeted him in the courtroom."I tried calling you," Sanders told Hudsmith, then the two settled into whispers.Assistant
U.S. Attorneys Bill Flanagan and Nicole O. Snyder said after the
arraignment that they have haven't made a decision on if they'll pursue
the death penalty.Judge
Kirk said Sanders faces 20 years to life in prison or the death
penalty, and a $250,000 fine, if found guilty of count one that charges
the Mississippi native kidnapped Lexis and traveled across state lines
from Arizona to Louisiana, which resulted in her death.Sanders
faces five years to life in prison or the death penalty, and a $250,000
fine, if found guilty of count two that charges Sanders used a firearm
to kill Lexis.If
Sanders is found guilty, he would not be eligible for probation, and he
would serve prison sentences consecutively, Kirk said.Flanagan said a trial date would be decided by U.S. District Court Judge Dee Drell.

Read More: http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110212/NEWS01/102120333/-Spider-Sanders-pleads-not-guilty-slaying-girl-found-Catahoula-Parish-?odyssey=nav|head

Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Toney Edwards will be honored next month for his work on the case of a
kidnapped 12-year-old whose remains were found in October.
Edwards will be honored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children May 18 in Washington.
The case involved Lexis Kaye Roberts, whose remains were found outside Harrisonburg on Oct. 8.
Edwards worked with the Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. The
investigation resulted in the arrest of a suspect, Thomas Steven Sanders
who was declared dead nearly17 years ago in Mississippi, then
resurfaced last year as a suspect in the disappearance of the girl and
her mother.Sheriff James Kelly said he put Edwards on the case because
he knew Edwards had a daughter about the same age as the victim.“That
night out in the woods when I assigned the case, I gave it to Toney
because I felt like he would put his heart and soul into it,” Kelly
said. “The whole thing became real personal to me when we knew for certain it was a young child,” Edwards said. “I
have kids of my own, and so do my friends. If there was someone around
here doing that to children we needed to take it personal enough to get
them off the street.”Edwards said he is looking forward to his
trip to Washington and that he wishes everyone involved in the case
could come with him.“The credit goes to all my family and my close friends and my fellow officers that worked with me,” he said.


Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/04/09/3014321/deputy-hailed-for-work-in-child.html#ixzz1J63K6yhJ

Prosecutors want more time to decide whether
to seek the death penalty for a legally dead Mississippi man charged
with a kidnapping that resulted in the death of a 12-year-old Las Vegas
girl whose body was found in Louisiana.
Thomas Steven Sanders was
declared dead in Mississippi in 1994. He surfaced as a suspect in the
death of Lexis Roberts, whose body was found in October 2010 in
Catahoula Parish, La. Her mother's body was found later in Yavapai
County, Ariz.

Sanders is charged with the child's death in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, La.

Prosecutors have asked for a
30-day extension until Aug. 1 to decide on seeking the death penalty.
The motion says defense attorneys agree with the request.

U.S. District Judge Dee Drell has not yet ruled.
http://www.wdam.com/story/17359526/feds-want-more-time-to-weigh-death-penalty