Posted on 03/19/2005 2:13:19 AM PST by stm
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A man abducted his 9-month-old son from the mother's home, then shot and killed the baby and himself as police closed in, authorities said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Sad.
A tragic story.
More of this sort of thing seems to be happening all over.
Maybe the baby wanted to die.
Humane actually. At least he didn't starve the baby to death. That would be much worse now wouldn't it?
That sort of thing is becoming quite the norm in Florida, I gather.
Shame about the baby.
I was talking about starving people to death. I'm hoping this is a one-off in Kentuckey.
In Florida, it's state sanctioned.
They are both human acts that result in the unnecessary ending of innocent life. One quickly, the other slow and less merciful.
I have just one question.
Why in the hell would this woman leave her 9 month old son with a babysitter just to go shopping?
There is nothing wrong with getting a baby sitter.
That is not a fair thing to say. That is shifting blame to the baby's mother instead of this "father" that shot this baby three times.
The mother was out buying EASTER BASKETS for heaven's sake.
PIKEVILLE - An Eastern Kentucky man abducted his 9-month-old son in Harlan County Thursday night and then killed the infant and himself while fleeing police on U.S. 23 in Pike County, state police said.
Randall Allen King, 46, of Raceland, an engineer for CSX Transportation, shot his infant son, Landon R. King, three times -- twice in the head, once in the torso -- with a .32-caliber pistol and then shot himself in the head with a shotgun, police said.
King's black 2001 Ford Expedition -- its emergency lights flashing, fleeing on four flat tires from five state-police cruisers -- then veered across U.S. 23 into a stone-lined ditch, smashed through a wire fence and overturned, 3 miles south of Pikeville.
Police said yesterday that King was intoxicated and that he had been involved in a child-support dispute with the infant's mother.
But Jerry Adkins, whose mobile-home lot is above the crash scene, couldn't understand what had happened.
"It's hard to imagine how one could get drunk enough to get in that state of mind," he said. "It's unbelievable."
Kentucky State Police spokes-man Scott Hopkins said that investigators have not yet determined a motive.
But Evarts Assistant Police Chief Mike Boggs said the child's mother, Eva Daniels, 33, told him Thursday that King -- who had remarried a Carter County woman in December -- was upset about a child-support hearing.
Boggs said that Daniels, a former Evarts video store owner who now works as a grocery clerk, "was telling me he called her all day yesterday (Thursday), asking, 'Can we work this out?' And she said no, she didn't want anything to do with him."
Boggs said Daniels, who was divorced 21/2 years ago and has a 6-year-old son, met King at a club in Virginia about 11/2 years ago. King and Daniels were never married.
The relationship had been marked by King's drinking bouts, Boggs said. King was arrested last year at Daniels' home.
"He went up there drunk," the police officer said. "He tried to talk to her and she didn't want to talk. He took his truck and rammed it into her front porch."
Laura Taylor, a family friend, said King made threats. "He had threatened everybody," she said.
Boggs said Daniels had left her two children with a 15-year-old baby sitter Thursday night while she went shopping for Easter baskets.
While she was gone, King showed up at Daniels' house, carrying a shotgun, a pistol and a nearly empty bottle of liquor, Boggs said.
After a short time, King left, Boggs said, and the baby sitter locked the front door. About two minutes later, however, King returned and kicked in the door. He asked the girl whether she had called police; she told him no "and that's when he grabbed the baby and ran."
Boggs said the baby sitter called Daniels' sister, Trish Beard of Evarts, who called Boggs and told him, "Randy was up there drinking, with a gun, and trying to take the kids."
Boggs and Daniels notified state police, who spotted King's vehicle on U.S. 23 at Jenkins after it had crossed Pine Mountain.
In a news conference yesterday morning in Pikeville, Hopkins, the state police spokesman, said troopers tried to stop the vehicle, but were unsuccessful. Five cruisers were following the vehicle in a chase that never exceeded 60 mph, he said.
Police did not fire any shots at King's vehicle and he did not shoot at them, Hopkins said.
At one point, King put his arm out the window and motioned for troopers to pull alongside his vehicle, as if to talk with them. Hopkins said they didn't comply because they knew he was armed.
Troopers from the Pikeville post placed "tire-deflation devices" across U.S. 23 in the Robinson Creek area, nearly 100 miles from Evarts.
Rolling on flat tires, the SUV traveled about a mile before running off the road.
Investigators think that King shot the baby and himself before the crash, but did not hear any gunshots.
Adkins, the mobile-home lot owner, said he heard the sirens, but never heard any gunfire.
Randall King was pronounced dead at the scene at midnight. The infant was taken to Pikeville Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. yesterday.
State police Lt. Bobby Johnson said the baby was found on the floor of the overturned vehicle, partially beneath the seat. There was no child restraint seat.
Autopsies are scheduled today, Hopkins said. Meanwhile, the battered, blood-soaked SUV was stored yesterday at the Roadtested Body Shop in Pikeville.
"You just don't know what goes on in some people's head, do you?" Boggs said.
Yes, this man who killed the baby is similar to Judge Greer in that both ordered the death of an innocent person who had done them no harm.
And your point is?
This woman had TWO children. She left them at home with a sitter to buy Easter baskets. Maybe the 9 month old wouldn't catch on, but you certainly wouldn't take an older child with you to buy that child's gift. Easter baskets are supposed to be surprises.
Go back and read my post again, if you need me to draw you a picture I will
I am not trying to shift the blame to the mother. I am trying to say that this woman knew that the guy had a drinking problem, and he had threatened all of them. I would not feel safe leaving my kids in a situation like that. I would rather leave them with a "trusted neighbor" who could defend them if needed.
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