Teen Charged With The Murder Of 9-Year-Old Half-Sister Found Hanging From Tree

[Whisper]

RAGLAND, Alabama -- An 8-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree near her home Thursday night in Ragland.

St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell said the girl was discovered hanging from a rope just after 9 p.m. on Poplar Street. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

"It's suspicious, definitely" Russell said.

http://al.com/spotnews/2012/05/8-yea...irl_found.html

Authorities identify Ragland girl, 8, found hanging in tree

RAGLAND, Alabama — Police have identified the 8-year-old girl who was found hanging from a rope attached to a tree at her home in Ragland.

St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell tells The Associated Press that authorities are treating the death as "a very suspicious" case.

Russell identified the girl as Katelynn Arnold. She was found hanging from the rope shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday. He said that an autopsy was planned in Huntsville to help determine how she died.

Neighbors told WBRC-TV the rope used to be part of an old tire swing. Russell described it as "like a big cotton rope."

Ragland Elementary School planned to have grief counselors available Friday for classmates of the girl.
[...]

http://al.com/wire/2012/05/authoriti...ragland_g.html

Ragland girl's hanging death ruled homicide; St. Clair sheriff sets 1 p.m. press conference to discuss case

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Alabama -- The hanging death of an 8-year-old Ragland girl has been ruled a homicide, St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell said.
[....]
Katelynn Arnold was found Thursday night by her mother hanging by a rope in a tree near their home, Russell said.

The girl was taken to the emergency room at St. Vincent's St. Clair Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m., Russell said.

http://al.com/spotnews/2012/05/ragla..._death_ru.html

not alot out yet

[cubby]

Dear God WHY!!??

[Whisper]

8-year-old's hanging death ruled a homicide

RAGLAND, AL (WBRC) -

[...]
Katelynn Arnold, a third grader at Ragland Elementary, was found hanging from a rope on a tree at her family's home on Poplar Ridge Lane Thursday night.

The completed autopsy shows Katelynn died as a result of strangulation by ligature, confirms St. Clair County coroner Dennis Russell. Before the autopsy was completed, the coroner called the girl's death suspicious. The autopsy rules her death as a homicide.

The Associated Press reports that the St. Clair County Sheriff's office has a juvenile suspect in custody in connection to Katelynn's death.

Neighbors say the rope the girl was hanging from was at one time part of an old tire swing. The coroner described it as "like a big cotton rope."

Katelynn's body was discovered just after 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 10.

Officials from Ragland Elementary School say Katelynn was a student there. They plan to have grief counselors on hand Friday for students.
[...]

http://www.wxix.com/story/18310609/8...led-a-homicide

The scene where Katelynn Arnold's body was discovered hanging from a tree has been cordoned off by officials

[Whisper]

UPDATE FROM PRESSER
Ala. boy charged in killing of girl found on rope

ASHVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Alabama authorities say a 14-year-old boy is charged with murder for the death of a girl found hanging from a tree.

St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles says the victim, Katelynn Arnold, was 9 years old and the boy's half-sister.

Her body was discovered Thursday night outside her home in Ragland, a rural town about 40 miles northeast of Birmingham.

Neighbors told WBRC-TV the rope used to be part of a tire swing
[...]

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/183112...venile-suspect

[DamagedGoods]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...SIU_story.html

Not much more except this:

Alabama authorities say a 14-year-old boy is charged with murder in the death of a girl found hanging from a tree.

St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles says the victim, Katelynn Arnold, was 9 years old and the boy’s half-sister.

[TheMorningStar]

The cotton rope from an old tire swing was deliberately tied in a simple knot around the girl's neck, but was not a hangman's noose, the sheriff said. St. Clair County Coroner Dennis Russell said an autopsy found the cause of death was homicide due to ligature strangulation.
The boy and girl were living with their aunt and uncle as part of a foster home situation, Surles said. Several relatives who had gathered at the small, white home declined to comment Friday.
The girl was riding her bicycle Thursday evening and her aunt noticed she was missing. She drove around looking for the girl for about 45 minutes and came home to find her hanging from a tree outside the home, the sheriff said.
A call came into the sheriff's department about 8:10 p.m. and by the time investigators arrived, rescuers had removed the girl from the tree. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The boy faces juvenile charges so his name was not released. Authorities could later decide to charge him as an adult.
After the girl was found and taken to the hospital, the boy went to bed, Surles said. He was arrested between 2 and 3 a.m. and admitted to killing the girl, Surles said. He said the boy told investigators a motive but Surles did not release it.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...ope/54905500/1

[cubby]

This has turned out to be even worse than I ever imagined. Her brother killed her. I give up.

[Aena]

Wow, just wow. Her half-brother hanged her with a tree swing rope. They were living with the relatives because they had been taken away from their parent/s. This is just a fucked situation all the way around...

[LadyCygnet]

Stuff like this just drives home how important it is to be good parents to your children, in my opinion. This kid had to have some serious issues to murder his half-sister and try to make it look like a suicide. What would break a child like that?

[Whisper]

Alabama boy, 14, charged with murder of half-sister
Hearing set to determine if boy will be certified as an adult in case

(CNN) -
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the death of his 9-year-old half-sister, whose body was found attached to a rope hanging from a tree, Alabama authorities said Friday.

St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles said the victim, Katelynn Arnold, was discovered Thursday night outside her home in Ragland, some 40 miles northeast of Birmingham.

The child was taken to St. Clair Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, he said.

Citing laws covering juveniles, Surles would not identify the suspect. A hearing has been set to decide whether he will be certified as an adult.

St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor told CNN the suspect was charged in juvenile court with one count of murder and that the charging documents are sealed.

Both children lived with foster parents at the home where the body was found, Surles said.

It was not clear whether they were related to the foster family, he said. "We're trying to find out who's related to who," Surles said.

Asked what the motive may have been, he said, "I have no idea."

But he said he had no doubt that the killing was no accident. "That's why he's charged with murder," he said.

The victim's foster mother found the child in the yard after having searched for her by driving around the neighborhood, he said. "This child was actually touching the ground; it wasn't as if she was dangling on from a tree limb."
(CNN) -
Surles said the cotton rope had been tied to a limb in a figure-8 knot, not a noose. "That rope apparently had been used for an old tire swing and I think during a storm last year the tree got blown down. The rope was readily available."
The boy was taken into custody Thursday night, Surles said.

Neighbors had seen the children in the yard earlier in the day, he said.
[...]

http://www.wtae.com/news/national/Al...z/-/index.html

[Whisper]

Katelyn

RAGLAND, Alabama -- She was a good student who enjoyed learning, but she often kept to herself, the principal of Katelynn Arnold's school recalled today.

"She was a sweet little angel," Ragland School principal Roger Wilkinson said of Katelynn. "If you were a teacher, you'd like a room full of them."

[...]
Both Katelynn and her half-brother lived with their aunt and uncle, who were serving as their foster parents. People gathered at the home today declined to comment.

Alabama Department of Human Resources spokesman Barry Spear said he did not know what, if any, involvement DHR might have had with the family.

Wilkinson said the half-brother also attends the school, but he would not say what grade he was in. Katelynn had been a student there for three years.

Central office counselors were called in to assist the schools counselors, Wilkinson said.

Despite Katelynn's death, the school today held its spring fling for elementary students.

"We debated about canceling it, but we wanted them to have something to do other than sitting in a classroom and thinking about it," Wilkinson said.

It's been a little more than a year since the elementary school students have had to say goodbye to one of their own.

Leah Isbell, a 7-year-old first-grader at the school, died with her mother and grandfather on April 27, 2011, when a tornado demolished the assisted living facility the family owned.

"Unfortunately, we've had to go through this before, but we've found that kids are resilient," Wilkinson said. "They'll get better. It's just going to take some time."

Shelby Harden, 18, an 11th-grader at Ragland School, said she had attended Hardin's Chapel Church with Katelynn for about a year. Harden recalled Katelynn as a child who loved hugs and sometimes sang with other children during worship services.

"She was a quiet little girl. She was really sweet," Harden said.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/05/...alls_9-ye.html

[Rydo Larsson]

Just seeing that little girls picture somehow makes it seem worse :( dont really know what to say about it apart from its messed up

[Killroy]

RAGLAND, AL – Police have charged a 14-year-old with the murder of his 9-year-old half-sister who was found dead on Thursday, hanging from a tree in her family’s backyard.
Katelynn Arnold’s aunt became concerned when she did not return home from a bicycle ride around the neighborhood on Thursday and started looking for her. She did not find her with any of the friends she normally played with and returned home to find the girl in the backyard, hanged from a tree with an old tire swing rope.
Rescuers removed the girl from the tree and rushed her to the hospital where she would be pronounced dead. An autopsy would show cause of death to be ligature strangulation. Investigators would immediately call the death “very suspicious” but would not say why. That is until early the next day when they arrested Katelynn’s 14-year-old half-brother and charged him with murder.
The teen has admitted to police that he killed the girl by hanging her from the tree and has provided them with a motive that they have yet to reveal to the public. The unidentified boy currently faces juvenile charges but authorities could later decide to charge him as an adult as prosecutors did in the recent case of a 14-year-old Indiana girl who stabbed her 4-year-old cousin to death.…

This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.


"Read the full Front Page article..."

[Whisper]

Just seeing that little girls picture somehow makes it seem worse :( dont really know what to say about it apart from its messed up

The pics always make it seem more real and hit home harder (to me at least)