Somer Thompson -- Found Deceased 10/21/09

Harrell pleads not guilty in Somer Thompson slaying
Posted: April 8, 2010 - 11:18am

GREEN COVE SPRINGS — 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.

http://staugustine.com/florida-news/2010-04-08/harrell-pleads-not-guilty-somer-thompson-slaying

Suspect in Somer Thompson slaying: I was home at time

Newly released records touch on case of Orange Park girl’s death

Posted: April 15, 2010 - 5:03pm
By Jim Schoettler

The man charged with killing Somer Thompson told police he was at his mother’s Orange Park home the afternoon investigators said Somer died there, according to 125 pages of police reports and other records released Thursday.

What Jarred Harrell may know about the 7-year-old’s slaying will likely remain secret until his trial, since authorities redacted portions of his statements to police. The State Attorney’s Office cited several public records exemptions for the redactions, including one that protects details of confessions.

Harrell, 24, was charged March 26 in Somer’s slaying. She vanished Oct. 19 while walking home on Gano Avenue after leaving school. Her body was found in a Georgia landfill two days later. Sheriff Rick Beseler has said that evidence against Harrell includes statements he’d previously made to police.

Harrell was first jailed in Mississippi Feb. 11 on unrelated child pornography charges. The charges stemmed from a case opened in August when Harrell’s former roommates gave police a computer and discs they said he used to store graphic images of young girls. The released records involved that case, but also included new details about Somer’s death.

Harrell once lived with his mother and stepfather at 1152 Gano Ave., which was along Somer’s route home. About a week after her disappearance, police were alerted to Harrell’s use of the home when the parents of one of the former roommates told deputies they spotted his car there.

The parents and roommates knew Harrell once lived at the home. They were suspicious of his possible involvement in Somer’s disappearance because of his connection to child pornography, they told police.

The records show detectives first interviewed Harrell on Oct. 30 in Somer’s case. He allowed them to search the home and property, but they spotted nothing suspicious.

Harrell said he had been with his mother between 3 and 5:30 p.m. on the day Somer disappeared, including time they spent at the home helping her pack for a move to Callahan. Somer was last seen in the neighborhood about 2:45 p.m.

Harrell’s mother, Annis Dailey, told police she was with him, apparently at the home, between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., the records show. She said they left together, gassed up their vehicles, had dinner at a McDonald’s and split up about 5:30 p.m. In a jail call between them months later in Mississippi, Dailey told her son she would provide him an alibi in Somer’s case.

No other details of the Oct. 30 interview were included in the records.

The records include some exchanges between detectives and Harrell after his Feb. 11 arrest in Mississippi. At one point, Harrell agrees to view a pornographic picture of a girl and said he recognized her from a Web site.

“Jarred Harrell realized that he was admitting to having viewed child pornography and changed the subject,” the records state.

Harrell freely spoke to detectives about the charges he faced during his ride from Mississippi to Clay County and when he arrived, but summaries of those discussions are redacted.

The records offer some insight into work done in the child pornography case, which has been the subject of some criticism since Harrell wasn’t charged in that until well after Somer was killed. Beseler has said plenty of work needed to be done before an arrest could be made in the child pornography case.

The records show that Harrell claimed one of his roommates, who kicked him out over a theft allegation, could have set him up by downloading the pornography onto his computer. One of the roommates gave inexplicably deceptive responses when asked during a polygraph if he transferred pornography onto Harrell’s computer, the records show.

Among the other records released Thursday were entries Harrell and his friends made on his MySpace.com page. Under his profile, he said he drinks, smokes and is undecided about having children. He lists horror flicks among his favorite movies and “CSI” among his favorite TV shows. Of books, he wrote, “I don’t read much.”

Harrell’s last log-in was on Nov. 12, more than three weeks after Somer’s death. He lists his mood as tired.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-04-15/story/records-jarred-harrell-tells-cops-he-was-gano-avenue-home-day-somer

How Somer Thompson Suspect Was Caught

Despite Child Porn Evidence, Suspect Stayed in Home in School Zone

By KIMBERLY LAUNIER, ROBBIE GORDON and TAMI SHEHERI
April 16, 2010

In the cover of darkness, a man runs.

He is alone, and yet he is being watched. Neighbors awakening to their weekday obligations notice that for the man, dawn has become a kind of witching hour of stealthy activity.

For weeks, 24-year-old Jarred Harrell was observed scurrying from his shed to various areas of his backyard in the early morning. Sometimes he was dressed only in what neighbors described as short silk boxers and a gray sweatshirt.

According to a woman who lived next door, Harrell, who moved to the home in Callahan, Fla., at the start of the year, acted strangely from the start.

Watch the full story tonight on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/TheLaw/police-home-somer-thompson-suspect/story?id=10385449

Thanks for the notice on the 20/20 story, J4A. He makes me violently ill....

You can watch the full episode of 20/20 at the following link or watch it on the embedded videos below.

http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/166626/258643/a-parents-nightmare-sex-offenders-in-our-midst

J4A, thank you for this. I recorded it Friday night and watched it last night. It was very enlightening. I recommend everyone watching it.

Somer's mom faces her daughter's accused killer

May 21, 2010
Last Update: 2:13 pm


Diena Thompson in court

Thompson wore 7-year-old Somer's name on a t-shirt in her daughter's favorite color, purple. She cried before Jarred Harrell entered the courtroom.

Thompson's parents and three victim's advocates sat with her. Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler was also in the courtroom.

Thompson did not cry when Harrell walked into court. She looked right at him. Harrell did not look back. He kept his face towards the judge.

"He's so much of a coward he can't even turn around at look at the mother of the child he murdered," Thompson told Action News after the hearing was over.

Tuesday's hearing was requested by Harrell's defense team. They wanted to suppress all evidence in Harrell's court cases.

The hearing revealed that police interviewed Harrell on video tape when he was first arrested in February in Meridian, Mississippi on child pornography charges unrelated to Somer.

Judge John Skinner denied the request to preserve that video, police notes, text messages and instant message evidence.

Harrell's defense also asked for a protective order, requesting nothing about the case be characterized to the public by public officials. Judge Skinner also denied that request. He said he had not seen that happening by anyone involved in the case.

"I hope the rest of the trial goes as well as today went," Thompson said afterwards.

Harrell is charged with kidnapping, molesting and murdering Somer Thompson in October. He is also charged with child molestation, owning child pornography and making child pornography in an unrelated case.

Wednesday's hearing was Harrell's longest appearance in court. It lasted 30 minutes.

Harrell's next pretrial hearing is set for May 20.

http://www.fox30jax.com/content/actionlocal/story/Somers-mom-faces-her-daughters-accused-killer/EcEZiQ9qvEC7uyGQ0dAcjQ.cspx

Prosecutors Push For Death Penalty in Somer's Killing
Prosecutors want Jarred Harrell to die for kidnapping molesting and murdering Somer Thompson

By Rich Jones, News Director @ May 21, 2010 6:02 AM

Lawyers met Thursday in Clay County and prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if Harrell is convicted of killing the 7 year old.

Harrell's next court appearance is scheduled for June 24th. Cops say Harrell snatched the girl while she was walking home from her Orange Park School back in October.

Her body turned up a few days later in a Georgia landfill. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/05/prosecutors-push-for-death-pen.html

I finally found a way to embed that beautiful Danny Gokey song for Somer.

Hatchet's new CD 'Justice' includes Somer's song; supports Foundation

Clay Today
June 4, 2010
Clay Today staff

LAKE ASBURY – The hard rocking southern rock band Molly Hatchet is doing its part to remember a young murder victim from Clay County.

The band’s latest CD “Justice,” released in the United States on Monday, June 1, includes the single “Fly on Wings of Angels,” which is written about 7-year-old Somer Thompson.

Molly Hatchet’s lead guitarist Bobby Ingram, a Lake Asbury resident, says the song is a way the band can help the family and warn parents worldwide about the dangers faced by their children.

“This is a big huge concept record,” Ingram said. “It’s not just that is going to touch our community … this touches everybody in the word. In some fashion justice has touched everybody … they either feel justice served or justified.”

Ingram isn’t just letting the song speak for him. He's also putting actions to words by joining with Somer’s mother, Diena, to form The Somer Thompson Foundation. And to show how strongly he feels about the foundation, which he chairs, the band has donated all future royalties of the song “Fly on Wings of Angels” to the foundation.

The connections with the Thompson family are growing stronger, too. Ingram said he invited the family to his home in April to celebrate the birthday of Somer and her twin brother, Sam.

“They are just amazing people. They are so genuine,” he said. “It was one of the best times I have ever had here at my house.”

Somer went missing Oct. 19 while walking home from Grove Park Elementary School. A massive search by law enforcement and volunteers turned up nothing, but then investigators, acting on a hunch, searched a Georgia landfill and found her body.

Jarred Harrell, who lived along the route Somer took on her way home, was arrested in February and later charged with her murder. He is being held without bail in the Clay County Jail awaiting trial.

Ingram said he became involved when supporters of the Thompson family decided to hold a fundraising concert at Orange Park High School. Prior to the concert he met Diena Thompson and felt an immediate connection to her because he had lost his wife when she died suddenly six years ago.

“The FBI took us over to meet Diena. When I saw her I said I told her I know what suffering is, and what loss is about. It’s a loss that you can’t describe and that I don’t’ know how you feel, but I do,” he said. “I don’t want to see someone suffer in my community and I didn’t turn my back. I was asked to bring community together again and in my little way I did through music.”

Inspired after meeting Diena, Ingram said he went back to his recording studio in Orange Park with a song in mind. Even though the band was already in pre-production of the new CD, Ingram began reworking the concept to encompass the Justice theme.

Written from Diena’s perspective, the song questions why the tragedy happened, he said.

“We wrote it in like 20 minutes. It was just amazing,” he said. “It wasn’t finished as far as the lyrics, but the lead and cords were the exactly same then as they are on the record.”

He later asked Somer’s older sister, Abby, to sing “You Are My Sunshine” at the beginning of the song, which is also being released as a single.

As for the new CD, Ingram said it’s getting great reviews in Europe, where it was released a week earlier. “The album is definitely the biggest of the band’s career since ‘Flirtin' with Disaster’ and it’s definitely the highest profile of the band’s career.”

There are plans for Diena and her children to join Molly Hatchet when it plays in major U.S. markets to get the word out the Somer Thompson Foundation. The song, with Abby singing, too, was performed in April during the Somer Jam in Jacksonville.

“Molly Hatchet is a wonderful vehicle to help face this threat across the United States. We touch so many big markets, and now we’ve got the Somer song that we can make people aware of the problem ( of stranger abductions,” he said.

Diena Thompson said she’s excited about the song and appreciative for all Ingram has done.

“Of course I’m excited,” she said. “(The song) will immortalize Somer forever.”

She’s hopeful that through music others will be educated about the dangers children face. And the foundation will give other grieving mothers somewhere to turn to, she said.

“When all that was going on I can remember thinking that all I wanted another mother who kind of knew that I was feeling,” she said. “They don’t give you a manual on what to do. My main thing is to be there for that person.”

In addition to the promotional tour to Europe and the Orient later this year, a golf tournament is planned this fall at World Golf Village. Ingram said he hopes to have other rock groups, celebrities and athletes get involved in promoting the Somer Thompson Foundation’s message.

One of their first goals is to get the Florida Legislature to pass legislation that would require convicted sex offenders to live at least one mile from a school, creating a “Somer safety zone” and to shorten the Amber Alert period from 24 hours missing to just 30 minutes, Ingram said.

Being involved in the foundation gives purpose to his life, said Ingram, who is so energized he found himself searching at 4 a.m. in his attic for items to donate to the foundation. He’s also found a friendship with Diena that grew out of a terrible situation.

“Diena and I seemed to connect. Nobody really understands it … it’s more of a spiritual real life struggle that we have both experienced. She is helping me as much as I am helping her because she’s given me a purpose to help other people.

“Maybe this song is my John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’ If we can help each other, if we help each other one by one we can start to make a difference.”

For more information on Somer's Law, and a supportive petition, go online to www.somerthompsonfoundation.com. Information on the new CD is available at the band's website www.mollyhatchet.com

http://www.claytoday.biz/content/2348_1.php

This is wonderful, something so positive resulting from a child's murder. Somer will live forever in these songs. Thanks for sharing these J4A. I can't imagine the pain Diena feels, I'm thankful she's had so much support.

Somer Thompson Murder Suspect Jarred Harrell Not in Court Today

August 3, 2010





GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The trial in the murder of Somer Thompson will have to wait for several more weeks.

Jarred Harrell has been charged with the abduction and murder of 7-year-old Somer Thompson last fall as she walked home from school in Orange Park.

He was scheduled to be in court this morning for a pre-trial hearing, but the hearing was passed until Sept. 28. Harrell was not in the courtroom.

But Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, was there today, seated next to Bobby Ingram from the local band Molly Hatchet.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=161882&catid=3

Input sought for Somer Thompson vigil

September 13, 2010
By Stephen Kindland

ORANGE PARK – The president of an expanded Neighborhood Watch program is seeking input from the general public about activities to coincide with a candlelight vigil planned for the first anniversary of the slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson.

Hayward Peterson, who prefers to call himself an area coordinator for the newly established First Coast Neighborhood Watch program, is asking anyone interested in helping to organize the event to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16 at the Pentecostal church, 1909 Debarry Ave., near Kingsley Avenue.

“Anybody and everybody are welcome,” said Peterson, whose efforts to expand the former Grove Park/Oak Hollow Neighborhood Watch program has resulted in a revised membership list of 500 households between Wells Road and Kingsley Avenue and Park Avenue and Blanding Boulevard.

Read more: http://www.claytodayonline.com/content/2665_1.php

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You are welcome Tish. I would like to thank every member who posts articles and helps us stay on top of these cases.

Neighbors plan for anniversary of Somer's abduction

Last Update: 9/14 10:26 pm

ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- It was a crime that shook a community to its core. Somer Thompson, kidnapped, killed, and thrown in the trash, allegedly by a man who lived in her neighborhood.

It's been almost a year. Her neighbors are organizing an event to mark the anniversary, and they're asking for your help.

Read more: http://www.fox30jax.com/content/actionlocal/story/Neighbors-plan-for-anniversary-of-Somers-abduction/9VMtSEzt2kWCWNtNVHNERA.cspx