Alicia Moore 16 year old, missing from Greenville, Tx. 11/2/2012(Body Found)

[texasmom]

Justice for Alicia!   

 

[texasmom]

Video from before Alicia's great-uncle Michael Moore was arrested and charged with Capital Murder in her death.

He said:

"No one's been caught yet..you know we're still waiting for answers; and that's really hard on us."

"Tonight is really special for me."

(Smiling) "It hurts sometimes you know but I'm over it now and it's time to rejoice.  You know, you've got to get over it you know and move on."

http://youtu.be/nTsW_Oxsx-U

A bittersweet birthday party honors slain Greenville teen

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/nTsW_Oxsx-U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/nTsW_Oxsx-U</a>

Published on Feb 25, 2013
Alicia Moore would have turned 17 this weekend and her family is still looking for justice. Nearly four months after her body was found about an hour away from home Alicia's murder remains a mystery.

[MuffyBee]

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/09/25/felony-indictments-unsealed-in-moore-murder-investigation/
Felony Indictments Unsealed In Moore Murder Investigation
September 25, 2013

GREENVILLE, Texas (CBS 11 NEWS) – When 16-year-old Alicia Moore disappeared from her Greenville bus stop last year, it was clear that the community cared.  Strangers searched, prayed, and tied on purple ribbons.  And, prior to her murder, someone questioned whether the special needs teen was safe.

A referral was made to Child Protective Services alleging possible abuse or neglect.  But, CPS officials won’t say when that referral was made… telling CBS 11 that the agency is “not at liberty to release any details of our possible involvements with the Moore family.”  According to CPS Spokesperson Marissa Gonzales, “she was not in foster care, so any details would not be public record.”

However, three felony indictments unsealed today name three CPS caseworkers connected to that initial investigation.  Laura Ard, Natalie Ausbie Reynolds, and Rebekah Ross were arrested and charged with tampering with evidence. They have since posted bail and been released from jail. Reynolds and Ross face additional charges of official oppression.  But, those charges do not involve the Alicia Moore case.
Hunt County officials say the evidence tampering charges stem from the caseworkers’ handling of that initial referral.  The indictments mention a risk assessment of the home of the murdered girl’s mother, Aretha Moore.

Many in Greenville now question whether enough was done to keep the teen safe – before she disappeared.  Terry Ramshire , 49, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the teen for years, and was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Alicia’s Uncle – Michael Moore – is now jailed awaiting trial on capital murder charges after the teen’s body was found dumped along a road in Van Zandt county.

 
Local law enforcement officials say the arrest s will likely make their jobs more difficult going forward.

“I think initially it will,” says Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks, “but, I want the public to understand that this is an isolated case and we will continue to work with CPS to keep kids safe.”

Hunt County District Attorney Nobie Walker declined to speak on camera about the indictments—but, says his office is already reviewing other cases connected to the CPS workers and does not believe that those prosecutions will be jeopardized.  Still, he is disappointed.  “This is unusual here… this is unusual anywhere,” says DA Walker.  “CPS does the best they can and they usually do a pretty good job.  This is a setback.”

[MuffyBee]

http://heraldbanner.com/topnews/x1836119363/BREAKING-CPS-workers-arrested
UPDATE: More information on arrest of CPS workers
All three arrested have posted bail
September 24, 2013

 
Late last month, Terry Dwayne Ramshire, 50, of Greenville, was sentenced to 20 years after pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. The indictment alleged Ramsire sexually assaulted a “Jane Doe” victim of less than 17 years of age on multiple occasions between Dec. 31, 2010 and July 4, 2009.

Under a plea bargain arrangement, Ramsire was sentenced to 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, and was fined $1,000. Ramsire was facing a maximum sentence of up to life in prison for a conviction on the indictment.

Ramsire had also received two indictments in September 2012; one for aggravated sexual assault of a child and another for indecency with a child by sexual contact, alleging he sexually assaulted Moore on multiple occasions during July 2012. Those indictments were dismissed as part of the plea bargain arrangement
 

[texasmom]

http://heraldbanner.com/topnews/x862181827/Arraignments-slated-on-CPS-indictments

October 13, 2013
Arraignments slated on CPS indictments
By BRAD KELLAR
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE — Three people indicted in connection with an investigation of the local Child Protective Services (CPS) office are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Monday.

Hearings are set Monday morning in the 354th District Court for Laura Ard, Natalie Ausbie Reynolds and Rebekah Thonginh Ross. All three were indicted by the Hunt County grand jury last month.

During the arraignment hearing, the defendants and/or their attorneys will be expected to enter formal pleas of not guilty to the indictments, at which time Judge Richard A. Beacom could scheduled tentative trial dates in the respective cases.

Ard, 60, of Rockwall, received one indictment for tampering with physical evidence. Reynolds 33, of Fate, received three indictments for official oppression and one indictment for tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Ross, 34 of Greenville, received four indictments for official oppression and one indictment for tampering with/fabricating physical evidence.

The charges allege all three acted together to use a false document in the investigation of the mother of slain Greenville teenager Alicia Moore and that Ross and Reynolds conducted unlawful searches and/or seizures in connection with CPS investigations.

The tampering with physical evidence indictments allege all three defendants acted together on our about Nov. 6, 2012 “to use a record and/or document to wit: the risk assessment involving Aretha Moore ... with knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation.”

 

The tampering with evidence indictments are third degree felonies, whereas the official oppression charges are Class A misdemeanors which fall under the jurisdiction of the district court system.

- See more at: http://heraldbanner.com/topnews/x862181827/Arraignments-slated-on-CPS-indictments#sthash.pcw2dYDS.dpuf

[texasmom]

http://heraldbanner.com/local/x2112887575/Memorial-ceremony-scheduled-for-Moore

October 4, 2013
Memorial ceremony scheduled for Moore
By BRAD KELLAR
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE — A memorial ceremony has been scheduled next month on the one year anniversary of the disappearance of a local teenager, who later was found murdered.

Alicia Moore was last seen getting off of a school bus at the intersection of Walnut and Bourland Streets in Greenville on Nov. 2, 2012. Her body was found on Nov. 6, 2012 along FM 47 in Van Zandt County.

The memorial ceremony, which will include a prayer and a balloon release, is set at the intersection in Greenville for 3:20 p.m. November 2.

 

[texasmom]

Video at the link

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/11/03/family-of-murdered-greenville-teen-celebrates-her-life/

Family Of Murdered Greenville Teen Celebrates Her Life
November 3, 2013 5:03 PM

GREENVILLE (CBS 11 NEWS) - One year ago the Moore family asked for prayers, when Alicia Moore,16, disappeared after she stepped off a bus just around the corner from her Greenville home.

Today, the family continued their prayers, at a vigil celebrating her life.

Four days after she disappeared, her body was found in a trunk in Van Zandt County. Her family said they believed she was the victim of a random attack. But on the sixth month anniversary of her disappearance, there was a break in the case.

“About 9 or 10 o’clock that night, that’s when we got the news they was in Grand Prairie about to arrest my uncle,” said Jessica Byrd, Alicia Moore’s aunt.

Michael Vincent Moore, 57, was arrested and charged with capital murder after DNA evidence found on Alicia Moore’s body and the trunk she was found in, linked him to the case.

The family spoke Saturday for the first time about the revelation.

“Very hard, very close member of the family. My mom’s brother. He wasn’t, like, a distant uncle,” Byrd said. “He had his passion for baking cupcakes and things and he was just teaching [Alicia] how to do that.”

Saturday, dressed in Alicia’s favorite color, purple, friends and family said only their faith could have gotten them through this difficult time.

 

“I really miss her, that was my one niece. We did a lot together,” Byrd said. “And since then I’ve been trying to keep her name and her story alive.”

Michael Moore remains in jail under a $10 million bond. He pleaded not guilty to capital murder. His next scheduled court date is Dec. 4th.

[texasmom]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23861597/family-remembers-greenville-teen-killed-1-year-ago

Family remembers Greenville teen killed 1 year ago

Posted: Nov 02, 2013 9:38 PM CDT Updated: Nov 02, 2013 10:14 PM CDT
By: James Rose - bio | email



Family, friends and even strangers gathered to remember a killed Greenville teenager, who was last seen alive exactly one year ago Saturday.

They wore purple, and released purple balloons, in honor of 16-year-old Alicia Moore.

She got off her school bus, about a block from her home, Nov. 2, 2012.

Four days later, her body was found in a trunk in rural Van Zandt County.

Alicia's great uncle, 58-year-old Michael Vincent Moore of Grand Prairie, was arrested seven months after her body was found.

He has been indicted on a capital murder charge in Van Zandt County.

Family says the anniversary is bittersweet.

"It still kind of hurts because it was somebody in the family," Jessica Byrd, Alicia's aunt, said.

Byrd says the family has heard from Michael Moore in jail.

The family says the District Attorney wants to seek the death penalty against him, but the family is not in support of that.

They are okay with the possibility of life in prison.

Michael Moore's next court appearance is next month in Canton.

She also says the community has continued to comfort her family.

 

[texasmom]

http://ketr.org/post/council-votes-down-bus-camera-agreement

City of Greenville
10:29 am
Wed January 15, 2014
Council votes down bus camera agreement

 By Brad Kellar   

Credit Herald-Banner

The Greenville City Council heard Tuesday from representatives with the Greenville Independent School District and Dallas County Schools concerning a plan to install security cameras on local school buses.

A plan to install security cameras on local school buses appears to be in jeopardy, after the Greenville City Council Tuesday voted against an agreement designed  to help alleviate any associated legal costs.

The council was scheduled to enter into a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the Greenville Independent School District, which would come into play in the event drivers ticketed under a city ordinance decided to sue.

But Council member James Evans objected to the entire proposal, voicing constitutional amendment issues among other concerns.

“I don’t know if this city and these citizens need this type of enforcement,” Evans said, arguing that based on statistics provided by the district, it was conceivable that more than 131,000 tickets could be issued locally per year, resulting in $39 million in fines.

But Police Chief Daniel Busken said the cameras were designed as a child safety issue.

“The fines that are associated with this are not a concern for me,” Busken said, alluding to how the camera, if they had been installed, may have assisted in the investigation of the Alicia Moore case.

Busken also indicated the district’s bus drivers were asking for the cameras, after several children were almost struck by vehicles illegally passing the buses.

Last month, the Greenville Independent School District Board approved a measure to allow for the cameras to be installed.

The district’s administration and legal counsel met with TexServe, also known as Dallas County Schools (DCS), who would supply security cameras and other equipment to outfit 30 of the district’s school buses to provide photographic evidence of illegal school bus passings.

 

The council heard Tuesday from representatives with the school district and DCS, who stressed the cameras were not designed to raise money, but to teach drivers to be more aware of the buses and to stop when required.

Council member Dan Perkins agreed.

“The goal is no revenue,” Perkins said.

Busken also explained how the same worries, of drivers illegally passing stopped school buses, were raised during a Greenville town hall meeting in 1994.

“This is not a new issue,” Busken said. “This is something citizens here have struggled with for quite some time.”

 

[texasmom]

http://www.heraldbanner.com/topnews/x1535591588/Moore-family-awaiting-answers-in-murder-case

May 6, 2014

Moore family awaiting answers in murder case

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE — One year ago today, a suspect was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the death of a Greenville teenager.

Alicia Moore, 16, was last seen alive six months earlier.

Michael Moore, the uncle of Alicia Moore, remains in custody in the Van Zandt County Jail and has pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set in the case. Investigators have said DNA evidence ties Michael Moore to the crime scene.

Jessica Nicole Byrd, Alicia Moore’s aunt, said there have been several pretrial hearings in the case, including one last week, and believes that prosecutors are still awaiting the results of additional forensics tests on evidence.

“If the DNA evidence is all you’ve got, let’s get to it,” Byrd said, noting family members are growing impatient with the progress of the investigation. “My sister deserves some closure.”

 

Byrd said she’s been told prosecutors are awaiting the results of tests on dog hair from an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. She is also frustrated that Rick Harrison, Michael Moore’s defense counsel, has been unable to attend some of the pretrial hearings, which are then rescheduled.

“Because we go right back to square one again,” Byrd said.

Neither Harrison nor Van Zandt County District Attorney Chris Martin were able to be reached for comment about the case Monday.

Byrd said another pretrial hearing has been scheduled for May 13.

[texasmom]

http://www.heraldbanner.com/local/x488693858/Trials-for-CPS-three-rescheduled

February 19, 2014
Trials for CPS three rescheduled

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE — The trials for three people indicted in connection with an investigation of the local Child Protective Services (CPS) office are currently scheduled to be conducted in May and June.

Trial dates had been set for March 10 for Laura Ard, Natalie Ausbie Reynolds and Rebekah Thonginh Ross.

All three were indicted by the Hunt County grand jury in September.

During a Tuesday morning pretrial hearing in the 354th District Court, Judge Richard A. Beacom agreed with motions from defense attorneys for Reynolds and Ross, seeking a continuance in the case. Beacom reset the trials for June 2, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 19.

Beacom had earlier agreed to reset Ard’s trial to May 19, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for April 20.

All three individuals entered not guilty pleas in October.

Ard, of Rockwall, received one indictment for tampering with physical evidence. Reynolds, of Fate, received three indictments for official oppression and one indictment for tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Ross, of Greenville, received four indictments for official oppression and one indictment for tampering with/fabricating physical evidence.

The charges allege all three acted together to use a false document in the investigation of the mother of slain Greenville teenager Alicia Moore and that Ross and Reynolds conducted unlawful searches and/or seizures in connection with CPS investigations.

The tampering with physical evidence indictments allege all three defendants acted together on our about Nov. 6, 2012 “to use a record and/or document to wit: the risk assessment involving Aretha Moore ... with knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation.”

 

The tampering with evidence indictments are third degree felonies, whereas the official oppression charges are Class A misdemeanors which fall under the jurisdiction of the district court system.

[MuffyBee]

Where is justice for Alicia Moore?!   

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/02/09/cps-probe-linked-alicia-moore-not-proceeding/23127183/
CPS probe linked to Alicia Moore not proceeding
February 9, 2015


HUNT COUNTY -- The family of a girl murdered in Hunt County is angry prosecutors are not moving forward with a Child Protective Services case involving the teen.

Two of three former caseworkers accused of a felony count of tampering with evidence in a case connected to Alicia Moore's 2012 murder were back in court on Monday.

Prosecutors are putting off trying them on claims they allegedly lied about investigating an allegation that Moore had been sexually abused. Instead, prosecutors will only try one of the caseworkers on a misdemeanor count, accusing her of an illegal search.

That case is unrelated to the Moore case. The caseworker's attorney says she's innocent.

Moore's grand-uncle, Michael Moore, was arrested and charged with her murder.

[Sister]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/02/09/cps-probe-linked-alicia-moore-not-proceeding/23127183/
CPS probe linked to Alicia Moore not proceeding
February 9, 2015


HUNT COUNTY -- The family of a girl murdered in Hunt County is angry prosecutors are not moving forward with a Child Protective Services case involving the teen.

Two of three former caseworkers accused of a felony count of tampering with evidence in a case connected to Alicia Moore's 2012 murder were back in court on Monday.

Prosecutors are putting off trying them on claims they allegedly lied about investigating an allegation that Moore had been sexually abused. Instead, prosecutors will only try one of the caseworkers on a misdemeanor count, accusing her of an illegal search.

That case is unrelated to the Moore case. The caseworker's attorney says she's innocent.

Moore's grand-uncle, Michael Moore, was arrested and charged with her murder.

what . . . for pity's wsake . . .

 


 

[texasmom]

 

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/investigates/2015/02/23/new-red-flags-in-alicia-moore-murder-case/23916103/

New red flags in Alicia Moore murder case
Tanya Eiserer, WFAA 7:24 p.m. CST February 24, 2015

AUSTIN — Alicia Moore was no stranger to Child Protective Services.

In fact, two-and-a-half months before the Greenville teenager's body was found stuffed in a trunk, a CPS investigation had been opened.

Documents recently obtained by News 8 now detail what a former CPS caseworker failed to do in that case. That caseworker was Rebekah Thonginh Ross.

"What I found was — what stood out in that investigation — was that there was nothing done," said Jose Carrizal, the former inspector general who investigated the actions of CPS. "She left a child vulnerable."

The decorated former El Paso police officer is speaking out for the first time about his belief that Alicia would be alive today if Ross had done her job.

Alicia Moore's body was found stuffed in a trunk in November 2012 along the side of a rural road in Van Zandt County. Months after her killing, DNA connected her uncle, Michael Moore, to the killing. He is awaiting trial on capital murder charges.

Based on Carrizal's investigation, Ross and two supervisors — Laura Ard and Natalie Reynolds — were indicted on charges of tampering with physical evidence connected to Alicia's case. They were also indicted on other charges related to allegations of illegal searches.

 

Documents obtained by News 8 reveal that two-and-a-half months before Alicia died, a police detective asked CPS for help due to "concerns for her lack of protectiveness." Alicia had been raped, and police were investigating.

The CPS intake form completed by Ross raised numerous concerns, including describing the special needs teen as "self-harming," "sexually acting out," having sex with a "considerably older male," and having been removed from her mother's home twice before, the documents state.

The records characterize Alicia's mom "as hostile," "not protective of Alicia," and failing to adequately supervise Alicia's activities.

Still, Alicia remained in the home.

On November 2, 2012, Alicia disappeared from a Greenville bus stop. She was reported missing the following day, and Laura Ard issued an order to close Alicia's case if authorities did not suspect a family member in her disappearance, records show.

Alicia's body was found four days after she disappeared, the same day Ross closed out the CPS investigation.

Ard and Reynolds signed off on it, according to the records.

The case was closed "despite the lack of an investigation, the lack of contact with Alicia in over 2-1/2, months, the lack of contact with Alicia prior to the closure of the case, a falsified risk assessment, a falsified safety assessment, no services being provided, no collateral contacts being made, [and] no home visits being conducted," Carrizal wrote.

Carrizal, who was a member of an inspector general's task force to investigate child deaths with CPS case histories, was assigned to the case after a Hunt County assistant county attorney reported concerns to Austin officials about how CPS handled the case.

According to Carrizal's investigative report, a CPS investigative supervisor said she checked the case file the day Alicia disappeared and found that "no tasks" had been completed.

Mysteriously, entries had appeared in the file by the time her body was found.

"It brought up a lot of red flags," Carrizal said.

The supervisor "became emotional and wept," the report says. "She advised that the majority of the entries made in the Moore case were copied and pasted from other sources."

The report describes Reynolds as weeping throughout the interview, and confirming that "the Moore case was not handled appropriately."

She said she had received instructions from Ard to get the Moore case closed, along with all of Ross's other cases, since she was about to go on maternity leave.

"When asked if the 29 cases were all closed out in the same manner that the Moore case was closed, Reynolds responded by saying, 'I hope not,'" the report says. "She states that the Moore case was not handled 'thoroughly' and that it was a 'crappy' investigation.'''

 

"When asked about Alicia not being seen in over 2-1/2 months and not being seen before the Moore case was closed, Ard responded by saying … that it 'happens all the time,'" according to the report. "Ard states that 'State Office' is aware of how these cases are being handled, and until they start paying a worker more money, this is the type of work they're going to get."

Ard also told Carrizal that she didn't have a "crystal ball" to know when a child is going to die."

The report said Ard and Reynolds had previously been involved with the Moore family in 2007 when they sought removal of Alicia from her mother's home.

Carrizal sought criminally negligent homicide indictments against Ross, Ard and Reynolds. The grand jury declined to indict them on that charge, but did indict them on several others.

Ross resigned her job. Ard retired. Reynolds remains on paid administrative leave.

Carrizal believes Alicia Moore would be alive today if her case had been handled differently.

 

[Sister]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/investigates/2015/02/23/new-red-flags-in-alicia-moore-murder-case/23916103/

New red flags in Alicia Moore murder case
Tanya Eiserer, WFAA 7:24 p.m. CST February 24, 2015

AUSTIN — Alicia Moore was no stranger to Child Protective Services.

In fact, two-and-a-half months before the Greenville teenager's body was found stuffed in a trunk, a CPS investigation had been opened.

Documents recently obtained by News 8 now detail what a former CPS caseworker failed to do in that case. That caseworker was Rebekah Thonginh Ross.

"What I found was — what stood out in that investigation — was that there was nothing done," said Jose Carrizal, the former inspector general who investigated the actions of CPS. "She left a child vulnerable."

The decorated former El Paso police officer is speaking out for the first time about his belief that Alicia would be alive today if Ross had done her job.

Alicia Moore's body was found stuffed in a trunk in November 2012 along the side of a rural road in Van Zandt County. Months after her killing, DNA connected her uncle, Michael Moore, to the killing. He is awaiting trial on capital murder charges.

Based on Carrizal's investigation, Ross and two supervisors — Laura Ard and Natalie Reynolds — were indicted on charges of tampering with physical evidence connected to Alicia's case. They were also indicted on other charges related to allegations of illegal searches.

 

Documents obtained by News 8 reveal that two-and-a-half months before Alicia died, a police detective asked CPS for help due to "concerns for her lack of protectiveness." Alicia had been raped, and police were investigating.

The CPS intake form completed by Ross raised numerous concerns, including describing the special needs teen as "self-harming," "sexually acting out," having sex with a "considerably older male," and having been removed from her mother's home twice before, the documents state.

The records characterize Alicia's mom "as hostile," "not protective of Alicia," and failing to adequately supervise Alicia's activities.

Still, Alicia remained in the home.

On November 2, 2012, Alicia disappeared from a Greenville bus stop. She was reported missing the following day, and Laura Ard issued an order to close Alicia's case if authorities did not suspect a family member in her disappearance, records show.

Alicia's body was found four days after she disappeared, the same day Ross closed out the CPS investigation.

Ard and Reynolds signed off on it, according to the records.

The case was closed "despite the lack of an investigation, the lack of contact with Alicia in over 2-1/2, months, the lack of contact with Alicia prior to the closure of the case, a falsified risk assessment, a falsified safety assessment, no services being provided, no collateral contacts being made, [and] no home visits being conducted," Carrizal wrote.

Carrizal, who was a member of an inspector general's task force to investigate child deaths with CPS case histories, was assigned to the case after a Hunt County assistant county attorney reported concerns to Austin officials about how CPS handled the case.

According to Carrizal's investigative report, a CPS investigative supervisor said she checked the case file the day Alicia disappeared and found that "no tasks" had been completed.

Mysteriously, entries had appeared in the file by the time her body was found.

"It brought up a lot of red flags," Carrizal said.

The supervisor "became emotional and wept," the report says. "She advised that the majority of the entries made in the Moore case were copied and pasted from other sources."

The report describes Reynolds as weeping throughout the interview, and confirming that "the Moore case was not handled appropriately."

She said she had received instructions from Ard to get the Moore case closed, along with all of Ross's other cases, since she was about to go on maternity leave.

"When asked if the 29 cases were all closed out in the same manner that the Moore case was closed, Reynolds responded by saying, 'I hope not,'" the report says. "She states that the Moore case was not handled 'thoroughly' and that it was a 'crappy' investigation.'''

 

"When asked about Alicia not being seen in over 2-1/2 months and not being seen before the Moore case was closed, Ard responded by saying … that it 'happens all the time,'" according to the report. "Ard states that 'State Office' is aware of how these cases are being handled, and until they start paying a worker more money, this is the type of work they're going to get."

Ard also told Carrizal that she didn't have a "crystal ball" to know when a child is going to die."

The report said Ard and Reynolds had previously been involved with the Moore family in 2007 when they sought removal of Alicia from her mother's home.

Carrizal sought criminally negligent homicide indictments against Ross, Ard and Reynolds. The grand jury declined to indict them on that charge, but did indict them on several others.

Ross resigned her job. Ard retired. Reynolds remains on paid administrative leave.

Carrizal believes Alicia Moore would be alive today if her case had been handled differently.

 

thanks for this update texasmom.

I hope Carrizal keeps speaking out!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/texas-news/2015/03/06/texas-cps-cases-failures/24486369/
4 cases in which CPS mistakes contributed to deaths
March 6, 2015

 
Alicia Moore, 16, was found stuffed in a trunk along in a road in Van Zandt County in November 2012 after being abducted in Greenville. Her uncle, Michael Moore, has been accused of capital murder. Records show two-and-a-half months before she was killed, a CPS investigation had been opened into whether the girl's mother was adequately protecting and supervising the special-needs teenager. Alicia had already been removed from her mother's home twice before. Prosecutors have alleged that former CPS investigator Rebekah Thonginh Ross and two supervisors falsified records in connection with Alicia's case to cover up the lack of an investigation. The criminal cases are still pending. Attorneys for the three workers have denied any wrongdoing.
 

[Sister]

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/texas-news/2015/03/06/texas-cps-cases-failures/24486369/
4 cases in which CPS mistakes contributed to deaths
March 6, 2015

 
Alicia Moore, 16, was found stuffed in a trunk along in a road in Van Zandt County in November 2012 after being abducted in Greenville. Her uncle, Michael Moore, has been accused of capital murder. Records show two-and-a-half months before she was killed, a CPS investigation had been opened into whether the girl's mother was adequately protecting and supervising the special-needs teenager. Alicia had already been removed from her mother's home twice before. Prosecutors have alleged that former CPS investigator Rebekah Thonginh Ross and two supervisors falsified records in connection with Alicia's case to cover up the lack of an investigation. The criminal cases are still pending. Attorneys for the three workers have denied any wrongdoing.
 

thank you for this update Muffy.  It is one thing to be overwhelmed by the amount of work -- it is another to falsify records to cya.
Thia aweet child is no longer being abused or neglected -- the only solace I can find.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/crime/2015/04/10/judge-wont-delay-trial-of-former-cps-worker-in-alicia-moore-case/25616881/
Judge won't delay trial of former CPS worker in Moore case
April 10, 2015

GREENVILLE – A judge has denied a last-minute motion by Hunt County prosecutors to delay the trial of a former Child Protective Services caseworker after a witness came forward saying the investigator on the case intimidated and coerced her into making a false statement.

Prosecutors had also sought to delay the trial of Rebekah Thonginh Ross after allegations surfaced that the investigator, Jose Carrizal, had purported to be a commissioned law officer when he wasn't at the time of the investigation. Ross is scheduled to go on trial Monday on an indictment alleging that she illegally searched a house.

Based on Carrizal's 2013 investigation, Ross and two supervisors – Laura Ard and Natalie Reynolds – were indicted on charge of tampering with physical evidence connected to connected to Alicia Moore, a Greenville teenager who was found murdered and stuffed in a trunk on a roadside in 2012. They were also indicted on other charges related to illegal searches.


Hunt County Assistant District Attorney Steven Lilley filed the motion late Thursday seeking to delay trial. In it, he said a witness "now claims that her written statement was essentially coerced by Mr. Carrizal and the statement is factually inaccurate."
"The witness also claims that Mr. Carrizal threatened her with possible criminal charges if she did not cooperate and provide a statement," he wrote.

Lilley asked the court to delay the trial so that they could interview each of the witnesses connected to the investigation.

"The state feels the danger of going to trial at this time would be too great, considering the possibility of further allegations undermining the integrity of the trial and any convictions obtained," Lilley wrote.

iven the judge's ruling, an attorney representing Ross said he believes prosecutors will not be able to proceed with the trial and will be forced to seek a dismissal of the case.

"I think they have a duty and an obligation under the law to investigate. Was there witness tampering in these particular cases?" said Pete Schulte, Ross' attorney. "Was their somebody committing crimes while investigating these cases? If that's true, none of these cases are valid and have to be thrown out."

Earlier this week, defense attorneys filed court papers contending that Carrizal had misled Hunt County prosecutors, as well as the grand jury, by conducting himself as if he a commissioned peace officer. They cited the fact that he sent a criminal referral to the Hunt County District Attorney's Office asking that the cases be presented to a grand jury for indictment and that he testified before the grand jury as an investigator.

At the time, Carrizal was employed as an investigator with the Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Health and Human Services Department. State law enforcement licensing commission records obtained by News 8 show that he was not a commissioned peace office during the time in question.

"We believed that he impersonated a public servant, which is a felony," Schulte said. "The ability to direct-file cases with the DA's for prosecution rests in in the hand of DA's or commissioned peace officers, not civilians."
A judge has denied a last-minute motion by Hunt County prosecutors to delay the trial of a former Child Protective Services caseworker after a witness came forward saying the investigator on the case intimidated and coerced her into making a false stateme

Schulte said after a story about the motion ran in the local Greenville newspaper, he received an email Wednesday from one of the state's key witnesses saying that Carrizal had intimidated and threatened her with the loss of her job and criminal prosecution. He said he immediately forwarded it to prosecutors, who then filed a motion to delay the trial.

"She says she was threatened to put stuff in her statement that was not factually true," Schulte said. "If that's the case, this case is over. You cannot have an investigator who is intimidating witnesses, tampering with witnesses to try to get a case indicted."

Schulte says the witness has since left CPS and felt that she had to come forward.

News 8 interviewed Carrizal earlier this year. When we interviewed him, he asked that his identity be concealed, and he gave every impression that he was a law officer during that that investigation.

"I put together that investigation really objectively, and I worked really hard and they got indicted," Carrizal said. "I didn't add anything. I didn't present anything that couldn't be proven."

Carrizal's investigation centered on how CPS worker handled a complaint that came into their office about two-and-a-half months before her death.

A police detective had asked CPS for help while investigating an allegation that Alicia had been raped. Carrizal's investigation concluded the caseworkers had done nothing to investigate the situation and had, in fact, falsified records to cover up the fact that nothing was done.

Carrizal's attorney denies any misconduct on the part of Carrizal, and says he didn't intimidate anyone.

"At all times, my client acted well within the boundaries of the Texas Government Code, the Texas Penal Code, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Texas Administrative Code," his attorney, Dominic Audino, said. "Mr. Carrizal acted with proper authority and in the regular course of business with the blessing and input of HHSC superiors. Mr. Carrizal made no misrepresentations or threats to ANYONE involved in this process [emphasis his]."

Carrizal was accused of insubordination and fired last year. He is appealing his dismissal and has filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

Alicia Moore's aunt, Jessica Byrd, told News 8 Friday her sister signed an affidavit this week asking that the charges related to Alicia's case be dismissed.

"We just need this to get done and let us start focusing on the murder trial," Byrd said.

Michael Moore, her uncle, is accused of killing Alicia. He is set to be tried in Van Zandt County in a few weeks.

[Sister]

This is beyond sickening.

It is about everybody else

WHAT ABOUT ALICIA?????

not sorry for shouting!