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10 11 12 13 14 15 16 a7 is 1s 20 21 22 23 24 28 STATE OF INDIANA SS: COUNTY OF MADISON IN THE MADISON CIRCUIT COURT, DIVISION IIT SITTING AT ANDERSON, INDIANA IN RE THE MATTER OF: STATE OF INDIANA, Plaintiff, vs. CAUSE NO. 48C03-1504-MR-000566 GERALDINE R. JONES, Defendant. TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS ARREST WARRANT HEARING FOR GERALDINE R. JONES BEFORE THE HONORABLE THOMAS NEWMAN, OR. DATE: APRIL 18, 2015 CAROLYN M. DAVIS OFFICE COURT REPORTER MADISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, DIV. III 1 THE COURT CONVENED ON APRIL 18, 2015 AND THE FOLLOWING 2 EVIDENCE WAS PRESENTED ‘s 10 a 12 13 14 15 16 ay 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THOMAS NEWMAN, JR., Judge Madison County Circuit Court, III JESSIE MILLER, Madison County Deputy Prosecutor SCOTT SANDERSON, Anderson Police Department Detective THE COURT: Okay. We're here at 3:28 p.m. on this the, what is it? ‘The 18 day of - - DETECTIVE SANDERSON: Yes, sir. THE COURT: - - of April, 2015. Taking some oral testimony in regards to request to be presented to the Court. Officer, would you raise your right hand? DETECTIVE SANDERSON: Yes, sir THE COURT: Do you swear or affirm under the penalties of perjury the testimony you give will be the truth? DETECTIVE SANDERSON: Yes. THE COURT: Mr. Miller, you may proceed. STATE'S COUNSEL - MR. MILLER: Thank you, Your Honor. 10 a 12 13 14 as 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 sCOTT SANDERSON, after first being duly sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, was examined and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY STATE'S COUNSEL - MR, MILLER: Q A > op» Oo sir, would you state your name? Scott Sanderson. And you're with the Anderson Police Department? Yes. And we/re here on an arrest warrant request, is that correct? Yes And who - - who are we searching - - or who are we requesting to arrest? Geraldine R. Jones. And is Ms. Jones a suspect in a current investigation? Yes, she is. could you explain briefly what is the nature of that investigation? The investigation started on April the 6 where the victim, Samantha Fleming, was taking from Anderson by a female black that stated that she was a Department of 1 10 a 12 13 14 1s 16 a7 18 19 20 22 22 23 24 25 STATE'S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) Children Services worker and was told she was taking her back to Gary for a court hearing and she called on the 4% to the victim’s mother, using a blocked number and then called Samantha shortly after using a blocked number stating that - - to - - to the victim’s mother, she didn’t know her information. So she called her and set up he fact that she was supposedly a DCS worker and we showed later that she was never employed by Department of Children Services So you ran the name Geraldine Jones and in your investigation determined that she was not employed? Verified around our county, Lake County, between here and there, any cases: She even had an open case in Lafayette. Verified that this person has never been employed by the Department of Children Services. When Geraldine Jones came posing as a DCS worker in Anderson, were there any witnesses there? Yes, there actually three (3). The tim, Samantha Fleming, has a boyfriend by the name of Rainey Stanley, living at 10 West Claire street in Anderson. The female black showed up in business attire and the neighbor, Harold Smith, came home, She was at the door vinging the bell, the doorbell, and he asked who she was looking. She said, “Samantha Fleming.” He led 1 10 a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) yp oP oO them to the apartment, and before entering the apartment, he heard her say, “I’m here for a surprise visit,” or “inspection.” Then she went into the victim's apartment. He saw Rainey stanley, the boyfriend, is the one that answered the door and he just went into his apartment. Then, Rainey Stanley states while in the apartment, she states again, who she is, sits down at a table, and has a binder with paperwork, never opened anything up, has him go wake Samantha Fleming, the victim, up, telling her she - - she is there to pick her up to take her to a court hearing in Gary. As they leave, Rainey Stanley gets a plate number, which I believe he’s close but off by a little bit, and we later find the vehicle with a close similar nurse's license plate. Also, the neighbor and the neighbor's girlfriend looked out the back window of the apartment and watched them get in the vehicle and leave and then gave descriptions of the vehicle. Now, did the victim leave with anyone else? All three (3) people say only the black female. And... That stated she was from the Department of Children Services. And did any other persons - - was it just the victim 10 2 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STATE'S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) and the - - the suspect in the vehicle? A And the baby. There’s a baby name Serenity Fleming that was about seventeen (17) days old on the 6”. And that child went with the victim? A The suspect actually told her in front of the boyfriend, it would look better if you took the baby with you when we went to court. Q And, you said, it was earlier in April, April 6” approximately that this happened? A That’s the day they left. Q And since then, has there been further developments in this case that would change from a missing person’s case to the case that we/re here on today? A Yes, it is. Q Tell us your involvement and how you got involved in the case subsequent to that investigation A Okay. I was contacted by Sargent Denny, our department, myself and Detective Mark Cole on the 6™, after the family had no further contact with Samantha, called Gary and Gary said she left from Anderson, and wanted Anderson to do a missing person. Q You said, Gary, that’s Gary Police Department? A Gary Police Department in Gary, Indiana. So we started a missing person's case and over from the 6" until the 6 1 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STATE'S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) 17, were following up on leads, pinging the victim's phone, going through call logs, ete., trying to find her and the baby. There’s several text messages sent to - from the victim to her mother, but will never - - she will never make an actual phone call. Even, they keep asking her to let them know it’s really her, and so the family, the entire time, believes it’s not her because of the content of the text and that she doesn’t spell well and that everything’s like perfect spelling And are you eventually - - does the investigation eventually take you to Gary, Indiana? It does. And why do you go to Gary? Yesterday, it felt like we complied enough information to finally go to Gary and meet with the Gary Police Department detectives. I met with Detective Alex Jones who had been working some of the information up there and they'd found a wallet and notified us. They found the victim’s wallet in an apartment complex in Gary. on the way up there, we had finally got a return on blocked call through the phone company and it came back to a Geraldine R. Jones. And when you say blocked call, you're talking about a telephone number that... 10 a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 22 23 24 25 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) A rp Oo FO 2 > ro yp Oo pO That was on the 4 to the grandmother and the victim, when the D - - the lady claimed she was the DCS worker ‘That phone... - - came in blocked. The phone you believed to be the suspect's phone? Yes. We went back on that day and that time, and were able to - - they were able to unblock the number and give us phone number and a name attached to that phone. And that name was Geraldine Jones? Geraldine R. Jones. And what did you do based upon that? When I got up to Gary, I was talking to the detective off and on my way up to Gary, and when I got there, we xan Geraldine Jones in their computer and it had an address on Cleveland Street. We discussed some further things to do, and at that time, we still - - we're still treating it as a missing person. I was going talk to the sister in Griffith, Indiana, to make - - to get more information. You say sister, sister of Geraldine Jones? Of the victim. Of the victim. Yeah, Samantha Fleming. Her name is - - last name 1 STATE‘S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) 10 a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Archer. Kaylee Archer. When I looked on my map, from not being in the area, I realized that Griffith wae further away than I thought. So I already left the police department, I contacted the detective back. We'd already discussed going over to the Cleveland address that come back to Geraldine Jones and I asked him if he was available or if he could send a car over, so that I could make contact and try to locate this was the same Geraldine Jones, to try and see person that picked up Samantha Fleming on the 6". And so you - - did you ultimately respond to that address? I did. and what did you find when you got there? When I walked up to the house with the two (2) uniformed officers, there was a black female standing at the door with an infant baby. The officers asked her a few questions and she seemed pretty nervous and confused and I finally just asked her what her baby’s name was and she said she didn’t know. T asked her what she meant by she didn’t know and she said that's it's not my baby, it’s my sister’s and then, I finally - - she asked me to come in and we went in and sat down, er, she sat down and I began asking her some 9 1 10 a 12 13 1a 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) questions about her sister, and within a couple minutes, she explained that on the previous Friday, her sister, Geraldine Jones, dropped this baby off at her dad’s, that her other sister took her to the airport, and she went to Texas claiming that she was depressed and that yesterday morning, she attempted to commit suicide, and so she said, we have this - - we took the baby from our dad because he’s elderly and we were going to keep it for a couple of days and we all are pretty confused, and at that time, I asked her did she veally believe that that’s her sister’s baby, and she said, no. She immediately also at that point said, “Do you smell the smell in the house? It smells like something’s dead,” and I said, “Yeah THE COURT: Let me ask a question. DETECTIVE SANDERSON: Yes, sir. THE COURT: What‘s the race of the baby? DETECTIVE SANDERSON: Mixed. THE COURT: Okay. DEYECTIVE SANDERSON: The mother’s - - the victim/mother is white and Italian and has kind of olive skin and the baby’s father is suppose to be black and it just appears to be mixed with a olive 10 x 10 11 12 13 14 as 16 17 18 19 20 22 22 23 24 25 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) skin and dark hair THE COURT: Okay. And so as you're having this conversation... THE COURT: You had the smell. The smell. THR COURT: That's where I interrupted you STATE'S COUNSEL - MR. MILLER: No, no, that’s alright, Your Honor. So she brings up the smell to you? She brings up the smell to me and the officers are standing in the house and I first asked her, “Did you,” ex, “is anyone else in the house?” I’m in Gary, Indiana. I’m kind of out of my area with a couple of police officers in uniform, that, not knocking them, they appeared just a little bit inexperience. 1 kind of said it twice and she says, “No.” And they look at me and said, “Do you think we should go look?" and I said, “Please.” They just walked down the hall and back, and came back. When the -~ ~ they finally sent uw 1 10 a. 12 13 14 15 16 aq 18 19 20 22 22 23 24 25 STATE'S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) out another detective, they sent out a juvenile detective by the last name of Lucas because of the baby. He shows up and we - - I inform him of everything and tell him that I believe that this is the baby, Serenity Fleming, that I was looking for and me and him walked to the back to talk, to the back of the house for a minute to talk and he smells that also, and I said, ‘Yeah, I’ve already smelled that.” But it’s kind of faint. It wasn’t like a - - like I couldn’t veally tell, you know, when they later found the body, the body was bagged and tied. Garbage bag and tied with duct tape and so, of course, didn’t know how long the body had been there but the - - you could obviously smell it but it was somewhat faint. So he actually later to the prosecutor there, had explained to him that everything he goes out finding as many people as they find hiding, that he walked through the house and Iwas actually right there with him when he lifted up a rug in a tote in the closet, cause it was like stacked and there was huge tote on the bottom, there was a bag that appeared to be a body and then we just stopped right there. and after that, did they obtain a search warrant for the rest of the house? 12 1 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) 2 10 a. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A op oO > > op» oO They - - I can’t say for a fact that they obtained a search warrant because I’d went outside. They had contacted the coroner. They contacted their violent crimes unit, several different units, the chief and all them were there and I kind of got out of the way because at that point, I believed, you know, that was their stuff to handle and I was - - I got out of the house as the crime scene and we just Was the body eventually taken by the coroner - - Yes, it was. - - and autopsy performed? Tt was performed today, yes. And were you informed by Gary Police Department about the results of the autopsy? Detective Jones told me that - - that they did identify her by several tattoos that she had. And when you say, “she,” you're talking about - - Samantha Fleming. - - Samantha Fleming? Yes And were there any distinctive injuries that they noticed? Detective Jones from Gary PD told me they counted at least ten (10) stab wounds and I didn’t really talk to 13 1 10 a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1g 20 21 22 23 24 25 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) him very long to get more information on the condition of her body, but he said they were able to count ten (10) as if her body had deteriorated, you know, somewhat, and said that it was on her back, front, arms, hands, several areas of her body. And Geraldine Jones, at this point in time, where do you believe her to be? She is in a hospital in Bedford, Texas. And do you know this because her family members contacted you? and - - and we found that information out through the sister’s in Gary yesterday and Gary called - - police department called and verified that she was and I have to say that it’s in Texas. Bedford Police Department was the contact person. So I believe the hospital's in Bedford. If not, it’s right in the area of Bedford. Okay, and she’s being held there at this point in time? On a forty-eight (48) hour - - as of yesterday they said, she was going to be held at least forty-eight (48) hours because of her attempted - - attempting suicide. And you - - we are here today seeking this warrant so that you - - you can work with the authorities out there to possibly detain her and interview her for 14 1 STATE'S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT) 2 further investigation and questioning, is that correct? 3 A That’s correct. 4 Q Your Honor, I think that’s all I have. 6 THE COURT: The record establishes there's 7 sufficient evidence to justify the issuing of 8 warrant for Geraldine R. Jones. So ordered. 9 anything else, Mr. Miller? 10 STATE'S COUNSEL - MR. NILLER: No, Your Honor. aa 12 13 14 15 (AND THAT WAS ALL THE PROCEEDINGS HELD THIS DATE) 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 15 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20, 21 22- 23 “pa. 25 STATE OF INDIANA COUNTY OF MADISON IN THE MADISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT DIVISION Itt REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE |, Carolyn M, Davis, Reporter of the Madison County Circuit Court, Division, lll, State of Indiana , do hereby certify that I am the Offi Court Reporter of said Court, duly appointed and sworn to report the evidence of causes tried herein. That upon the arrest warrant request hearing in this cause beginning on, the 18" day of April, 2015, and I took down, by I recording, all of the statements by counsel, the evidence given during the trial of this cause, the objections of counsel thereto, and the rulings of the Court upon such objections, the introduction of exhibits, the objections thereto, and the Court's rulings thereon. further certify that the foregoing transcript, as prepared, is full, true, correct and complete of the testimony in this cause. IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Official Seal, this April 21, 2015. Cos pa aurd CAROLYN M.'DAVIS OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER CIRCUIT COURT, DIVISION III MADISON:COUNTY, INDIANA 16

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