Whisper
#byefelicia
You can read the whole story from day one in order here
Debra Evans
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/debra-evans
Fetal abduction
Addison Murder Suspects Indicted
Robbery Charges Added By Grand Jury
December 13, 1995
Former witness in '95 slayings to be asked about drug claims
March 02, 2004.
Grandfather Raising Boys Out Of Tragedy
March 09, 1998
Baby cut from mother's womb;16 years later
Debra Evans
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/debra-evans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_abductionDeborah Evans was murdered in her apartment in Addison, Illinois. Jacqueline Williams, her boyfriend Fedell Caffey, and her cousin Lavern Ward went into the woman’s home and shot Evans in the head. She had three children and was pregnant with a fourth. Two of Evans' children were murdered along with their mother. Evans' murderers then proceeded to cut through her womb with scissors and remove the fetus. One of the children, a baby boy, survived, as did the fetus. The three murderers were caught and sentenced to life in prison
Addison Murder Suspects Indicted
Robbery Charges Added By Grand Jury
December 13, 1995
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-12-13/news/9512130132_1_wheaton-debra-evans-fbi-crime-labThe list of charges faced by the three people accused of killing a pregnant Addison mother and her two children grew longer Tuesday
[..]
Joseph Birkett, DuPage County's chief prosecutor, said he added the robbery charge because a jacket and a portable stereo were taken from the North Swift Road apartment where Debra Evans was shot and her full-term baby cut live from her womb. Evans' 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, was stabbed to death with broken-handled scissors that night, and her son Joshua, 7, was abducted and killed the following day.
[....]
Former witness in '95 slayings to be asked about drug claims
March 02, 2004.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-03-02/news/0403020106_1_drug-claims-deposition-attorneyA DuPage County judge will allow the defense attorney for a man convicted of the 1995 murder of Debra Evans and two of her children to question a former witness in the case about his comments on alleged drug use by county officials.
Judge Peter Dockery granted a motion Monday by Richard Kling, attorney for Fedell Caffey, to take a deposition of Dwight Pruitt. Pruitt testified in Caffey's trial that Debra Evans' son, Joshua, stayed at his Villa Park-area apartment the night before he was killed.[...]
Debra and Samantha
Joshua Evans
Jordan was spared
Grandfather Raising Boys Out Of Tragedy
March 09, 1998
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-03-09/news/9803090204_1_debra-evans-living-older-brotherBRIDGEPORT, Ill. — Elijah Evans was brought into the world as his mother was taken from it in a death so violent it stretches the perceptions of human viciousness.
But now he is nearly 250 miles away and more than two years from that beginning, living in the country on what was a hog farm about 14 miles east of Downstate Lawrenceville.
He sleeps in his own bed. His big brother, uncle and grandpa sleep a few feet away. He is surrounded by family photos on the walls, toys and videos. His aunt and three cousins live next door. On a shelf behind a box is his great-grandfather's painting of Jesus' resurrection. In the barn is an appaloosa named Pistol Pete and 17 acres of his grandpa's land to explore.
He is too young to comprehend his history. But those who do know the cataclysmic events that put him in this pastoral setting--the events his maternal grandfather, Sam Evans, wrestles with daily--will hear them unfold again Tuesday, when opening statements are scheduled in the trial of Jacqueline Annette Williams, the first of three people charged with Debra Evans' slaying.
Elijah Evans' birthday is Nov. 16, 1995, the day he was cut from his mother's womb in the attack that killed her. His older sister was stabbed to death in her pajamas in the family's Addison apartment during the attack. An older brother was abducted, stabbed to death and dumped in an alley the next day. His only living sibling, older brother Jordan, was found splattered with blood but unharmed in the apartment.
His father, Lavern Ward, 26, of Wheaton, is one of the three charged in the crimes.
"There'll be a day when I have to tell him," said Sam Evans, who is raising "Eli" and Jordan, "but not today, not today."
Day to day is all Sam Evans can cope with, and even that gets overwhelming.
"Sometimes, yeah," he said, nodding his head of shoulder-length graying blond hair. Evans, a stout man who favors T-shirts with images of country/western performers, jeans and sneakers, is a soft-spoken 49-year-old Vietnam War veteran who teaches sociology and truck-driving part-time at Wabash Valley Community College in nearby Mt. Carmel.
When the boys came to live with him, Evans returned to church after many years. He began attending New Hope Christian Church in Bridgeport with his grandsons. In February, he sat down with his new pastor, David Stevenson, for nearly an hour, talking about the financial strain and his need for a church family for spiritual and emotional support.
The 150 or so parishioners will shower them with compassion and give them security, Stevenson added. Sam Evans, however, is experiencing enormous grief, Stevenson said.
"This is something that he'll never get over," Stevenson added. "I know it's had to change him in a lot of different ways, but Sam is strong enough and determined enough where he'll be fine. He'll be fine."
[...]
Debras dad Sam Evans raised the boys Jordan and Eli
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-baby-cut-from-mothers-womb-16-years-later-20111217,0,4201132.storyNovember 16, 1995, Debra Evans - who was 28 years old and pregnant with her fourth child, was shot and stabbed to death in her apartment in west suburban Addison. Also killed were her two children Samantha and Joshua.
Her 22 month old son Jordan was spared by three the killers who then used a pair of shears to cut the un-born baby from her womb. The killers took the baby, but he was quickly rescued when police tracked them down a few hours later.
The baby survived - and 16 years later he is a smart, strong and ambitious teenager.
"I mean I’m known as a sports guy. Who I am, how I treat people,†says Eli Evans. “My main goal is to go to the NFL, people say it can't be done, I'm the type of person [that] make me wanna do it even more."
Eli and his brother Jordan were raised by their grandfather, Sam Evans, Debra's father.
“What came out of the whole thing is that Eli lived, Jordan lived,†says Sam Evans. “Living for their mom and sister and brother. That will continue the rest of their lives."
The boys have had no contact with their father Levern Ward. One of the three people convicted for the killings, all serving life in prison.
"I was taught to forgive,†says Eli Evans. “Maybe he has felt sorry for what he's done."
“When I was a rookie reporter I was just starting out in Chicago,†says Chicago Tribune Reporter Christy Gutowski. “I was one of the many reporters who covered this story, and it's just one of those you never forget and I was always wondering how this boy was doing."
In preparing for the story, Gutowski spent three days with Eli's family.
"So he's very typical in many respects but in other ways he's very aware that his story,†says Gutowski. “At 16, he's still trying to figure it all out."
[..]
Elijah
Eli and his brother Jordan
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