Girl, 7, Found Stabbed to Death at School

Yahoo! News ^ | MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

[Tarpaulin]

HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. - A 7-year-old girl was found stabbed to death at a parochial school Thursday, and the son of a former village police chief is among those being questioned.

The girl's body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, police Chief Peter Miller said. It was not immediately clear when or where the child was killed.

Parents rushed to pick up their children after learning of the slaying.

Police, who did not identify the slain student, said they were questioning several people in the death, including Chris Rhodes, 27, the son of former Highland Falls police Chief Linwood Rhodes Jr. Authorities did not disclose Chris Rhodes' connection to the girl or the names of anyone else being questioned.

A woman who answered the phone number listed for Linwood Rhodes declined to comment.

The school, run by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York, has 240 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

The school will remain closed Friday, but counselors will be available to help students and family members, said diocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Each school family was to be called Thursday evening, he said.

"We recognize the impact this can have on the broader community as well," Zwilling said.

Highland Falls is near West Point, about 50 miles up the Hudson River from New York City.

[steveo]

prayers for the innocent...

[Skylus]

That is terrible :(

[Idisarthur]

Pray for the family and community.

Consider home schooling. I hope to give it a chance.

[kitkat]

Oh, dear God! Prayers for her poor family.

[brytlea]

I don't even know what to say. This is horrible. I pray for the family of the girl.
sundero

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

G-d be with her family now, and all those who loved her.

[sweetiepiezer]

PRayers for the family.

[God bless Texas]

Let's just say that my 11 year old daughter and I are appalled. We home school but even that is not secure enough. I pray that God reaches down to her family and that Jesus has opened His arms to her.

[Saundra Duffy]

How horrible. God bless her family and friends.

[greeneyes23]

My prayers and thoughts to her family, and may there be swift justice for whoever committed this henious crime. God bless this poor child.

[YankeeinOkieville]

Big BIG ditto to all the above posts.

That being said, I really loathe reporters who throw out a name of "one of a number" of people being questioned and then go on to try and call their family for comments. What DO these so-called reporters expect them to say!?

[CaptainK]

According to the local news Dad is the number one suspect. He was involved in a custody battle with the Grandfather.

January 28, 2005 -- A 7-year-old girl was stabbed to death in her upstate Catholic school yesterday — and a police source described her father as a suspect. Christopher Rhodes, 27 — the son of a former village police chief — was grilled during the day in the death of his daughter, Jerica, then released. Cops, however, cordoned off his street and searched his house in Highland Falls, near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, 50 miles north of New York.

Last night, he was brought back to the State Police barracks in Middletown for further questioning. A law-enforcement source said little Jerica's death resulted from "the most vicious fit of rage" he had ever seen.

"My baby's gone," said the girl's heartsick grandfather, Linwood Rhodes, who raised the little girl since her mother left when she was just 3 months old.

"She was with me most of her life. I just feel empty," said the granddad, who is the town's former police chief.

Christopher Rhodes — described by a police source as an associate of drug traffickers and having an arrest record — saw his daughter most days, usually walking her to school, the source said.

Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller said Christopher dropped off Jerica shortly after 8 a.m. near the auditorium of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Elementary School, where she was a first-grader.

She was found dead nearly 90 minutes later by a school employee. A source said she was in a bathroom. A source said cops were looking for clothing evidence. The father was wearing a jacket when he dropped off his daughter, but was not wearing one when he was picked up for the first time for questioning hours later in Newburgh.

"This is not a random crime," the source said. "Parents should not be afraid for their children's safety at the school."

Miller said no weapon was recovered and no school employees were considered suspects.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the New York Archdiocese, which oversees the school, said parents were being called and told about the murder, the town's first in eight years.

Zwilling said the school would be closed today, but counselors will be available at the school to help parents, staff and students.

"In a tragedy like this, the reverberations can be felt by the whole school community," Zwilling said.

[greeneyes23]

Thanks for the update. I pray it's wrong, but sadly it's probably true. If true, he should be quickly convicted and executed

[OXENinFLA]

I heard one the radio today the father was in custody.

[gathersnomoss]

""We recognize the impact this can have on the broader community as well," Zwilling said. "

Do you really? When a seven year old is stabbed to death, we all mourn. What the hell is going on in NJ?

Trial, Convict, Fry Immediately!

[CaptainK]

It was announced on the afternoon news that the police arrested the father. Why he committed this heinous act hasn't been fully explained.

[Veto!]

If the dad was a bad apple and involved in a custody dispute with his father, the grandfather, why couldn't he have attacked him instead?

Walking his daughter to school every day gave them time to talk. She probably told him she wanted to stay with granddad, and that set him off. I pity the poor granddad. What a horrible thing for him. His son the perp undoubtedly wanted to hurt him.

[Tarpaulin]

Dad Charged in School Slaying of Girl, 7

HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. - A father was charged with murder hours after his 7-year-old daughter was found stabbed to death in the boys' restroom at her small parochial school.

The motive was unclear, and no weapon has been found, police Chief Peter Miller said.

Christopher Rhodes, 27, denied guilt, police said.

The body of first-grader Jerica Rhodes was discovered not long after classes started Thursday at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in this Hudson Valley village, Miller said. Her father was arrested that night and was being held without bail, Miller said.

State police said the girl was stabbed more than once.

"It's a horrific act perpetrated against the most innocent of victims, a child," said state police Capt. Wayne Olson.

Blood found at his home was being tested to see if it matched Jerica's, police said

His lawyer said Rhodes loved the child. "I can't believe, for the life of me, that he would have done anything like that," Sol Lesser told the Times Herald-Record of Middletown.

The girl's 240-student Roman Catholic elementary school remained closed Friday, and a police fence encircled the grounds. Nestled against the fence were candles, two small teddy bears and a Piglet doll.

Jerica was last seen when Rhodes dropped her off at school during an assembly, police said. Investigators believe she was killed in the restroom.

Rhodes, the son of a former police chief here, pleaded guilty two years ago to a drug possession charge, which was reduced to a misdemeanor after counseling, police said.

The girl lived with her paternal grandparents in this town of about 5,000 people, next door to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and about 50 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. The village's main street ends at the academy's main gate.

A woman who answered the phone listed for the Rhodes family declined to comment.

Rhodes lived with a fiancee and her son in the village.

Police said Jerica's mother was estranged from the girl and Rhodes and lives in another upstate town. They declined to identify her but said she had been contacted.

Counselors were available to help students and family members, said Archdiocese of New York spokesman Joseph Zwilling.

The town's last homicide was nine years ago.