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St. Francois Co. requests special prosecutor in child abuse case

Published

2 years ago

March 23, 2023

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ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, Mo. – A special prosecutor will handle a child abuse case against a former employee of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors allege Laura Cheatham and Daryl Head kept four children locked inside small, windowless boxes in Head’s Farmington home.

Cheatham and Head were arrested in August 2018 after an abuse report was filed with the Missouri Children’s Division Investigators. Deputies with the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department went to a home in the 100 block of Meadowbrook Drive on Aug. 7.

Authorities claim Head denied deputies entry into the home. Deputies eventually forced their way inside and discovered Cheatham letting the children out from the dimly-lit boxes. The children, three girls and one boy, were between the ages of 5 and 12.

Both Head and Cheatham were arrested that day and the children placed into protective custody with the Children’s Division.

The St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Cheatham and Head with four counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree kidnapping each.

Investigators discovered Cheatham had been working in the Department of Corrections in January 2018, and that she ordered child-sized inmate uniforms from the Farmington Correctional Center’s clothing supplier. She allegedly told the inmate in charge of the clothing supplier that the uniforms “were for her kids.”

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Authorities took custody of the child-sized uniforms from the correctional facility, as well as cardboard patterns labeled “kids pants” and “kids shirt,” and the work order documentation.

Last month, St. Francois prosecutors requested that neighboring Madison County authorities assume prosecutorial duties on the case. This week, the Madison County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed paperwork to take over the case.

Trial dates for both Cheatham and Head were set for May 19 in Fredericktown.

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

Published

1 year ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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