Colton Brandt Turner, 2 YO, Last Seen by Others July 2014-Remains found

[MuffyBee]

http://kxan.com/2015/04/08/colton-turners-family-to-rally-at-capitol-ahead-of-hearing/
Colton’s law passes House committee
April 8, 2015

AUSTIN (KXAN) — House Bill 2053, also known as Colton’s Law, passed the House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Wednesday evening. It’s a bill aimed to keep kids under the watch of Child Protective Services safe.

The bill is named after 2-year old Colton Turner, who was found buried in a shallow grave in Southeast Austin last September. There were two open cases into Colton’s welfare before police found his body. CPS workers had said they couldn’t find Colton, despite their best efforts.

This new bill would allow the Department of Public Safety to step in. It would be up to CPS to notify them and have the child placed on a child safety check alert list. That way, if the parents are found by DPS, they have the authority to detain them, the child and their car while CPS is notified. The bill essentially takes away any type of jurisdiction issues. Colton’s mother had several run-ins with law enforcement when her son was missing, but they had no way of knowing CPS was looking for her and Colton.
 

Meanwhile, Colton’s mother and her boyfriend remain in jail — charged in connection with his death. Just last month, we learned that Meagan Work gave birth to another boy. He was then placed in foster care. Both Work and her boyfriend, Michael Turner, are scheduled to have a court hearing next week.

[MuffyBee]

Sweet little angel boy Colton.     It breaks my heart to look at his photo and know he suffered, died and was buried in a shallow grave.  Beyond sad. 


http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/04/12/colton-turners-mother-to-appear-for-pre-trial-hearing-monday/25678503/
Colton Turner's mother to appear for pre-trial hearing Monday
April 12, 2015


(Photo: Courtesy)

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas -- Meagan Work, the mother charged last September with the murder of her two-year-old son, will appear for a pre-trial hearing on Monday.

The remains of Colton Turner were found in a shallow grave in Southeast Austin after a search for the missing boy. Work and Turner said they buried him after he died when he hit his head during a seizure.

The Cedar Park woman and her boyfriend Michael Turner were then charged in the death of Colton.

Police say Child Protective Services received four reports of abuse towards Colton during his short life.

[Sister]

Sweet little angel boy Colton.     It breaks my heart to look at his photo and know he suffered, died and was buried in a shallow grave.  Beyond sad. 


http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/04/12/colton-turners-mother-to-appear-for-pre-trial-hearing-monday/25678503/
Colton Turner's mother to appear for pre-trial hearing Monday
April 12, 2015


(Photo: Courtesy)

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas -- Meagan Work, the mother charged last September with the murder of her two-year-old son, will appear for a pre-trial hearing on Monday.

The remains of Colton Turner were found in a shallow grave in Southeast Austin after a search for the missing boy. Work and Turner said they buried him after he died when he hit his head during a seizure.

The Cedar Park woman and her boyfriend Michael Turner were then charged in the death of Colton.

Police say Child Protective Services received four reports of abuse towards Colton during his short life.

 

[MuffyBee]

Plea deal?!

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/28786260/colton-turners-mother-caught-smirking-in-court
Colton Turner's Mother Caught Smirking in Court
April 13, 2015

Colton Turner's mother Meagan Work and her boyfriend Michael Turner appeared for the first time in court Monday. The two are charged in connection with the two-year-old toddler's death, police say they buried him in a shallow grave in Southeast Austin.

The toddler's family was ushered into and out of the courtroom, and sat in the front row.

Meagan Work had a smirk on her face when she was brought in and out of the courtroom. In an exclusive interview with FOX 7 after the hearing, two of Colton's Great Aunts, Diane Battles and Raquel Helfrich, talked about the anger they felt.

"The way she looked in the court room today, she feels like she's done nothing wrong. You could tell by the smile on her face," says Colton's Great Aunt Diane Battles.

Work did not acknowledge her own family (including her Aunt Raquel Helfrich) who was in the front row or Colton's father and his family. All were seated together.

"The fact that she could do all of that and not have any regard at all for what she did to Colton," says Helfrich,"it's infuriating to watch considering what he went through."

Work and Michael Turner were both in court for a pretrial hearing. Both clad in a prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, they appeared separately.

The pair were there for what's called a status check as they've both been behind bars for about six months. Neither have been formally arraigned yet.

The state's prosecutor told Judge David Wahlberg there is yet more evidence that needs to be turned over to both defense teams. The Judge set the next hearing for May 11, which is coincidentally Meagan Work's birthday.

Helfrich says that is fitting.

"That's exactly what she should get for her birthday and the punishment that she's got coming," she said.

Could a deal be looming though?

Prosecutors spoke to Colton Turner's father and grandmother before the hearing. They talked about an amount of time that might be enough to offer Work and Turner in exchange for a plea.

"I keep telling myself that they keep setting it back because they need to be able to charge her and sentence her to the max," says Battles.

From the bench Judge Wahlberg said if there is a trial, it will likely start in December.

The charges against Work and Michael Turner were upgraded when police say a witness came forward to say he saw Work slam her son's head against a truck they were both in. That head injury is what police believe caused his death. It's not clear if there is surveillance video from the area but that could be part of the evidence that prosecutors were referring to.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/28803353/spot-it-stop-it-helping-texas-most-vulnerable-children
Spot It Stop It: Helping Texas' most vulnerable children
April 14, 2015

The Travis County Center for Child Protection hopes to help stop the cycle of child abuse and neglect with a new statewide campaign “Spot It Stop It”.

Michael Torres, Executive Director of Center for Child Protection says, "research tells us that only 38% of child sexual assault victims reported the crime.” Torres goes on to say “we wanted to challenge people's perception of what child abuse really is and where it occurs”

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, The Child Advocacy Center's Executive Director Michael Torres and DFPS Commissioner John Specia were all on hand Tuesday rallying the public to listen.

Judge John Specia, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Commissioner says, “child abuse and neglect is a public health problem, it is a community problem”

DFPS is also looking into the way abuse reports are sorted through. Nine reports on Colton Turner passed through the Child Abuse Hotline and on to local police departments including APD.

“we're have a third party, an advocacy center, looking at all of the various reports, at all the various law enforcement and coordinating the activities of CPS and law enforcement together” according to the DFPS Commissioner.

Meagan Webb with the Center for Child Protection says, “I'm reviewing the reports which are usually about between 50-60 a day, sometimes upwards of 80.”

 

www.SpotitStopit.org

[MuffyBee]

It's sad, but from what I can gather, there were numerous complaints made regarding suspected abuse during Colton Turner's short life.  Yes, indeed it is important to report suspected abuse, but I hope no more children will fall through the cracks as Colton did.  I hope Colton's law will give children more of a chance.   

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/28803353/spot-it-stop-it-helping-texas-most-vulnerable-children
Nine reports on Colton Turner passed through the Child Abuse Hotline and on to local police departments including APD.

http://kxan.com/2015/04/17/williamson-co-advocacy-center-dedicates-area-to-colton-turner/
Williamson Co. advocacy center dedicates area to Colton Turner
Published April 17, 2015, Updated April 18, 2015

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — In honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Williamson County hosted a special ceremony in Colton Turner’s memory.

The Children’s Advocacy Center in Georgetown hosted an open house debuting three newly-renovated playrooms inside. Those rooms are now reserved in a hallway called Colton’s Way. The center hopes this area provides a sanctuary for other children.

Meanwhile, the toddler’s family says they hope “Colton’s Way” will help in the fight against child abuse.

“We can use this opportunity to ask our community to pay attention,” said Lexi Harris, Colton’s cousin. “When you see abuse, report it. Be a voice for kids like Colton that can’t speak for themselves.

A number of state legislators attended the event, including State Representative Marsha Farney who sponsored “Colton’s Law.”
Video

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/meagan-work-pleads-not-guilty-in-july-death-of-son/nmDWG/
Meagan Work pleads not guilty in July death of son, Colton Turner
May 11, 2015

Meagan Work appeared in court Monday and pleaded not guilty to felony charges in the July death of her 2-year-old son, Colton Turner, whom prosecutors say was buried in Southeast Austin by Work and her husband.

Work, who is charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, rejected plea agreements offered from the state. Prosecutors offered her 50 years in prison on each of the two injury to a child offenses and 20 years in prison on a tampering charge.

Judge David Wahlberg set her next hearing for July 20. Jury selection in her trial will begin Nov. 12.

Her lawyer, Darla Davis, requested that prosecutors turn over a copy of her interview with law enforcement investigators.

Walhberg also has appointed defense lawyer Steve Brand as the new attorney for her husband, Michael Brandt Turner, after his previous lawyer, Bill White, died this month. The father is charged with injury to a child by omission.

Outside the courtroom, Brand, a former prosecutor, said he needed time to catch up on the case and would be looking at it from a different lens than law enforcement.

Work who has remained incarcerated at the Travis County Jail since her arrest, gave birth to another child in March. Travis County sheriff’s spokesman Roger Wade said deputies typically take mothers to a hospital to deliver a child, but he would not comment on Work’s case because of federal medical privacy laws.

In a case that drew national attention and raised questions about the state’s handling of child abuse reports, police say Work and Turner buried Colton’s body in a field after he was assaulted in July.

Police initially sought assistance to help find Colton, who was first reported missing in September. His body was found within days, and police later learned he had been dead for two months.

According to arrest affidavits, Work told police a variety of stories about what happened to her son: That Colton was with a friend, that he’d been kidnapped from a car, and that she had given him away to a couple she had met at a fast-food restaurant. The affidavit said she finally told investigators he died in a motel room.

Police have said Turner led them to Colton’s grave.

A witness in the case later told police that he had seen Work slam Colton’s head against a truck door hours before he likely died. He recalled that he saw Work shaking Colton and yelling at him, police said.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/29036701/colton-turners-mother-meagan-work-spends-21st-birthday-in-court
Colton Turner's mother, Meagan Work, spends 21st birthday in court
May 11, 2015


Colton Turner's mother spent her 21st birthday in a Travis County Court room. On Monday, clad in prison stripes and flanked by sheriff's deputies Work formally answered to the charges she is facing in connection with her son's death.

She pleaded "not guilty" to two first degree felony charges of injury to a child and injury to a child by omission; and "not guilty" to a second degree felony charge of tampering with evidence.
 
Work was arrested in September. Her boyfriend, Michael Turner, was already jailed on a prior charge. Police say in separate interviews, they both admitted to burying the child in July after he suffered a blow to the head. Work told police that the three of them had been staying in a motel room. When asked about the bump on her son's head, she told police he had hit his "head on an air conditioning unit inside of the motel room as a result of Colton being assaulted by Michael."

But court records show after Colton's remains were found in September, a witness came forward. He told police he saw Work and Colton in July. They were parked behind the building where Turner worked. The witness then said he saw Work slam her child's head against the door of the truck. There are cameras on the back of the building, but only those involved in the case know if it was captured on camera.

Despite an eyewitness account and possibly video evidence, Work has not been charged with murder.

"I think people are getting a little tied up on and wed to the idea of murder being the charge," says former Travis County Prosecutor Mindy Montford. "Injury to a child is the same felony degree as the murder charge." She adds, murder is much harder to prove, "you have to show that the person intentionally and knowingly caused the death."

When Work first appeared in court last month, Judge David Wahlberg ordered the state to offer her a plea deal before setting a trial date, which is likely to start in December.

In court on Monday, the state said they offered her fifty years for each felony charge, and twenty for tampering with evidence.

Montford isn't surprised that Work's team rejected it.

"60 years is really going to be the maximum, so to have a plea bargain for 50, a lot of attorneys would advise their clients to go ahead and go forward with the trial. And either try to get an acquittal or at least try to get it reduced for punishment," she says.

A reduced punishment that either Work or her boyfriend could try to get before jury selection gets underway in November.

"This is the time when you are going to see if it happens, one of these defendants will turn on the other."

Turner, is also facing injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence charges. Well-known Austin Defense Attorney Bill White had been appointed to represent him. But White died last week. Former Travis County Prosecutor Steven Brand was appointed on Monday. "We're just looking to go through all of the evidence that the State claims they have against him and we will have access to the evidence against Meagan work," Brand said as he left the court room on Monday.

Brand also says there's more to the story than what's been reported, "When the media hears something, they are going to hear from one side and that's the police department. There's always another side."

Michael Turner was not in court on Monday, and has not been formally charged. Sources say he too was offered a plea deal. Neither his attorney or the State would comment. Brand will be back in court for another hearing in May though he says his client is not likely to appear.

Meagan Work's attorney, Darla Davis would not comment on her client either, leaving the court room through a back entrance. During her client's hearing, Davis did tell Judge Wahlberg she plans to file a motion to "suppress the evidence" against her client.

Montford says it's all part of pre-trial strategy.

"Any statement they made is going to be harped on at trial," she says referring to Work and Turner's interviews with police. "So any defense strategy is going to be right off the bat to try to get those statements suppressed, as if Meagan had never made any of them to begin with."

That hearing is scheduled to take place in July.
 

[Sister]

guess we will have to wait and see who turns on whom.

They are both POS in my opinion.

 

[MuffyBee]

I just saw this headline/article this morning. I'm not certain what the revisions were specifically, but it looks like the changes watered down the original intent.  If I get time this weekend, I'll see if I can do some research. 

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/29139339/family-of-colton-turner-upset-with-coltons-law
Family of Colton Turner upset with Colton's Law
May 22, 2015


The family of Colton Turner says Texas lawmakers are doing a disservice to at-risk children.

They are upset that the bill named after him, Colton's Law, will no longer require the Texas Department of Public Safety to keep track of children who fall through the cracks of CPS.

The original bill moved out of the Texas House of Representatives on a unanimous vote.

That bill compelled the Department of Public Safety to look for those children that the CPS had lost track of.

But since then, there have been several revisions.

Now Colton's family says the bill named after him will not do what it was intended to do.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://kxan.com/2015/08/03/meagan-works-attorney-wants-judge-to-block-evidence/
Meagan Work’s attorney wants judge to block evidence
Published August 3, 2015, Updated August 4, 2015

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The mother accused of injuring her child and tampering with evidence in connection to two-year-old Colton Turner’s death appeared in court Monday afternoon for a pre-trial hearing. Meagan Work’s attorneys wants the judge to block evidence taken when she was first questioned and detained.

Last year police received a tip about a Facebook picture officers said showed Colton with bruises on him. Investigators searched for the boy to check on him but later found the toddler’s body in a shallow grave in East Austin last September

For nearly four hours a judge heard from witnesses, mainly Cedar Park Police Officers, who detained and questioned Work.

“We believe, as you will see during this hearing is, that as soon as this investigation started the rulebook immediately went out the window.” said Darla Davis, Meagan Work’s attorney.

Davis told the court she believes her client was wrongfully detained and questioned. She alleges Cedar Park Police took Work’s property like her cell phone, keys, purse and truck without a search warrant when police found her at a friends out on Sept. 10, 2014.

Davis also said Work asked for an attorney and wasn’t given one. Davis said Work also stayed at the Cedar Park Police Department for 24 hours even though police said she was not under arrest. Work’s attorney also alleged that her client repeatedly told police she was pregnant, was sick and was only given a breakfast taco and water after being there for about 12 hours.

Three of the ten witnesses took the stand Monday and described what exactly happened the night they spoke with Work.

“What she was telling us didn’t make sense, like I said, it was too easy to put holes in, nothing stood up,” said Sgt. Robert Boyd with the Cedar Park Police Department.

He explained how he received a call about a possible child abuse situation and searched for Meagan and her boyfriend, Michael Turner, but didn’t find them. He said, once they located Meagan, they were most concerned with where her son was.

“It wasn’t tense, it wasn’t heated it was just more we were trying to find out where Colton was at,” said Sgt. Boyd as he described how they talked to Meagan.

Boyd said Work told them Colton was near Houston and that she texted a friend to lie to police and tell them he was there.

Officers told the court Work seemed evasive. When they showed her pictures of Colton with bruising she asked them, “How do you know that the photos weren’t Photoshopped?”

“As a parent, in my 24 years as an officer and delivering really bad messages to parents, I never heard that kind of response, I knew immediately something bad had happened,” said Cpl. Bill Guthrie who was also there the night police detained Work.

Besides witness testimony, other evidence like dash cam video from outside the house she was staying was shown in court as evidence.

The pre-trial hearing is expected to continue Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in front of Judge David Wahlberg. It could last through Wednesday. Her trial is expected to be in November of this year. Michael Turner is still in custody and will have a pre-trial next month.

Neither Work or Turner are charged with murder, but Austin Police say the charge of injury to a child carries the same punishment as murder.
 

Video

Even though we need to see both Meagan Work and Michael Turner go to trial and see the evidence presented, I believe Meagan Work is evil and was cruel to her young son over his short life span and I believe she was responsible for his death.   I have this opinion from reading the news, which includes statements from her own family.  While I do believe she is guilty of crimes against Colton Turner, I have concerns with the procedures in regard to the Cedar Park Police Dept.  If they have violated Meagan Work's rights, they may very well jeopardize the case. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/03/meagan-works-hearing--resume-tuesday/31080405/
Meagan Work's evidence hearing continues
August 4, 2015

AUSTIN -- Meagan Work, the woman charged with tampering with evidence and injury to a child in the death of her 2-year-old son Colton Turner, appeared in a Travis County courtroom on Tuesday during the second day of an evidence hearing.

Work's lawyers are attempting to suppress statements and confessions she made to law enforcement following her arrest in September 2014. Her attorneys hope a Travis County judge will throw out evidence against her ahead of her trial this fall.

Work entered the courtroom Tuesday afternoon wearing a striped jail suit and handcuffs. Jail medical staff testified that when she was taken in custody she was four months pregnant. They put her on suicide watch, which is protocol when charges involve a death.

Prosecutors then called Cedar Park Police Sergeant Christopher Daly to the stand. They played video of Work sobbing when he interviewed her at the police station.

The video also shows Work asking about an attorney. She asked how to get one and said she didn't know what to do.

"Are you asking for attorney? You need to let me know," Daly told Work in the video.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," she replied.

"Do you think you need an attorney?" he said.

"I don't know." she replied.

"Did you do anything wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't do anything wrong but I've kind of lied about what happened," she said.

Daly said Work changed her story several times when asked where Colton was.

"She said she left Colton with a friend in Sachse, Texas. Later on she admitted she was lying about that and said Colton was kidnapped from her truck off Rundberg and I-35 in Austin. Then she said she gave him to a family she met at Chik Fil A off I-35," Daly testified.

He said Work told him she was homeless and living out of her truck.

Investigators would later find Colton buried in a shallow grave in Southeast Travis County, but at this point Daly said they were still trying to find him.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/08/05/police-meagan-work-made-confessions--police-interviews/31183645/
Police: Meagan Work made confessions in police interviews
August 6, 2015

AUSTIN -- Meagan Work was in court again Wednesday, as her attorneys continue to try to get evidence in the case thrown out before her trial starts in the fall.

Video shown in court Wednesday showed FBI Special Agent Robert Gutierrez speaking with Work as investigators searched for her son, 2-year-old Colton Turner. Work, who was four months pregnant at the time, sobbed throughout the video and Gutierrez often asked her how she was feeling.

Her attorneys are trying to prove she was in no condition to be interviewed since she vomited throughout the day and she complained of cramping. Investigators testified she seemed competent to interview and, at that time, they looked at her as a victim since they had not found Colton.

"I was approaching it from 'she's a victim mom with a child who was abducted and she's threatened not to talk to law enforcement,'" Gutierrez said.

Cedar Park Police Lt. Chanse Thomas also testified. He said they initially pleaded with her for information in hopes of finding Colton alive. Once they identified the toddler's remains, Work admitted to holding his body as her boyfriend, Michael Turner, searched for a spot to bury him.

Thomas explained Work also admitted she held the flashlight as Turner dug the grave. Defense attorneys are trying to prove investigators did not follow proper procedures in getting those statements and they should not be admissible in her trial.

The state also called Austin Police Detective Anthony Nelson, the case's lead investigator, to the stand Wednesday. He explained Turner led police to Colton's remains and told them what happened. Nelson went to speak with Work to confront her with the new information. He let her tell her story first.

"I wanted to see her level of honesty," Nelson said. "I don't think she was honest with me at all."

Nelson said she gave several different stories until confronted with the information from Turner. At that point, he said she admitted to knowing her son was dead.

The judge initially hoped the hearing would wrap up Wednesday, but both sides plan to be back in court Aug. 17.

[MuffyBee]

http://kxan.com/2015/08/05/fbi-agent-discusses-meagan-works-interview-polygraph-test/
Attorneys piece together hours, days after Colton Turner’s death
Published August 5, 2015, Updated August 6, 2015

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/16/meagan-work-expected-back-court-monday/31824201/
Meagan Work expected back in court Monday
August 16, 2015


(Photo: KVUE)

AUSTIN -- Meagan Work is expected back in court Monday for another day of an evidentiary hearing where her lawyers are trying to get evidence in the case thrown out before her trial starts later this year.
More...

[MuffyBee]

Meagan Work had choices/options if she couldn't take care of him or if he was a burden.  From what I've read, there were friends and relatives that would have kept him.  JMHO

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/ruling-over-evidence-expected-in-case-against-colt/nn5kG/
Judge suppresses bulk of statements Colton Turner’s mom made to police
October 19, 2015

A Travis County state district judge on Monday threw out DNA swabs and the bulk of the statements Meagan Work made to police in the days after she was first detained for questioning in the disappearance of her 2-year-old son, Colton Turner.

Judge David Wahlberg found officers had unlawfully arrested Work in September 2014, making most of the evidence they collected inadmissible at her trial. But the question had been “where to draw the line,” the judge said.

Wahlberg ruled to suppress all of her interviews with law enforcement after she was taken to the Cedar Park Police Department near 11 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2014, until she received medical care just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2014. The decision came as a blow to the prosecution, as in that time Work gave conflicting stories about Colton’s disappearance and eventually confessed, describing the night she and her boyfriend buried the child’s body in a Southeast Austin field.

Prosecutors can still use an interview with Austin police on Sept. 14, 2014. But the judge’s decision could further hurt their case. Work’s lawyer, Darla Davis, said she and her co-counsel may soon ask the judge to dismiss even more evidence based on what could now be invalid search warrants.

Incourt over four days in August, the defense team had argued that officers held Work in custody for days and interviewed her for hours, with few breaks, food or sleep, leaving the pregnant woman under dire physical and mental strain. Investigators improperly continued to question her after she inquired about obtaining counsel, they said.

Prosecutors said the officers were trying to find a missing boy and that the investigation changed as Work gave multiple accounts of what happened to him. They said officers gave Work plenty of opportunities to ask for a lawyer and checked on her well-being multiple times.

Outside the courtroom Monday, Davis said the Constitution should always be followed — especially in the most difficult cases.

“It’s important to follow the rules when it’s hard,” Davis said. “If they don’t apply to Ms. Work when she is accused of a crime — not convicted of a crime but accused of a crime — then they don’t apply for anybody.”

Diane Battles, Colton’s great-aunt, said she could not believe the ruling and would fight until the end for justice for Colton.
Meagan Work’s attorney, Darla Davis, speaks with the local media after the judge ruled to throw out evidence during a hearing on Monday.
“We still believe there is enough evidence for a conviction, and that’s what we are going to believe now,” she said. “We are going to believe that she is going to pay for what she did.”
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.fox7austin.com/news/local-news/36180070-story
Evidence ruled inadmissible in Colton Turner Case
October 19, 2015

 
In light of Judge Wahlberg's ruling, Work's lawyers plan to challenge any search warrants obtained by Police during the time that was ruled inadmissible. A hearing is scheduled for November.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in late February.

 

[MuffyBee]

http://kxan.com/2015/10/19/judge-will-determine-which-evidence-allowed-for-meagan-work-trial/
Judge suppresses bulk of statements in Meagan Work case
October 19, 2015

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A district judge ruled on Monday to suppress the bulk of statements Meagan Work made while in custody in Williamson County and under police questioning, just before the discovery of her son’s body in a shallow grave last year.

District Judge David Wahlberg called the warrantless arrest of Work “unlawful.” He said the nature of the arrest put a “taint” on the statements Work made while in custody, and that taint lasted until Work left University Medical Center Brackenridge about three days after being arrested.

Work is charged with tampering with evidence and injury to a child, in connection with the death of her 2-year-old son, Colton Turner, who was found Sept. 12, 2014.

Work’s defense attorney Darla Davis argued the police unlawfully held and questioned the diabetic Work, who was pregnant at the time. Investigators questioned Work for more than 18 hours. During much of the questioning, Davis said, Work felt nauseated and vomited into a trashcan.

Work’s statements “were suppressed because of the gross unconstitutionality of the way she was treated by the Cedar Park Police Department, by the FBI,” Davis said. “If [the laws] don’t not apply to Ms. Work, when she has been accused of something … they don’t apply to anybody.”

Michael Turner, who was Work’s boyfriend, is also in custody for crimes related to the child’s death.

Given Walhberg’s ruling, Davis said she would work to suppress other evidence gathered with search warrants she also called “unconstitutional.” DNA evidence taken from Work during her time in custody has also been suppressed.

Some statements and evidence will still be allowed at trial. Davis said the court would allow statements Work made during initial contact with Cedar Park police and the last interview Work did with the Austin Police Department on Sept. 13.

Following the ruling, Colton’s great aunt Diane Battles said she is still confident the court will find Work guilty.
 
Cedar Park police initially took Work into custody. After initial and consensual contact was made by CPPD, Work was taken into custody in Williamson County. At that time, authorities were treating the case as a missing person. Numerous law enforcement agencies became involved in the search for Colton, including the Texas Rangers and the Austin Police Department.

In Work’s initial interview with the FBI she said she wasn’t sure if she needed to speak with an attorney and mentioned abandoning her child, according to previous court testimony.

On Sept. 11, 2014, at the onset of the hunt for Colton, Work changed her story about what happened to Colton several times. At one point Work told authorities she left the boy with a friend in a Sachse, a town near Dallas. She later changed the story and said Colton had been kidnapped near the intersection of Rundberg Lane and Interstate 35 in Austin. She also told investigators she gave Colton to a family she met at a Chic-Fil-A restaurant on U.S. Highway 183 in Austin, according to court testimony.

According to Cedar Park Police Department Lt. Chance Thomas, Work admitted to knowing her son had died, and had held the light for Michael Turner as he dug up dirt.

Work’s next court date will be in 2016.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/10/colton-turners-father-may-get-update-trial/75505012/
Colton Turner's father may get update on trial
November 10, 2015

TRAVIS COUNTY -- The father suspected in the death of his two-year-old son, Colton Turner, may get an update on his trial in a status hearing Tuesday.

Michael Turner and his girlfriend, Meagan Work, confessed to burying Colton last summer after they said the toddler had a seizure and died. Last September, searchers found Colton's body in a shallow grave in Southeast Austin. Work and Michael are now charged with tampering with physical evidence.