Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

I couldn't find a thread for Rilya although the story has been mentioned in several other threads. Her body has never been found,but the trail began this week.........this is a Florida case where it took DCSF a year to realize that 4 year old Rilya was missing :-(  This is sickening. Rest in Peace, Rilya - you never had a chance :-(

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Rilya-Wilson-Had-Scars-on-Her-Arms-Head-Witness-181272511.html


Cage Submitted as Evidence in Rilya Wilson Murder Case
Laquica Tuff testified Wednesday in the trial of Geralyn Graham, who is charged with first-degree murder
By Steve Litz
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012  |  Updated 7:41 PM EST

Prosecutors showed a cage where they believe foster child Rilya Wilson was kept in court on Wednesday, on the third day of caretaker Geralyn Graham's trial.

The cage was submitted as evidence.

Earlier, a prosecution witness testified that she saw Rilya with scars on her arms and head before she disappeared.

“There were scrapes on her arms. There was a gash on her head, forehead area,” family friend Laquica Tuff said of Rilya, who vanished without a trace more than a decade ago.

Graham is on trial for first-degree murder, kidnapping and child abuse. The 66-year-old woman faces life in prison if convicted.

The judge refused to grant a mistrial on Tuesday.

Tuff was a teenager when she says she saw Rilya with the injuries. When she asked Graham about them, “She said that Rilya was clumsy and she always was falling and running into things – she was a clumsy little girl,” Tuff testified.

Prosecutors say Graham killed Rilya, a 4-year-old who was her foster child at the time. The case is notorious in part because the Department of Children and Families didn't realize the girl was missing for more than one year.

 ::snipping2::

Self Edit -- it should be DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services)

Case worker, who discovered missing girl, testifies
Dec 5 2012

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The employee who discovered Rilya Wilson was missing is taking the stand in the trial against her accused killer.

Former Department of Children and Families case worker Dora Bentacourt discovered Wilson was missing in April 2002.

DCF case worker Deborah Muskelly was supposed to make monthly visits on 6-year-old Wilson but admitted on Tuesday that she did not visit the child for more than a year. When Betancourt showed up at the house of Geralyn Graham, Wilson's foster parent, she told Betancourt a mysterious case worker from DCF took the child.

Betancourt said she checked into that claim but found no indication it happened.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21009242631583/case-worker-who-discovered-missing-girl-testifies/

BBM

 ::MonkeyNoNo::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Mistrial-Denied-in-Case-of-Missing-Foster-Child-Rilya-Wilson-183395521.html


Mistrial Denied in Case of Missing Foster Child Rilya Wilson
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez denied the mistrial motion, then testimony in the trial for Geralyn Graham resumed.
Thursday, Dec 13, 2012  |  Updated 2:59 PM EST

A judge on Thursday denied a mistrial in the case of a woman charged with killing missing South Florida foster child Rilya Wilson.

Attorneys for 66-year-old Geralyn Graham took exception with a prosecutor's question to a detective asking if police checked out whether "little green men" from space may have abducted 4-year-old Rilya.

Local News

Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez called the question inappropriate but denied the mistrial motion.

Testimony then resumed.

Graham, who was Rilya's caretaker, has insisted she did not kill her. Her attorneys maintain that there is no evidence that Rilya is dead, let alone that Graham killed her.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Homicide-Detective-Recounts-Experience-With-Geralyn-Graham-as-Murder-Trial-Continues-183287051.html


Homicide Detective Recounts Experience With Geralyn Graham as Murder Trial Continues
Miami-Dade Police Det. Chris Stroze testified Wednesday
By Ari Odzer
Thursday, Dec 13, 2012  |  Updated 12:24 AM EST

A Miami-Dade Police homicide detective testified Wednesday that Geralyn Graham told him the same story she told the Department of Children and Families – that an unnamed woman from the agency took foster child Rilya Wilson away for psychiatric treatment.

Chris Stroze interrogated Graham in 2002 after DCF realized Rilya was missing and police determined the case had moved from a missing person's case to a homicide investigation.

Graham, 66, could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted in the murder of 4-year-old Rilya, whose body was never found.

Stroze, like several other witnesses before him, told the jury about Graham's explanations for why the child was missing, with prosecutors using him to make the point, again, that she lied over and over.

Stroze testified that Graham was extremely confident telling her story, and even challenged him to try to find inconsistencies.

"She stated that if I could prove that she was lying about anything, I would see that she was lying about everything,” he said.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Geralyn-Grahams-Story-Didnt-Add-Up-Former-Department-of-Children-and-Families-Investigator-Testifies-182442211.html

[size=12pt]
Geralyn Graham's Story Didn't Add Up, Former Department of Children and Families Investigator Testifies[/size]
Barbara Toledo spoke in court Thursday in the trial of Graham, who's charged with first-degree murder
By Ari Odzer
Thursday, Dec 6, 2012  |  Updated 6:23 PM EST

Geralyn Graham is a serial liar, according to prosecution witnesses.

"On the surface, she seemed very believable, but in my mind I was thinking that none of what she was telling me was adding up,” former Department of Children and Families investigator Barbara Toledo testified Thursday in the trial of Graham, who is accused of murdering foster child Rilya Wilson.

One thing that didn’t add up for Toledo was Graham’s story that an unnamed DCF worker took Rilya away for psychiatric evaluations and never brought her back.

"First of all, I've never heard of a 4-year-old being taken to a mental health facility for extensive periods of time,” Toledo said.

The body of the girl, who vanished more than a decade ago, has never been found. Graham, who was her caretaker at the time, has insisted she did not kill her. Her attorneys maintain that there is no evidence that Rilya is dead, let alone that Graham killed her.

The 66-year-old defendant faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child abuse.

Toledo was among a team of DCF workers who swarmed into the Rilya case, saying it was all hands on deck to find the little girl who at that point was missing for more than a year.

Elizabeth Laufer was on the team that gently questioned Graham. Asked why she did not confront Graham, Laufer replied: “I wanted her to try to see me as somebody who was there to help and the department at the time was there to help. If a child is missing, especially a child who is so young, that child is in significant danger and we wanted to get the facts as to what really had happened."

Toledo says they never got facts from Graham, only suspiciously pleasant behavior.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/12/3139420/prosecutors-play-2002-abc-interview.html#storylink=misearch

Prosecutors play 2002 ABC interview with woman in Rilya Wilson case
 
Geralyn Graham, on Good Morning America one decade ago, insisted the state’s welfare agency took the missing girl.

Posted on Wednesday, 12.12.12

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

Jurors in the Rilya Wilson trial got to hear directly from accused killer Geralyn Graham on Wednesday - in the form of a May 2002 national television news interview.

Prosecutors played excerpts of an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America with Graham, who claims she is the girl’s grandmother and insists a state child welfare agency worker whisked the girl away never to return.

Graham, 66, is on trial for the slaying of the 5-year-old foster child, who was discovered missing in April 2002 despite being under the supervision of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The case of the missing girl -- her body has never been found -- spurred DCF to reform how foster children are supervised.

Graham claimed that a mystery DCF worker took the child away in January 2001 for a mental health evaluation. Because of failed supervision, the agency did not discover Rilya was missing until April 2002.

Prosecutors say Graham smothered Rilya, disposed of her body in a body of water in South Miami-Dade then spent more than a year concocting lies about what happened to the child.

In the interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, a much-younger looking Graham claims DCF haphazardly dumped Rilya in her custody to begin with, so she wasn’t surprised when the agency took the girl again with no clue as to her whereabouts.

Prosecutors say Graham actually engineered a plan to get Rilya taken out of a previous, stable foster home and put into the house of her and her lover.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/11/3137288/detective-no-clues-in-national.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Tuesday, 12.11.12

Detective: no clues in national hunt for Fla. girl

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- A nationwide dragnet launched in 2002 for a missing Florida foster child turned up no trace and also nothing to back up her caretaker's claims that a state worker had taken the girl for mental tests months earlier, a police detective testified Tuesday in the caretaker's murder trial.

"Every lead, every information that I was provided came to a dead end. Nothing panned out," said Det. Giancarlo Milito of the Miami-Dade Police Department. "All rocks were turned."

The investigation began as a missing persons case once the Department of Children and Families discovered in April 2002 that 4-year-old Rilya Wilson had been missing for some 15 months. Her caretaker, 66-year-old Geralyn Graham, told Milito that an unknown DCF worker had taken Rilya for psychological testing and never returned the girl.

Milito said Graham was precise about the date - Jan. 18, 2001 - and that the supposed worker was a dark-skinned black woman who was unusually tall, somewhere around 6 feet, and spoke with an unspecified accent. Graham said the woman asked for some clothes and toys for Rilya as well, Milito said. Graham had no contact information or a name for this person but told Milito she thought she could identify a photograph.

Authorities provided Graham with a pair of 6-inch-thick binders of DCF worker photographs, but she never responded, Milito said. After using law enforcement databases and resources of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Milito said the decision was made to turn Rilya's case over to homicide detectives.

Graham was eventually charged with Rilya's slaying even though no body or crime scene has ever been found. She faces life in prison if convicted but insists she is innocent. A key to the prosecution's case is testimony from jailhouse snitches who claim Graham confessed to smothering the girl with a pillow.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/17/3145893/rilya-wilson-legal-guardian-to.html

Posted on Tuesday, 12.18.12

Legal guardian: Lover tied up Rilya, confined her to laundry room
Pamela Graham testified that she saw her longtime lover repeatedly punish Rilya Wilson but did nothing to stop it.

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

At first, Geralyn Graham had nothing but hugs and affection for chubby cheeked foster child Rilya Wilson.

But within a few weeks, Geralyn grew increasingly exasperated with the child’s unruly behavior, the woman’s emotional ex-lover told jurors Monday.

Geralyn confined the 4-year-old foster girl to a small laundry room in their Kendall home, sometimes for days. At night, Geralyn kept Rilya tied to her bed by the wrists to keep her from climbing on furniture.

To punish the girl for wetting the bed, Geralyn once even dipped the girl into scalding bathtub water, Pamela Graham told jurors Monday.

And through it all, Pamela — the girl’s legal custodian — testified tearfully that she did nothing to help the girl, cowed by the domineering personality of a woman 18 years her senior. In the end, Pamela spent years repeating lies Geralyn spun about how Rilya vanished in 2000, she said.

“It’s not something I’m proud of, but at that point in my life, I was weak,” said Pamela Graham, who is not related to Geralyn.

“I just did not like confrontation. I knew the defendant. She just controlled every aspect of my life. It wasn’t that Rilya wasn’t worth it.”

Pamela’s testimony Monday against her former domestic partner was highly anticipated. On the stand, Pamela, 48, appeared a scared and pathetic figure, sobbing frequently in explaining how she felt “like a child” in trying to stand up to Geralyn.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/18/3148155/judge-admonishes-accused-killer.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Tuesday, 12.18.12

Judge admonishes defendant in Rilya Wilson murder trial

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

A Miami-Dade judge admonished the woman accused of killing foster child Rilya Wilson after two brief courtroom outbursts Tuesday.

At the time, Geralyn Graham’s ex-lover, Pamela Graham, was on the stand testifying under cross-examination about why she was cooperating with authorities. The two are not related.

In front of the jury and Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez, Geralyn Graham yelled at Pamela Graham to stop lying. A few minutes later, Geralyn Graham again blurted out at the witness that the last time she saw Rilya, she “was in your arms.”

Geralyn Graham, 66, is on trial on charges of murdering the foster child whose disappearance a decade ago roiled the state’s child-welfare agency and led to a series of reforms. Rilya’s body was never found.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/19/3148860/defendant-warned-for-outburst.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Wednesday, 12.19.12

Jail informant: Fla. woman admitted killing girl

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- The former caretaker of missing Florida foster child Rilya Wilson confessed to smothering the girl with a pillow because the woman said the child was "evil" and had mental problems that would never be cured, a jailhouse informant testified Wednesday.

Robin Lunceford said 66-year-old Geralyn Graham admitted to the killing while the two were in a holding cell alone together in Aug. 18, 2004. That was nearly four years after 4-year-old Rilya disappeared from the home Graham shared with her live-in female lover.

Lunceford, who is testifying under a plea deal that spares her a life prison sentence, said Graham referred to Rilya as "it" and claimed that the girl did unusual or strange things such as smearing feces on the floor and rubbing her hand on men's genitals. Lunceford said she and Graham became friends because they had adjoining jail cells and traveled back and forth to court appearances together.

"She said that Rilya was evil and a demon," Lunceford testified.

Graham reportedly told Lunceford, 50, she became increasingly frustrated by an inability to control Rilya and that the last straw came on Halloween 2000, when the girl refused to wear an angel costume in favor of a Cleopatra mask an older child had brought.

"She was enraged. She said at that point she knew what she had to do. She couldn't allow it to suffer like that. And that Cleopatra was evil and a slut," Lunceford quoted Graham as saying.

"Then she kind of whispered to me that she killed it, and I asked her how, and she said she smothered it with a pillow. I asked her twice. She said it was suffering and she couldn't allow it to grow up and suffer like that," Lunceford testified.

Later, Lunceford said Graham told her the body was buried near a canal or lake because "water represented peace."

 ::snipping2::

Thanks for the updates Sharon! 

So sad for little Rilya.   ::MonkeyNoNo::  ::MonkeyTears::

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/26/child-murder-florida/1727503/
(Photo: Miami-Dade Police Department)

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/19/3149736/con-graham-told-me-she-killed.html

Posted on Wednesday, 12.19.12

Ex-cellmate: Graham told me she killed Rilya Wilson

A jailhouse snitch with a long record testified that Geralyn Graham told her she killed Rilya Wilson.

 ::snipping2::

Prosecutors on Wednesday sought to portray Lunceford as a reluctant snitch. For several years, she refused to cooperate with the prosecutors handling the Rilya Wilson case, repeatedly telling prosecutors to “f--- off,” Lunceford testified.

When prosecutors finally agreed in March 2011 to reduce her life sentence, Lunceford said as part of the deal she “couldn’t cuss you people out anymore.”

Under questioning from Assistant State Attorney Josh Weintraub, Lunceford said she had received no plea-bargain offers prior to the 2011 sentencing deal. However, in 2005, Lunceford’s lawyer at the time, the late Ellis Rubin, told reporters that Lunceford had rejected a 20-year plea offer from prosecutors before she pleaded guilty to the robbery charge.

Defense lawyer Michael Matters dragged Lunceford through her history of felony convictions and phony names — a criminal record so lengthy that Lunceford admitted she can’t keep track of it. “I had a lot of convictions,” Lunceford said. “I don’t sit around counting them.”

Matters noted that Lunceford has been convicted of 26 felonies in Florida, Illinois and Nevada — including convictions for three prison escapes. But jurors will not be allowed to hear details of those convictions.

To show the credibility of Lunceford’s testimony, prosecutors noted that Lunceford also wrote down her recollections of her conversation with Graham after returning to her regular cell after hearing Graham’s confession. Prosecutors showed jurors copies of the papers Lunceford drafted, which Lunceford shared with a homicide detective only a few days after her encounter with Graham.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/20/3150494/informant-abuse-after-report-in.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Thursday, 12.20.12

Informant: abuse after report in missing girl case

 MIAMI -- A jailhouse informant says she was abused by fellow inmates and corrections officers after reporting that a missing Florida foster child's caretaker had confessed to the murder.

Robin Lunceford testified Thursday one officer hit her in the head with a radio and another caused her to fall by stepping on her shackles. Lunceford says she suffered similar abuse by inmates who accused her of snitching.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/20/3151220/defense-questions-grahams-former.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Thursday, 12.20.12

Defense questions Graham’s former cellmate
Jailhouse informant Robin Lunceford sparred with the defense after testifying that Graham confessed to her that she killed foster child Rilya Wilson.

By Scott Hiaasen and Anna Edgerton

A day after telling jurors that Geralyn Graham confessed in jail to killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson, jailhouse informant Robin Lunceford repeatedly sparred Thursday with a defense lawyer who sought to portray Lunceford as a malcontent and opportunist who would say anything to get out of prison.

Lunceford testified that she befriended Graham in jail in 2004, and, while the two shared a cell before attending court hearings, Graham admitted smothering Rilya with a pillow. Lunceford said she was outraged by the child’s death — “anything that has to do with a child, that’s my pet peeve”— but over the years she balked at testifying because of the abuse she said she endured from inmates and guards after being labeled a “snitch.”

“I went back and forth” about testifying, Lunceford said Thursday. But “justice for Rilya always wins over.”

 ::snipping2::

http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Memory-of-Rilya-Wilson/130758387003863
In Memory of Rilya Wilson

(http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/oo242/Brandi-Monkey/JSM-Chat/winter-prayer.gif)

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/02/3164815/trial-resumes-in-case-of-missing.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Wednesday, 01.02.13
Trial resumes in case of missing Fla. foster girl

The Associated Press

MIAMI -- Trial has resumed in the case of a South Florida woman accused of killing missing Florida foster child Rilya Wilson, with the key prosecution witness still on the stand.

Jailhouse informant Robin Lunceford was undergoing cross-examination Wednesday by an attorney for defendant Geralyn Graham. The defense is trying to poke holes in Lunceford's story that Graham confessed in jail to smothering 4-year-old Rilya with a pillow and burying her body near water. The body was never found.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/03/3166863/jail-informant-finishes-testimony.html

Posted on Thursday, 01.03.13

Jail informant finishes testimony in Rilya Wilson trial

Robin Lunceford, a convict who has spent half her life in prison, claims Geralyn Graham confessed to smothering the missing 4-year-old foster child.

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

After four days on the witness stand, jailhouse informant Robin Lunceford finished her testimony Thursday as prosecutors in the Rilya Wilson murder trial played an excerpt from a television news interview.

“If you tell me you just robbed three banks, I’ll say, ‘OK, no problem. I won’t say a word,’” Lunceford told WFOR-CBS4 in 2005 in an interview played for jurors.

“But you tell me you killed a baby, then if that makes me a snitch, I’m going to snitch proud. She smothered that baby.”

The state’s star witness, Lunceford had told jurors that Rilya’s caretaker, Geralyn Graham, confessed that she hated the child because of her unruly behavior, and that she smothered the 4-year-old with a pillowcase, burying her near a body of water in South Miami-Dade.

Graham, 66, is accused of kidnapping, abusing and murder Rilya.

Prosecutors believe Graham killed the foster child sometime about Christmas 2000, although state child welfare workers did not discover Rilya was missing until April 2002.

 ::snipping2::

This is so sickening!  Rest in peace little one.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Life-Became-Unbearable-in-Jail-Informant-in-Geralyn-Graham-Trial-Says-185589072.html


Life Became Unbearable in Jail, Informant in Geralyn Graham Trial Says
Robin Lunceford testified for a fourth and final day Thursday
By Ari Odzer
Thursday, Jan 3, 2013  |  Updated 8:32 PM EST

The prosecution’s star witness in the Geralyn Graham trial testified Thursday that life became unbearable in jail after she told police about Graham’s alleged confession.

That was because Graham had so many friends there, Robin Lunceford said.

“The trustees would spit in my food,” Lunceford said.

She added about the first-degree murder defendant: “She would pay them in commissary to do her bidding, that’s why everyone loved Mama Graham.”

Lunceford has previously told jurors that Graham confessed to her behind bars, saying that Graham told her she murdered 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson because she thought the girl was possessed by demons. Rilya’s body was never found.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.local10.com/news/2nd-jailhouse-informant-testifies-in-Rilya-Wilson-case/-/1717324/18011812/-/sqifk9z/-/index.html
2nd jailhouse informant testifies in Rilya Wilson case
Geralyn Graham accused of killing missing 4-year-old foster girl
January 4, 2013

MIAMI -
A second jailhouse informant testified in the murder trail of 66-year-old Geralyn Graham, who is accused of killing missing Florida foster child Rilya Wilson.

Maggie Carr, a convicted murderer, testified Friday that she was trained to be a law clerk in prison and assist inmates. She said she spoke with Graham at the Homestead Correctional Facility in 2005.

Carr testified that Graham asked her several questions about being convicted of murder if no body is found. In previous testimony, Robin Lunceford, another jailhouse informant, claimed Graham confessed to smothering Rilya with a pillow and burying her body near water. Rilya's body was never found.

"She said, 'Well, there's no body.' She wasn't concerned because if there's no body, there's no murder," said Carr, who also served as a law clerk to Lunceford.

"'It's gone.' And I was like, 'What do you mean it's gone?' And she was like, 'Well, you know, it's gone. It's to the elements.' And I was like, 'What do you mean the elements?' And she was like, 'You know, the elements, water,'" continued Carr. "And I was like, 'Water? What do you mean water?' And she was like, 'You know, elements, waste away, critters.'"

Carr said she tried convincing Graham to confess.

"She said whoever was out there was beholden to her. She wasn't concerned," said Carr.

Corrections officer Shandra Christian also testified Friday, saying she was at the jail when Lunceford claimed Graham confessed to her while the two shared a jail cell.
More...

Video at link

Good grief, Robin Lunceford again.  She sure gets around. 

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/07/3171433/witness-childs-caretaker-said.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Monday, 01.07.13

State's case winding up in Fla. missing girl trial

MIAMI -- The prosecution is wrapping up its main case in the trial of a South Florida woman accused of killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson a decade ago.

The state could rest as early as Tuesday after some five weeks of testimony in the case against 66-year-old Geralyn Graham. Defense attorneys plan to begin their case with testimony from investigators who were unable to find Rilya's remains or any forensic evidence.

It's uncertain if Graham herself will testify. 

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/08/3173564/state-rests-case-in-rilya-wilson.html

Posted on Tuesday, 01.08.13

State rests case in Rilya Wilson murder trial

Convicted killer Ramona Tavia said Geralyn Graham, in sobbing cell confession, admitted to killing foster child.

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

When inmate Ramona Tavia first met Gerayln Graham, the sweet older woman insisted to Tavia that she was innocent of the charges that had landed her in jail

An unknown “white man” from the state’s child welfare agency, Graham claimed, spirited away foster child Rilya Wilson. Now, Graham said, she was being blamed for the girl’s murder.

But Tavia, who took the witness stand Tuesday to conclude the state’s murder case against Graham, said the woman changed her story one night during a sobbing cell confession.

“She said she was doing it for [her live-in lover] Pam,” Tavia, 41, told jurors. “She had to protect Pam. She’s sick, she’s weak so she killed the baby for Pam.”

Tavia, a convicted murderer, was the third jail inmate to testify against Graham in a trial that began in late November.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/10/3176399/ex-inmate-snitch-lied-in-fla-missing.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Thursday, 01.10.13

Ex-inmate: snitch lied in Fla. missing child case

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- A former prison inmate says the star prosecution witness against a woman accused of killing Florida foster child Rilya Wilson made up a story that the woman had confessed to the slaying.

Cindy McCloud testified Thursday that key witness Robin Lunceford told her she lied about the confession so she could get out of prison. Lunceford testified earlier that 66-year-old Geralyn Graham admitted smothering Rilya with a pillow and disposing of the girl's body near water. Rilya's remains have never been found.

::snipping2::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Judge-Denies-Acquittal-in-Geralyn-Graham-Trial-186189152.html

By Ari Odzer
Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013  |  Updated 7:26 PM EST

Judge Denies Acquittal in Geralyn Graham Trial
Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez ruled Wednesday there was sufficient evidence for a jury to decide the fate of 66-year-old Geralyn Graham.

A judge has denied a defense motion to acquit a South Florida woman accused of killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson over a decade ago.

Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez ruled Wednesday there was sufficient evidence for a jury to decide the fate of 66-year-old Geralyn Graham. Defense attorneys had argued that there's no direct evidence that Rilya is dead because no remains were recovered and there's little other forensic or eyewitness evidence.

Rilya disappeared in late 2000 but state officials did not find out for some 15 months. The state's case hinges on testimony of three jailhouse informants who say Graham confessed to them behind bars.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/15/3184104/defense-rests-in-case-of-missing.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Tuesday, 01.15.13

Defense rests in case of missing Fla. foster child

The Associated Press

MIAMI -- The defense has rested in the case of a South Florida woman accused of killing her 4-year-old foster child more than 10 years ago.

Lawyers for 67-year-old Geralyn Graham on Tuesday focused on attacking the credibility of three jailhouse informants who implicated Graham in the Rilya Wilson's killing. Also testifying for the defense were corrections officials who say star prosecution witness Robin Lunceford was given preferential treatment behind bars.

Lunceford also got a life prison sentence reduced to just 10 years in exchange for her testimony that Graham confessed.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Closing-Arguments-Tuesday-in-Rilya-Wilson-Murder-trial-187869021.html


Closing Arguments Tuesday in Rilya Wilson Murder Trial
Jury deliberations expected to begin Wednesday
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013  |  Updated 9:13 AM EST

Closing arguments are set in the trial of a South Florida woman accused of killing 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson in a case that shook up the state child welfare system.
 
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled Tuesday to make their cases before jurors following some eight weeks of trial. If convicted, 67-year-old Geralyn Graham faces a potential life prison sentence.

 ::snipping2::

Posted on Tuesday, 01.22.13

Prosecutor: Fla. foster girl killed by caretaker

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- A Florida prosecutor says the caretaker of foster child Rilya Wilson grew to hate the little girl because of defiant behavior and killed her in 2000.

Prosecutor Joshua Weintraub told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday that they can convict 67-year-old Geralyn Graham of murder even though Rilya's body was never found. She faces life in prison if convicted.

 ::snipping2::

Edit to add link provided by sharon.   :) MB 
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/22/3194752/prosecutor-fla-foster-girl-killed.html#storylink=misearch

sorry - link for above

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/22/3194752/prosecutor-fla-foster-girl-killed.html#storylink=misearch

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Jury-Likely-to-Get-Rilya-Wilson-Murder-Case-188029841.html


Defense Finishes Closing Arguments in Rilya Wilson Case
Jury deliberations were expected to begin Thursday
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013  |  Updated 6:09 PM EST

After an eight-week trial, a jury is close to deliberating the case of a South Florida woman accused of killing foster child Rilya Wilson more than a decade ago.

Defense attorney Michael Matters and prosecutors wrapped up closing arguments.

Jurors were expected to begin deliberations on Thursday. They must decide if 67-year-old Geralyn Graham smothered the 4-year-old girl in 2000 after allegedly abusing her for months.

Graham insists she is innocent. She faces life in prison if convicted.

The case triggered a major scandal at Florida's child-welfare agency because Rilya's disappearance wasn't discovered for 15 months. The case led to resignations and the passage of reform laws.

Rilya's remains have never been found. The state's case rests heavily on jailhouse informants who say Graham confessed to them behind bars.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/23/3196912/defense-snitch-lied-in-fla-missing.html#storylink=misearch

Posted on Wednesday, 01.23.13

Defense: snitch lied in Fla. missing girl case

By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI -- A jailhouse snitch looking for a way out of prison concocted a story about hearing a woman confess to killing a 4-year-old foster child, the woman's defense attorney told a jury Wednesday, seeking to cast doubt on the prosecution's star witness.

Attorney Michael Matters told jurors in a closing argument there were numerous inconsistencies in testimony by Robin Lunceford, a career criminal who said Geralyn Graham tearfully confessed in 2004 to smothering little Rilya Wilson and burying her body over a decade ago.

Lunceford, who has spent more than half of her life behind bars, got a life prison sentence reduced to 10 years in exchange for her testimony. She gets out in 2014.

"I suggest to you that every bit of the story she concocted about my client is absolutely unbelievable," Matters told jurors. "Robin's worked for this. She earned it. She graduated from prison life with a master's of manipulation and a doctorate in deceit."

Graham, 67, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated child abuse. Rilya went missing from Graham's home in late 2000 but her disappearance was not noticed by the state Department of Children and Families for 15 months, leading to high-level agency resignations and passage of child welfare reforms.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Jury-Begins-Deliberations-in-Rilya-Wilson-Murder-Case-188210451.html

Graham Jury Hung on Murder Charge by 11-1 Vote
Geralyn Graham faces life in prison if convicted in murder of foster child
By Ari Odzer and Brian Hamacher
|  Thursday, Jan 24, 2013  |  Updated 8:25 PM EST

The judge in the Geralyn Graham trial sent jurors home Thursday night after they did not reach a verdict during a long first day of deliberations.

Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez told jurors to return at 9:15 a.m. Friday.

The jury said earlier Thursday that it was hung on Graham's first-degree murder charge by an 11-1 vote.

Jurors said in a note that they have agreed on the other four counts facing Graham, 67, who is accused of killing foster child Rilya Wilson.

Jurors began their deliberations Thursday morning. Graham faces five charges: one count each of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and three counts of aggravated child abuse.

Prosecutors say Graham, 67, smothered the 4-year-old girl in late 2000 and disposed of her body, which has never been found. Wilson's disappearance was not discovered for 15 months, leading to resignations at the Department of Children and Families and passage of reform laws.

Graham has insisted she's innocent. She faces life in prison if convicted.

Earlier in the afternoon, jurors asked a question that indicated that they were close to finishing their  work.

"If the jury cannot agree on one of the counts but agrees on the other four, are the other four counts vacated?" they asked the judge.

She answered no, saying that each count has its own verdict and is to be treated as such.

 ::snipping2::

Praying there will be justice for Rilya.   ::MonkeyAngel::

 ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel:: ::MonkeyAngel::

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/rilya-wilson-case-geralyn-graham-convicted-of-kidnapping-child-abuse-in-wilsons-disappearance
Rilya Wilson case: Geralyn Graham convicted of kidnapping, child abuse in Wilson's disappearance
A mistrial was declared on a murder charge
January 25, 2013

MIAMI (AP) -- A South Florida woman has been convicted of kidnapping and child abuse in the case of 4-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson, who disappeared more than 12 years ago. A mistrial was declared on a murder charge.

   Jurors said Friday they were unable to resolve their 11-1 split on that murder count against 67-year-old Geralyn Graham. She was convicted of kidnapping and three child abuse counts following an eight-week trial.
 ::snipping2::

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/25/woman-convicted-missing-girl/1865543/
Woman convicted of abusing, kidnapping missing girl
January 25, 2013

MIAMI (AP) — A former caretaker was convicted Friday of child abuse and kidnapping in a 4-year-old foster child's disappearance more than a decade ago, but a mistrial was declared on a murder charge after jurors were narrowly unable to agree.

Assistant State Attorney Joshua Weintraub said the state would not try Graham a second time for first-degree murder. Graham has long maintained her innocence. Weintraub said the other convictions would likely keep Graham locked up for life even without the murder conviction.

"The fact that they didn't come back on a murder charge doesn't mean that justice was not done for Rilya Wilson," Weintraub told reporters afterward.

Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez set sentencing for Feb. 12. Graham's attorneys said they planned an appeal and praised the lone juror who held out.
More...

Justice was not done this day for Rilya Wilson.   ::MonkeyNoNo::   JMHO

How extraordinarily sad for Rilya.  Why on earth would the Prosecution have used Robyn Lunceford with her past.  She shouldn't be getting out of jail, she should have received a double sentence because of her past lies.

"The fact that they didn't come back on a murder charge doesn't mean that justice was not done for Rilya Wilson," Weintraub told reporters afterward."

 ::MonkeyHeart::

Justice for Rilya.  May her murderer never be free again.

If it's the best they could do with what they had, we have to accept it.  However, my concern is "...would likely keep Graham locked up for life...".  Graham is already planning to appeal, and I always wonder when  someone is given time, how much of that time do they really serve?  Sometimes their sentence is reduced for various reasons, for good behavior etc.  I hope Graham stays locked up for a long, long time.  The rest of her life would be appropriate imo.  Considering how the state child welfare system failed Rilya in life, I hope her loss of life wasn't in vain, and the system truly is revamped. 

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Geralyn-Graham-Faces-Sentencing-in-Rilya-Wilson-Case-190836181.html

Geralyn Graham Sentenced to 55 Years in Prison in Rilya Wilson Case
Caretaker of missing girl sentenced after being found guilty of kidnapping, child abuse
By Brian Hamacher
Tuesday, Feb 12, 2013  |  Updated 12:43 PM EST

The South Florida woman convicted of kidnapping and child abuse in the case of missing 4-year-old Rilya Wilson was sentenced to 55 years behind bars Tuesday.

Geralyn Graham, 67, was sentenced to 30 years on the kidnapping charge, followed by a consecutive term of 25 years for two counts of aggravated child abuse, Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez ruled.

"For you Ms. Graham, the jury has spoken. You have been found to be the person responsible for the senseless, cruel and inhumane acts directed toward this innocent and defenseless child, Rilya Wilson," Tinkler Mendez said. "You are responsible for inflicting unimaginable pain and for instilling fear in this child and for repeatedly abusing this child."

 ::snipping2::

 ::justice2NJ::

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/15/3287841/prosecutors-to-retry-woman-in.html

Posted on Friday, 03.15.13

Prosecutors to retry woman in Rilya Wilson foster child slaying

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

Prosecutors will retry the Kendall woman accused of murdering foster child Rilya Wilson.

The state made the announcement Friday, two months after a jury deadlocked, 11 to 1, on a count of first-degree murder against Geralyn Graham, forcing Miami-Dade Circuit Marisa Tinkler Mendez to declare a mistrial.

Jurors did convict on aggravated child abuse and kidnapping, for which Graham, 67, received a 55-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors believe Graham in December 2000 smothered Rilya, a foster child, with a pillow, disposed of her body near water in South Miami-Dade, then spent years telling conflicting versions of what happened to the child.

The case lead to massive reform at Florida’s Dept. of Children and Families, which failed to discover the child was missing for more than a year.

Graham falsely claimed to investigators that a DCF case worker whisked the child away for some sort of mental health treatment, prosecutors say.

 ::snipping2::

   

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/15/3345385/caretaker-of-missing-foster-child.html

Posted on Monday, 04.15.13

Caretaker of missing foster child Rilya Wilson has probation terminated

By DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

After nine years of cooperating with prosecutors, the former legal guardian of missing Miami foster child Rilya Wilson appeared in court Monday to have her probation terminated.

Pamela Graham, who pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect in 2004, will not serve any jail time.

In December, Pamela graham testified against her former live-in lover, Geralyn Graham, who was charged with murdering, kidnapping and abusing the child in 2000. The two women are not related.

Geralyn Graham is serving 55 years for kidnapping and torturing Rilya, whose body has never found. A jury in December convicted her of abusing and kidnapping Rilya, but deadlocked on a first-degree murder count.

The state attorney’s office says it will retry her for the murder.

 ::snipping2::