Tag Archives: Antonio Santiago

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Teens pleads not guilty in Ga. baby slaying

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A coastal Georgia teenager has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the slaying of a baby that authorities say was shot in the face during an attempted robbery on a street.

Court records show 15-year-old Dominique Lang waived arraignment before a judge Thursday in Brunswick and entered his plea in writing. Attorneys told the judge a second suspect, 17-year-old De’Marquise (day-mahr-KEESE) Elkins, had also waived arraignment but there was no record of his written plea in the court file.

Elkins’ attorney, Kevin Gough, declined to comment.

The suspects are charged in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Authorities say Elkins shot the child in his stroller as he and Lang tried to rob the baby’s mother.

Both teenagers have been charged as adults.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/iCpT1FEXpG8/

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Women deny hiding gun seized in Georgia baby killing

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The mother and older sister of a coastal Georgia teenager charged with killing a baby last month are pleading not guilty to charges that they tried to dispose of a gun police believe was used in the slaying.

The Brunswick News reports that Karimah Elkins and her 19-year-old daughter, Sabrina Elkins, entered written pleas Friday. Both are charged with evidence tampering in the case against 18-year-old De’Marquise (deh-mahr-KEESE) Elkins. He faces a malice murder charge and other counts in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in coastal Brunswick.

An indictment accuses the two Elkins women of disposing of a .22-caliber pistol in a small saltwater pond where it was later found by police. The gun is being tested to determine whether it matches the weapon that killed the child.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/6AMtelW6lUk/

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Women deny hiding gun seized in Ga. baby killing

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The mother and older sister of a coastal Georgia teenager charged with killing a baby last month are pleading not guilty to charges that they tried to dispose of a gun police believe was used in the slaying.

The Brunswick News reports (http://bit.ly/cEp60) that Karimah Elkins and her 19-year-old daughter, Sabrina Elkins, entered written pleas Friday. Both are charged with evidence tampering in the case against 18-year-old De’Marquise (deh-mahr-KEESE) Elkins. He faces a malice murder charge and other counts in the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in coastal Brunswick.

An indictment accuses the two Elkins women of disposing of a .22-caliber pistol in a small saltwater pond where it was later found by police. The gun is being tested to determine whether it matches the weapon that killed the child.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/Y09XiP-FYRc/

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Attorney wants separate trials in Ga. baby killing

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The defense attorney for a 15-year-old charged with felony murder in a baby’s slaying in Georgia says he should be tried separately from an older teen accused of shooting the toddler in the face.

Attorney Kimberly L. Copeland said Tuesday she believes her client, Dominique Lang, is “more of a witness than a defendant.”

Copeland says she’s afraid Lang would automatically be found guilty if the same jury also chose to convict 17-year-old De’Marquise (deh-mahr-KEESE) Elkins. Authorities say he was the gunman.

Both teenagers are charged in coastal Brunswick with the March 21 slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago, who was shot in the face as he sat in his stroller. Police say the baby and his mother were attacked in an attempted street robbery.

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Judge wants trial in baby killing before year ends

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A judge said Friday he wants a trial before the end of the year for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face during a street robbery two weeks ago.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley didn’t give a tentative trial date for 17-year-old De’Marquis Elkins. District Attorney Jackie Johnson told the judge she thought investigators would have evidence ready to share with Elkins’ defense lawyers next month. The judge scheduled the suspect’s next hearing for May 24.

“I do expect we will try this case by the end of this year,” Kelley told the attorneys at the end of a bond hearing Friday morning.

The judge denied Elkins’ request for bond, saying he was concerned the suspect might flee if he was released.

Elkins faces life in prison if convicted of malice murder in the March 21 slaying of Antonio Santiago. Police say the boy was shot in a robbery attempt. His mother, Sherry West, has said she was pushing her son in his stroller a few blocks from her apartment when two youths approached asking for money. When she refused, she said, one of them drew a gun and shot her in the leg before shooting her baby in the face.

An indictment last week identified Elkins as the person who pulled the trigger. Another teenager, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, has been charged with murder as an accomplice.

“Mr. Elkins is certainly disappointed with the decision” to deny him bond, said Kevin Gough, the suspect’s defense attorney. “But he is also every encouraged by the speedy trial schedule the court is considering.”

Gough had urged the judge to consider bond for Elkins based on his lack of any prior felony record, though Elkins pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and giving a false name to a police officer.

The suspect’s 78-year-old great grandfather, McKinley Elkins Jr., took the witness stand and promised the judge he would personally look after his great grandson if he was released from jail pending trial.

“I truly believe, deep down in my heart, that he will be a gentleman from this day forward,” the elder Elkins said.

But just how well the great grandfather knew …read more

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Judge wants 2013 trial in baby in stroller killing

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A Georgia judge says he wants a trial before the year ends for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a baby in the face.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley told attorneys Friday he expects a 2013 trial for 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins. The suspect is charged with malice murder in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago two weeks ago in the coastal city of Brunswick. Police say the child was shot as Elkins and a younger teenager tried to rob the boy’s mother.

The judge denied Elkins’ request for bond Friday, saying he’s concerned Elkins might flee.

Elkins’ great grandfather, McKinley Elkins, tried to assure the judge that if the teenager was released on bond he would be “a gentleman from this day forward.”

…read more

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Lawyer: Official regrets involvement in baby case

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The attorney for a city commissioner accused of interfering as police investigated the fatal shooting of a baby says his client did nothing criminal.

Attorney Alan David Tucker said Friday that Brunswick city commissioner James Henry Brooks regrets trying to help the mother of the teen suspected in the baby’s death.

Tucker says Brooks “picked the wrong ones to go to bat for” in the case. Brooks stood between a police officer and the suspect’s mother and advised her not to talk to authorities without a lawyer.

Brooks was charged Thursday with obstructing police and interfering with a witness. A judge granted him $5,000 bond Friday.

Police charged 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins and another teen last week in the shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. Elkins’ mother and sister are charged with evidence tampering.

…read more
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Official charged with obstruction in Ga. baby case

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A coastal Georgia city official was arrested on charges of obstructing law enforcement and influencing a witness in the case involving a 13-month-old boy who was fatally shot last week.

David Tucker — an attorney for Brunswick city councilman and mayor pro tem James Henry Brooks — told WTLF-TV that his client was arrested for stepping between police and the mother of 17-year-old suspect De’Marquise Elkins when police tried speaking with her during a court appearance Monday.

Brooks — who also faces racketeering charges in Camden County — was being held Thursday night in the Glynn County jail on $1,256 bond for obstruction. He is also being held without bond on the charge of influencing a witness, sheriff’s officials said.

Brooks’ arrest came as investigators were looking at a possible gang tie in the slaying of a Georgia toddler. They said Thursday that a bullet used in the shooting had been recovered.

More search warrants were executed Wednesday night, though Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering didn’t say specifically what evidence might have been found.

The chief did reveal Thursday that investigators have recovered the bullet they believe was fired in the killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago as his mother strolled him down a sidewalk on March 21 in Brunswick, a town on Georgia‘s coast. The bullet and a .22-caliber handgun, which was found submerged in a pond two miles from the crime scene, are now being analyzed at a crime lab.

Elkins and another teenager have been charged as adults with murder and other counts.

When asked directly whether it’s possible the shooting was a part of a gang initiation, Doering wouldn’t go that far, saying investigators are exploring “whether gang involvement is part of this.”

Police are concerned about the safety of witnesses in the emotionally charged case, the chief said. However, he pleaded with people who have information to come forward, and to put aside their fears in the interest of justice.

“We know there are still witnesses out there, people who have information,” Doering said.

An indictment returned this week accuses Elkins of shooting the toddler in the face.

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Police find bullet they believe killed Ga. baby

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Police say they’ve recovered a bullet in the slaying of a toddler who was gunned down in his stroller while walking with his mother in a coastal Georgia town.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering also said Thursday that more search warrants were executed Wednesday night, though he didn’t say specifically what new evidence was being sought.

The chief did say investigators recovered a bullet they believe killed 13-month-old Antonio Santiago as his mother strolled him down a Brunswick sidewalk on March 21.

An indictment this week accuses 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins of shooting the toddler in the face. Elkins’ attorney says he’s not guilty.

A second suspect, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, is also charged with murder, though prosecutors say they believe it was Elkins who shot the child and wounded his mother in an attempted robbery.

…read more
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Georgia teen indicted in baby murder, second unrelated shooting

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Investigators told reporters Wednesday they believe the case of a baby who was fatally shot in his stroller during an alleged robbery attempt by a teenager was random — something they hadn’t said previously.

The comments came as an indictment by a Glynn County grand jury was served up charging 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins on nine counts, including malice murder, in the slaying last Thursday of young Antonio Santiago a few blocks from his home in coastal Brunswick.

According to the indictment, the teenager shot the 13-month-old baby in the face while trying to rob the child’s mother. The indictment also charges the suspect with shooting another person in an unrelated robbery attempt earlier this month.

Another suspect, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, was indicted on seven counts including felony murder. But the indictment specifies that authorities believe it was Elkins who shot the child and wounded his mother with a .22-caliber revolver as the boys tried to steal money from her.

District Attorney Jackie Johnson of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit said in a statement Thursday she would not seek the death penalty against either suspect because Georgia law doesn’t allow capital punishment for defendants charged with crimes committed before they were 18. Both teens are charged as adults.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering told reporters before the indictment was returned that investigators believe the crime was random.

“We’re comfortable now, six days into it, to say the location of the incident and the victim were random,” Doering said. “I don’t have any information that shows otherwise.”

…read more
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Police: Slain baby, mom victims of random crime

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Almost a week after a baby was fatally shot in his stroller, police in coastal Georgia are saying for the first time they believe the child and his mother were victims of a random crime.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering told reporters Wednesday investigators are looking into the possibility that the killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick was gang-related. But Doering says evidence police have gathered so far doesn’t support gang-related charges.

The child’s mother, Sherry West, says they were attacked last Thursday after she refused to give money to two youths who approached them on the street. She says a teenage gunman shot her in the leg and shot her baby in the face.

Police have charged 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins and 15-year-old Dominique Lang with murder.

…read more
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Mom, aunt of Ga. baby slaying suspect arrested

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Police investigating the fatal shooting of a baby in coastal Georgia have arrested the mother and aunt of a teenage suspect on charges that they lied to authorities.

Glynn County jail records show 36-year-old Karimah Elkins and 33-year-old Katrina Elkins were booked Tuesday on charges of making false statements to police.

Karimah Elkins is the mother of 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, who is charged with murder in the Thursday killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick.

Katrina Elkins is the suspect’s aunt. She told The Associated Press and other media on Saturday that her nephew couldn’t have killed the child because he was at her house having breakfast.

The baby’s mother, Sherry West, identified De’Marquise Elkins in a police photo lineup as her son’s killer. Fifteen-year-old Dominique Lang is also charged.

…read more
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Lawyer for Georgia teen charged in baby killing says client '1,000-percent' not guilty

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The lawyer for one of the Georgia teenagers charged with murder in a baby’s shooting said Monday his client is “absolutely” not guilty and the grandmother of the second suspect said her grandson would never be involved in such a crime.

“My client is absolutely, 1,000-percent not guilty,” public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press. He made the comments Monday, while preparing for Elkins’ first court appearance on the murder charge. It was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

Elkins and a 15-year-old are charged in Thursday’s shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago who was in his stroller on a walk with his mother, Sherry West, who was also shot. Both suspects are charged as adults.

At a Monday hearing, the 15-year-old came into the courtroom shackled and wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit, The Florida Times-Union reported.

The teen glanced at the few members of the media allowed into the courtroom for the initial appearance as he shuffled to a lectern facing Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton.

The magistrate told the boy he couldn’t set a bond because only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases.

“I’m going to see that you get a lawyer immediately,” Barton said.

The teen was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the school system.

The teen’s relatives said he would never get involved in such a crime. His grandmother told WJXT-TV in Jacksvonville the boy is a baby himself, not a baby killer.

Elkins was last a student in October 2011, when he left Ombudsman, an alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

Sherry West said she was walking home when two boys confronted her to try to rob her and one of them opened fire. Police say she was shot in the leg, and her baby was shot in face.

Gough, Elkins attorney, said he has demanded a bond hearing and filed a request for a speedy trial for Elkins.

“We look forward to our day in court,” he said.

Firstcoastnews.com interviewed Ashley Glassey, the 21-year-old daughter of West, who told the station that the night of the shooting, West asked her how soon a life insurance policy would send her a check.

“She changed her story she told me the baby was shot first and then she told me she was shot first,” Glassey told the station.

West has said she picked the gunman out of a photo lineup of 24 mugshots and insists he killed her baby.

Click for more from Firstcoastnews.com

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Lawyer for Georgia 17-year-old says his client 'absolutely' not guilty of killing baby in stroller

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The lawyer for a suspect in the shooting death of a baby who was killed in his stroller says his client is “absolutely” not guilty.

“My client is absolutely, 1,000 percent not guilty,” public defender Kevin Gough, who represents 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, told The Associated Press. He made the comments Monday, while preparing for Elkins’ first court appearance on a murder charge. It was scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.

Earlier, a 14-year-old boy who also faces a murder charge appeared in court Monday morning in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The baby was killed Thursday as his mother walked him on a Brunswick street.

At Monday morning’s hearing, the 14-year-old came into the courtroom shackled and wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit, The Florida Times-Union reported.

He glanced at the few members of the media allowed into the courtroom for the initial appearance as he shuffled to a lectern facing Glynn County Magistrate Tim Barton.

The magistrate told the boy he can’t set a bond since only Superior Court judges can do so in murder cases,

“I’m going to see that you get a lawyer immediately,” Barton told the boy.

The 14-year-old was in the eighth grade at Glynn Middle School before his arrest, said Jim Weidhaas, a spokesman for the Glynn County school system.

Elkins was last a student in the system in October 2011 when he left Ombudsman, an outsourced alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

The baby’s mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home Thursday morning when two boys confronted her and one of them opened fire. Police say she was shot in the leg, and her baby was shot in face.

Gough said he has demanded a bond hearing and filed a request for a speedy trial for Elkins.

“We look forward to our day in court,” he said.

…read more
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Police say anonymous tip led them to arrests in case of murdered baby

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Police in Georgia say an anonymous tip helped them make arrests in the shooting death of baby who was killed in a stroller.

The Brunswick Police Department said Sunday that they got a tip that someone was crouched in the back seat of a vehicle as it drove away from the shooting Thursday. The Glynn County detective’s division spent hours following up on the tip and eventually arrested a 14-year-old suspect. The boy’s statements led them to take 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins into custody.

Elkins is charged with murder in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. The baby’s mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home when Elkins and a younger boy approached and asked her for money.

Elkins’ family says he did not shoot the baby.

…read more
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Tip led to arrests in Ga. baby killing

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Police in Georgia say an anonymous tip helped them make arrests in the shooting death of baby who was killed in a stroller.

The Brunswick Police Department said Sunday that they got a tip that someone was crouched in the back seat of a vehicle as it drove away from the shooting Thursday. The Glynn County detective’s division spent hours following up on the tip and eventually arrested a 14-year-old suspect. The boy’s statements led them to take 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins into custody.

Elkins is charged with murder in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. The baby’s mother, Sherry West, said she was walking home when Elkins and a younger boy approached and asked her for money.

Elkins’ family says he did not shoot the baby.

…read more
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