Another Restraining Order Unserved, Rodney Morris-El Sr Shoots His Children's Mother in Front of Them, then Himself

A woman seeking court protection against the father of her four children was fatally shot in front of the youngsters in what police called a murder-suicide.

Melissa Amerson, 26, was loading the children into her minivan just after 8 a.m. Friday when she was shot.

Police said her attacker, Rodney Morris-El Sr., 37, then walked about 30 feet into the yard and turned the weapon on himself.

Officials said the children, who range in age from 10 to 5, weren't harmed.

Neighbor Aaron Foster said he heard children screaming and the oldest child ran to his apartment and said, "Please help me. My mom has just been shot."...


**Blog Author Note: This is the second story in 2 days involving an unserved restraining order.

Note to certain commentors on the original article: Mothers cannot BOTH protect themselves and their children (natural instinct and given right) AND foster a relationship between the children and their father (as ordered by the family court system and promoted by social service agencies and the rest of "the system"). Which is it going to be?

Dondra Bullock Murders His Wife After Argument, Kids Are Home

Authorities have charged Dondra Bullock, 32, with murdering his wife, Angela Bullock, 35.

This murder, like most others in the area, stemmed from domestic violence.

In this case, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine says a Bullock shot and killed his wife Sunday evening following an argument at their home in South Lowndes County.

Prine says Bullock shot his wife six times while their two children were at home.

Following the shooting, the Bullock called 911 for help...

Daddy Joseph L. Warnock Stabbed Mommy on Father's Day and is On the Lam

Police searched Monday for a man wanted for allegedly killing his wife as she slept with their two daughters, one of whom told a 911 dispatcher, "Daddy stabbed mommy."

Joseph L. Warnock, 41, faces an arrest warrant alleging murder in Sunday's death of Angela Warnock, 38, who police said was fatally stabbed in her bed.

He remained at large Monday night after police scoured the area around the couple's home just west of Indianapolis, using a bloodhound at one point in their search, said Lt. Roger Call of the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department...

In Alabama, Tyrone Hicks Stabbed His Wife to Death While the Four Children Were Home

A former Forrest City resident died last week from stab wounds allegedly inflicted by her husband at their home in Tuscaloosa, Ala.,

Captain Loyd Baker, with the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said Shanta Shinell Holland Hicks, 28, died Friday morning from stab wounds she suffered Thursday night during an attack by her husband, Tyrone Hicks, 28.

Hicks drove to an Alabama State Police office near his home shortly after the attack and turned himself in without incident. “He told the dispatcher he had just killed his wife, and he was taken into custody,” Baker said.

According to reports, the Hicks shared a home with their four children and her 18-year-old brother, who police have not identified, according to a report by the Tuscaloosa News...

Children Find Parents Shot to Death in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Three children found their parents shot to death inside their Encino home in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.

Investigators say the couple's 12-year-old son reported the shooting in the 4800 block of Haskell Avenue at about 12:35 p.m. Sunday.

Officers responding to the call found Pedro Papias, 41, and Rosa Valencia, 35, shot to death inside the home, according to Officer Sara Faden.

The couple's two other children -- a 10-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl -- were also home at the time of the shooting...

Argument preceded murder-suicide

A woman and her boyfriend, found dead Saturday in their Wells Street home had been arguing, police say.

Ronnique Burton, 37, was shot in the head shortly before 3 p.m. by her boyfriend, Michael Jarrell, 31.

Burton was found lying on the floor of a second-story bedroom in the Wells Avenue house. Jarrell was also found lying on that bedroom floor. Both had single gunshot wounds to their heads.

Police said Jarrell shot Burton, then turned the gun on himself....

Some neighbors said they often saw the man and the children playing outside in their yard with other kids from the neighborhood. They said the man was polite and talkative, and the couple showed no signs of a combative or violent relationship.

“He was so nice. He would be so active with his kids, throwing balls and running around,” said Debbye Powello, who lives in an apartment across the street. “He seemed to be a very nice man.”

Randy Gray, who lives a few doors down, said he spoke the man several times and he seemed to get along fine with everyone.

“They were just real nice people,” Gray said...

3 dead in apparent double murder-suicide in Texas

Police say a couple and their son are dead after an apparent double murder-suicide in a Houston suburb.

Authorities on Wednesday night found the bodies of Lewis Cantrell III, his father, Lewis Cantrell II, and stepmother, Gayle Cantrell.

Sgt. John Jordan with the League City Police Department tells the Houston Chronicle that a .38 caliber pistol was found near the younger man's body...

Man gets life term for wife's murder on daughter's testimony

Relying primarily on the testimony of a nine-year-old girl, a sessions court here has convicted her father, a naval officer, for murdering his wife.

Upendra Rai (35) was been sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for murdering his wife Vandana (32) on October 24, 2005 on suspicion of having an illicit relationship.

On the day of the incident, the accused came to his residence in an inebriated state around 2330 hours and picked up a fight with his wife and started assaulting her physically...

Murder-suicide claims city workers

An 11-year-old girl was forced to watch yesterday as her mother was killed in a murder-suicide in West Oak Lane around 7:30 a.m.

Angela Jeffreys, 34, was shot in the head after she got into her car to take her daughter to school. Police said Aleem Ali, 45, who had a previous "domestic relationship" with Jeffreys killed her and then turned the gun on himself in the middle of the street.

Homicide Capt. James Clark said that the two had a previous relationship and that there was a disturbance a week ago. Jeffreys and Ali worked together in the city's Department of Human Services — along with Ali's wife — before Jeffreys transferred to a job as a court clerk...

Morristown man accused of drowning wife opts for trial

A Morristown man charged with murder in the bathtub drowning of his wife rejected a plea offer today of 30 years in prison, and instead wants to stand trial on the charges.

Kleber Cordova, 30, who is accused of drowning Eliana Torres, 26, on May 9, allegedly confessed to the killing after the couple's 8-year-old daughter told police she saw her mother struggling with him, authorities have said.

In a hearing in Superior Court in Morristown, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office offered that, in exchange for a guilty plea to murder, the state would recommend the minimum sentence of 30 years in prison, with all 30 years being parole ineligible.

Cordova and his attorney, James Orlando, mulled over the plea offer for several hours, until finally rejecting it...

Austrian incest father pleads guilty to all counts

In a stunning turn of events, an Austrian on trial for imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and fathering her seven children pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges against him — including negligent homicide — after hearing his daughter's heart-wrenching testimony.

In a change of heart, Josef Fritzl calmly acknowledged his guilt on the third day of a trial that has drawn media attention from around the world for its shocking allegations.

"I declare myself guilty to the charges in the indictment," Fritzl, 73, told a panel of judges, referring at one point to what he called "my sick behavior."

Fritzl faces up to life imprisonment on the negligent homicide count, which he initially had contested along with an enslavement charge. Prosecutors also had charged him with rape, incest, forced imprisonment and coercion...

John Kratochvil Charged With Wife's Murder

A man has been charged with homicide in the murder of his wife, whose body was found by her mother.

Police said Jon Kratochvil admitted that he killed his wife, Manisha, during an interview with investigators Wednesday.

Investigators showed up at the home on Sunnywood Drive on March 2 after her mother found Manisha's body in the master bedroom. She had apparently suffered trauma indicative of foul play...

Heights man charged with murder of wife

Charges were filed Wednesday against 54-year-old Michael Allen Miller, a Dearborn Heights resident accused of shooting and killing his 34-year-old wife in front of their teenage son while preparing for target practice on Nov. 22.

Accord-ing to police, Miller claimed the .45-caliber pistol went off after he removed the clip. It fired a bullet straight into his wife's chest inside the couple's home on Powers, north of Van Born Road.

The victim was transported to Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, where she was pronounced dead. Her husband claimed the shooting was an accident, but Detective Sgt. James Serwatowski said investigators didn't buy it...

Albertville man charged in wife's shooting death at Guntersville carwash

Guntersville Police today charged Jessie Livell Phillips, 29, of Albertville with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Erica.

Phillips is being held without bond in the Marshall County Jail here.

He is accused of shooting his wife in the head at the Lakeside Carwash in the Warrenton community Friday afternoon. She died early the next day at Huntsville Hospital...

Capital murder charged

An Albertville man has been charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and her unborn child.

Judge Liles Burke denied bond to Jessie Livell Phillips, 29, of 1000 Baltimore Ave., Apartment 36, whom authorities say admitted to the shooting at a Guntersville car wash Friday afternoon.

In what is said to have been a domestic issue, Phillips allegedly shot Erica Phillips, 23, in the head with a pistol while she was parked at the Lakeside Car Wash on Alabama 69 in Guntersville.

The shooting is said to have taken place in front of her two young children and her younger brother at the carwash.

Phillips allegedly fled the scene in a black sport utility vehicle belonging to his stepmother.

A short time later, the SUV was spotted on Sand Mountain Drive in Albertville.

As an unmarked Albertville police unit approached Phillips, he reportedly pulled the SUV over to a parking space alongside the Albertville police station and surrendered, without