January 26, 2012

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THE LEADER THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012 ▪ VO L . 1 2 8 , N O. 1 4 ▪ T H E VO I C E O F TIPTON COUNTY S I N C E 1 8 8 6 ▪

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Brown gets life without parole Tells family, ‘I am plagued by flashbacks and their screams’

By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com

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ne day after he was convicted in the brutal murders of James “Ed” and Bertha “Bea” Walker, Jacob Brown took the stand, apologizing to the Walkers’ family members while his own father sobbed loudly in the hallway of the justice complex. “I’m so sorry,” the 17-year-old said as he wiped tears from his face, “you have no idea how sorry I am. I cry for them every night. I am plagued by flashbacks and their screams.” Brown told the court he didn’t know why he killed the elderly couple, that he had no control over what he was doing, and afterward he sat in the backyard of a friend’s home. “I sat down and didn’t move for I don’t know how many hours,” he said. The Walkers were found dead inside their Wiley Drive home in Munford on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. The couple was beaten so badly with an aluminum baseball bat – more than 40 times combined – police initially believed they’d been shot to death. Brown was questioned the following day and arrested after confessing to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Mark Reynolds. Though he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in September 2010, in March 2011 he was ruled competent to stand trial and was tried as an adult. The state charged him with two counts each of first-degree murder, felony murder and especially aggravated burglary. After deliberating for an estimated hour and a half

IN TEARS On Friday, Jan. 20, convicted murderer Jacob Brown, 17, took the stand during his sentencing hearing. Prosecutor Walt Freeland asked Brown whether or not his hallucinations would win again should he eventually be released, Brown told him, “It’s a possibility.” Brown was later sentenced to life without parole. Photo by Echo Day

Thursday night, a jury returned a verdict of guilty on all six counts. The Walkers’ daughter Myra, who found her parents’ badly beaten bodies, said in cases like these “nobody wins.” Sharing the impact the murders have had, Friday Millican told Brown, “You have no idea what you’ve done to my family.” She asked Brown to look at her while she spoke and she was glad he obliged.

“I knew you were a cold-blooded killer, but I want to thank you for looking at me.” Brown’s mother, Lisa Chrismon, shook her fists in frustration after hearing Millican, then left the courtroom. Brown’s father later took the stand and told the Walker family he was angry with his son. “I am as angry as I can be with my son, more angry than any of you will ever be … but he is my SEE TRIAL, PAGE A2

Father charged with shaking 5-month-old By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com A Ripley man was arrested last week and charged with child abuse after shaking his infant daughter to the point of injury. On Saturday, Jan. 14, the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a 5-month-old who had injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome from LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where the child was taken, said spokesperson Deputy Chief Donna Turner. During the investigation, detectives and investigators with the Dept. of Children’s Services determined that the child’s mother, Deborah Fowler, of Walton Loop in Covington, had taken the couple’s daughter to Baptist Hospital Memorial-Tipton after the child’s father, Robert Daniel Brasch, told Fowler she’d fallen off of the couch. The child was in the care of her father

TOTEM POLE! Students and faculty at Drummonds Elementary react to the unveiling of a new sculpture last Thursday morning. Sherri Warner Hunter, a nationally-known artist, designed the sculpture, which is on display in front of the school. Photo by Jeff Ireland

SEE BABY, PAGE A3

Reader’s Guide

Petty, county budget and accounts director, dies

TODAY’S WEATHER Rain, rain, go away. High, 50. Low, 34.

INSIDE Opinion Faith Obituaries Education Business

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Sports Correspondence Classifieds Puzzles Legals

SWEET GREETS ♥ Show love for your Valentine by sending them a sweet greeting in our Love Lines! See page B12 for more information. HOW TO REACH US Call 901.476.7116 Fax 901.476.0373 Email news@covingtonleader.com Visit us at 2001 Hwy. 51 South, Covington, TN 38019 or online at covingtonleader.com

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By ECHO DAY eday@covingtonleader.com On Saturday, Jan. 21, Tipton County Budgets and Accounting Director Bruce Petty died as a result of complications from lung cancer. Petty, 58, had been employed with the county for 35 years and could be called upon to accurately recite any number of facts and figures pertaining to Tipton County’s budget. Also an active member of the

Covington Lions Club since 1978, Petty was the contact person for the distribution of eye wear to those in need, the organization’s signature service project. Additionally, Petty was a volunteer firefighter with the Covington Fire Department, a barbecue judge and a member of the Masonic Lodge and First Baptist Church in Covington. He was a part of his church choir and recently sang in the Christmas cantata. Family members say Petty loved

fishing. Funeral services took place on Tuesday, Jan. 24. He was buried at Indian Creek Cemetery. Petty leaves his wife of 39 years, Deborah Byars Petty and their daughter Amy Lee Petty of Butte, Mont.; his mother, Louise Hurt Petty of Covington; sisters Lynn (Alan) Weltzien of Dillon, Mont. and Cheryl (David) Baker of Grand Prairie, Mont.; nieces Jessica and Melinda and nephews Alec, Daniel, Joel and Robert.

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