Girl, 7, Found Stabbed to Death at School

[Trinity]

News Break
01/27/2005 18:28:38 EST Girl, 7, Found Stabbed to Death at School
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press Writer

HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. - A 7-year-old girl was found stabbed to death at a parochial school Thursday, and police said they had no suspects as of late afternoon.
Jerica Rhodes' body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, police Chief Peter Miller said. He would not say exactly where the girl's body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.

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

Jerica's father, Chris Rhodes, 27, dropped her off at school around 8:10 a.m. during a school assembly and she wasn't seen again until her body was discovered, police said. After questioning Rhodes, the son of a former village police chief, police said they do not consider him a suspect.

A woman who answered a phone listed for the Rhodes family 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.

 

[no1tovote4]

May her family find peace and justice....

 

[5stringJeff]

Wow. Highland Falls is the village right outside West Point's gates. Small, quite a few immigrant workers (who work on post), but a nice little tourist town. I'm sure a lot of cadets will chip in to help with this somehow.

 

[freeandfun1]

I wonder if the girl was killed not because of who SHE is, but because of whose CHILD or GRANDCHILD she is......

 

[no1tovote4]

I wonder if the girl was killed not because of who SHE is, but because of whose CHILD or GRANDCHILD she is......

What if it was because of how she worshipped?

 

[freeandfun1]

What if it was because of how she worshipped?

That was my first thought, but why her? Why not another child or multiple children? Her grandfather is a former Village Police Chief....

 

[Johnney]

times are strange indeed!
im our area here, which nothing ever happens (well 'cept the retards that decided to rob the banks around her when the pres and kerry stopped here), have had some crazy shit. this week alone there has been 2 murders, a 16 year old girl dismembered another 16 year old girl, and some shit bag ran over another teen yesterday. suiicide at the cemetery (they left the vehicle there, went to look at it... blood spuirts all over the windows, cut wrists im guessing...ok so im morbid), some rocket scientist ran into someones house, doused himself with gas and lit it... of course he died (cleaning out the gene pool). a 15 year old boy raped a 15 month old child, some kid fed his parents and brother rat poison....

im tellin ya its the end of days.

 

[Annie]

It may be my 'highly tuned' predator sensors, but she was found in an area she shouldn't be in. My guess is that someone at the school, especially with an assembly going on, was able to entice her with some story or other.

So sad.

 

[5stringJeff]

im tellin ya its the end of days.

Let's hope so...

 

[freeandfun1]

Let's hope so...

ditto!

 

[insein]

damn i dont know how the father didnt bust into that school fists blazing aimed squarely at every janitor, teacher, adult in that whole building. I'd be freakin out beyond all comprehension if i dropped my kid off at SCHOOL and she ended up stabbed. :bangheads :bangheads :bangheads

 

[Merlin1047]

It gets worse:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6879786

Girl found slain at school, father charged
7-year-old's body discovered soon after she was dropped off
NBC News and news services

Updated: 8:59 a.m. ET Jan. 28, 2005HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. - A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of his 7-year-old daughter who was found stabbed to death at a parochial school.

Chris Rhodes, 27, was arrested Thursday night and was being held without bail.

The arrest was based on "forensic evidence we recovered," Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller told NBC's "Today" show. Investigators believe first grader Jerica Rhodes was killed at the school, he said, adding that Chris Rhodes' vehicle had been seized.

Jerica Rhodes' body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, Miller said earlier. He would not say exactly where the girl’s body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.

Jan. 28: Father Jack Arlotta of the Sacred Heart of Jesus School and Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller talk with "Today" show anchor Ann Curry about the murder.

Chris Rhodes dropped Jerica off at school during a school assembly and she wasn’t seen again until her body was found, police said. The girl lived with her grandparents in Highland Falls, a small village next to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Police said they had not found a weapon and would not confirm how the girl died.

“I can’t believe, for the life of me, that he would have done anything like that,” Chris Rhodes’ lawyer, Sol Lesser, told the Times Herald-Record. “I know him, and I know how much he loves his daughter.”

On probation
Rhodes, the son of former local police Chief Linwood Rhodes Jr., is on probation for misdemeanor drug possession, according to court records.

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

Police said Jerica’s mother lived “further upstate,” and had not been in regular contact with the girl or Chris Rhodes.

The school, run by the 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.

 

[Annie]

It gets worse:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6879786

Girl found slain at school, father charged
7-year-old's body discovered soon after she was dropped off
NBC News and news services

Updated: 8:59 a.m. ET Jan. 28, 2005HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. - A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of his 7-year-old daughter who was found stabbed to death at a parochial school.

Chris Rhodes, 27, was arrested Thursday night and was being held without bail.

The arrest was based on "forensic evidence we recovered," Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller told NBC's "Today" show. Investigators believe first grader Jerica Rhodes was killed at the school, he said, adding that Chris Rhodes' vehicle had been seized.

Jerica Rhodes' body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, Miller said earlier. He would not say exactly where the girl’s body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.

Jan. 28: Father Jack Arlotta of the Sacred Heart of Jesus School and Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller talk with "Today" show anchor Ann Curry about the murder.

Chris Rhodes dropped Jerica off at school during a school assembly and she wasn’t seen again until her body was found, police said. The girl lived with her grandparents in Highland Falls, a small village next to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Police said they had not found a weapon and would not confirm how the girl died.

“I can’t believe, for the life of me, that he would have done anything like that,” Chris Rhodes’ lawyer, Sol Lesser, told the Times Herald-Record. “I know him, and I know how much he loves his daughter.”

On probation
Rhodes, the son of former local police Chief Linwood Rhodes Jr., is on probation for misdemeanor drug possession, according to court records.

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

Police said Jerica’s mother lived “further upstate,” and had not been in regular contact with the girl or Chris Rhodes.

The school, run by the 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.

Oh no, that is so horrible. The poor grandparents and child.

 

[winston churchi]

Probibly some drugged out very disturbed kid (not young kid) who grabbed the first young girl that was easily available to him.

You know, just the other day I was thinking that if I had a child I would put them in a Catholic school because I consider them 'safer' than the gun shootin' public schools today....but this is proof .. no school is safe from the mental.
Some people want to kill...why they don't just kill themselves instead is beyond me.

This poor child, I certainly hope the ordeal was quick and painless...no suffering...and pray for her family!

 

[ScreamingEagle]

What I want to know is if the father actually turned his child over to the teacher specifically in charge of the class the little girl belonged in. There should have been a very clear transfer of responsibility for one so young, not just a "dropping off" of a 7-year-old into "a school assembly" which should never happen. Teachers are normally very vigilant of such young ones. If the teacher in charge of the child was taking care of his/her charges, then the child should never have wound up in some remote area of the school.

 

[Annie]

guys, it was the father, at least that's what it looks like:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showpost.php?p=235907&postcount=12

 

[insein]

i dont buy it. How was the father not seen by anyone in the school? Strangers usually stanbd out like a sore thumb at schools. I get odd looks whenever i drop my sister off at school because its usually my parents that drop her off. Anyone that isnt a normal person is suspisciously looked at at most schools that ive been around. Especially after columbine and other school shootings.

This doesnt add up to me. Plus the misdemeanor drug possession could have been a joint or an empty pipe that had marijuana residue. Definitely not a psycho there. This is why i dont pay attention to the media in these cases because they can convict a person before there is ever a shred of evidence.

 

[Annie]

i dont buy it. How was the father not seen by anyone in the school? Strangers usually stanbd out like a sore thumb at schools. I get odd looks whenever i drop my sister off at school because its usually my parents that drop her off. Anyone that isnt a normal person is suspisciously looked at at most schools that ive been around. Especially after columbine and other school shootings.

This doesnt add up to me. Plus the misdemeanor drug possession could have been a joint or an empty pipe that had marijuana residue. Definitely not a psycho there. This is why i dont pay attention to the media in these cases because they can convict a person before there is ever a shred of evidence.

The father wasn't a 'stranger?' He was around the school. School assemblies usually allow parents to come, especially in grammar schools.

 

[insein]

parents are not normal people in a school setting. I know your a teacher but you have to admit that youd be aware if a Parent was on the premises wouldnt you? A person that is out of the ordinary usually raises eyebrows. Im not buying that he'd kill his own daughter ON school premises. This smells of a janitor or teacher. Why didnt any kids see this girl at school?

It just pisses me off that a 7 year old goes to school, gets killed and no one knows a god damn thing.

 

[Annie]

parents are not normal people in a school setting. I know your a teacher but you have to admit that youd be aware if a Parent was on the premises wouldnt you? A person that is out of the ordinary usually raises eyebrows. Im not buying that he'd kill his own daughter ON school premises. This smells of a janitor or teacher. Why didnt any kids see this girl at school?

It just pisses me off that a 7 year old goes to school, gets killed and no one knows a god damn thing.

The janitor, teacher was my original thought. Seems the police, who at first ruled out the son of the former chief, decided differently.