Geraldine Jones was charged with murder, kidnapping and confinement in the death of Samantha Fleming, 23, of Anderson, and the abduction of her newborn daughter, Serenity.
Geraldine Jones was charged with murder, kidnapping and confinement in the death of Samantha Fleming, 23, of Anderson, and the abduction of her newborn daughter, Serenity.
Geraldine Jones was charged with murder, kidnapping and confinement in the death of Samantha Fleming, 23, of Anderson, and the abduction of her newborn daughter, Serenity.
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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. III1
THE COURT CONVENED ON APRIL 18, 2015 AND THE FOLLOWING
2 EVIDENCE WAS PRESENTED
‘s
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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
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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
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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 of1
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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 led1
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STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT)
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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 victim10
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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
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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
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STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT)
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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 name1 STATE‘S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT)
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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
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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
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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
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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?
121 STATE’S WITNESS - SCOTT SANDERSON (DIRECT)
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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
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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
141 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.
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15 (AND THAT WAS ALL THE PROCEEDINGS HELD THIS DATE)
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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
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