Family Murder – Criminal Defense Lawyers PLLC

Phoenix Police Detective Faces Child Abuse Charges

When you think of a police officer, you mainly think of hero. You never dream of them being involved in child abuse. However that isn’t always the case. According to the reports a former Phoenix Police detective and his wife are now going to face charges for their connection with the death of a man’s young daughter.

The little girl, seven year old, Sanna Cunningham sadly died in Februrary 2017 however Germayn and Lis Cunningham weren’t indicted on the child abuse charges until several months later. On January 2nd they were finally arraigned on those charges.

In Court, thirty-seven year old Germayne, pleaded not guilty to a count of First Degree Murder as well as 11 counts of Felony Child Abuse. Lisa had a hard time breathing so couldn’t make the arraignment due to being taken to the local hospital. The arraignment was postponed by a judge.

Prosecutors asked that Cunningham be taken into custody and held on a $1 million bond.

Prosecutor Joshua Clark’s Statement:

There has been information circulated that he cashed out his retirement, meaning he has the means to flee or leave the state.

The judge had other plans though, Cunningham could remain a free man but must wear a tracking monitor.

The Goodyear Police continued to investigate the case and found that Germayne and stepmother Lisa had abused and neglected the child since at least June 2016. The Court documents showed that they allegedly forced the young girl to sleep outside and restrained her with zip ties. They even locked her in the garage and laundry room.

According to The Department of Child Safety, there were multiple visits made to the family’s home over the last several months however there wasn’t ever enough evidence to justify taking Sanna from the home.

However, the Cunninghams are being indicted by a grand jury on 10 counts of child abuse and one first degree murder charge.

Germanyne Cunningham was with the Phoenix Police Department for 12 years before he resigned in September. It’s not known if the Goodyear Police investigation into his daughter’s death had anything to do with why he left the force.

Couple Arrested for Child Abuse Case

How can anyone willingly hurt a anyone let alone an innocent child? As a parent this is one of the most unthinkable things.

Now a Lake Havasu City man has been arrested and charged with child abuse after a two year old girl had to be hospitalized due to life threatening injuries.

Police and fire crews had to respond to a report of a female child who wasn’t breathing. This happened in the 2800 block of Appletree Drive. The little girl was immediately transported to the local hospital. Officials said that based on the circumstances and at first observations that the detectives with the Lake Havasu City Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit started an investigation.

Police say that the girl’s father, twenty-one year old, Andrew J. Lamorie was charged with child abuse per domestic violence, aggravated assault per domestic violence, child neglect, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sounds like he’ll be spending some time in jail.

The poor child remains in critical condition and is struggling with his or her life threatening injuries.

Cover Up Abuse

The daycare owner at the center of a child abuse cover-up at his Phoenix facility was sentenced in court on Tuesday.

Ruben Sandoval served two days in jail prior to sentencing and will not get any additional jail time if he completes a year of probation and pays a $950 fine. He is also required to complete 130 hours of community service.

Sandoval owns Brighter Angels Learning Center near Central Avenue and Baseline Road, as well as several other locations around the state.

Man Convicted of Child Abuse

He was convicted of covering up child abuse after a 21-month-old boy was smacked in the face with a broomstick by an employee back in February. He was also accused of seeing surveillance video of the multiple strikes. But, Sandoval allegedly told the employee to not talk to police and drafted a note to the victim’s mother saying the boy tripped and fell instead.

Three employees, including Sandoval were convicted of abuse or covering up abuse.

However, the Arizona Department of Health Services decided the facility was able to stay open. This also comes after ABC15 uncovered more than 35 additional citations that were handed down to the daycare since the abuse occurred.

Sandoval is also still able to run all the facilities in the state, despite his conviction in Phoenix City Court.

Toddler Who Was Abused Has Now Passed Away

According to court documents, the doctors at a Valley hospital found that a little four year old girl suffered severe brain and spinal injuries and signs of sexual abuse.

Sadly the little girl died just a few days later.

Police said that twenty-four year old, Major Aaron Murry admitted to striking the little girl after she spilled some milk. At the time of the initial hearing the Judge said that the little girl may or may not survive her horrible injuries.

Initial reports say that Murry was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of child abuse.

Babysitter Child Abuse

Murry was trusted to watch over the little girl while her mother was at work. However that didn’t work out so well for the poor child. Murry admitted to becoming angry at the girl and then hitting her when she spilled milk near his Xbox video game system. The hit caused her to fall and hit her head.

The court documents say that Murry went to lay the girl down for a nap and when he later checked on her she was unresponsive. He told the police he tried to revive her.

According to the Doctor reports the girl had bruising on her ear, forehead and face and other injuries to her little spine.

Criminal Defense Lawyers PLLC
668 N 44th St. Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85008
(480) 351-6445
https://www.criminaldefenselawyers.me

Murder Crimes Near Phoenix

There are of course several types of murder. The most disturbing and unfathomable, in my opinion anyways, is Familicide. What is Familcide? It’s a term used when there is a multiple victim homicide where the killer’s spouse and children are killed.

Definition from Wikipedia

A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which at least one spouse and one or more children are killed,^[1] or in which a parent or parents and possibly other relatives such as siblings and grandparents are killed.^[2] In some cases all of the family members’ lives are taken. If only the parents are killed, the case may also be referred to as a parricide. Where all members of a family are killed, including when the killing takes the form of a murder-suicide, the crime may be referred to as family annihilation.

The cases I’ll be writing about today are similar but different. This first case is a lot like a familicide case. The police have been able to identify the man who had been accused of decapitating a woman and two dogs. The man identified was identified as, Kenneth Wakefield.

The Phoenix Police Department are always helpful to the media. They have said that Wakefield was actually released from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. However, she was booked for a one count of 1st degree murder as well as two counts of animal cruelty. She was being held on a TWO million dollar bond money.

The believe that the suspect is known to have some physics and mental issues. The two doggies were sadly found dead in the home.

On July 25th, the police had found the horrible crime scene. Which was located near 13th Place and Colter Street. They were able to easily locate the scene after a neighbor had went to check on the suspect and the victim. The neighbor knew that the suspect had mental issues.

The neighbor was quite shocked when, according to them, when the suspect, Wakefield had answered the door and the neighbor said that he was naked and also had a portion of his arm was cut off. Wakefield was a scary sight with his missing arm,and missing right eye that was gouged out.

Wakefield didn’t try to deny what had happened. He admitted to the police officers that he had killed three of his own family members which were inside of the house.

Sadly, when Heisch was found she was decapitated as well as the dogs and in a closet. I feel so sorry for the victims and the police that found them I can’t imagine what a horrific scene that would have been.

The suspect was taken to the local hospital and had to undergo surgeries for his injuries. He was later released to the police after he was all fixed up.

Spouse Abuse or Murder?

Everyone has fights once and a while. If you’re married and have been for a while, chances are you might feel like killing one another on those stressful days. Only some people actually attempt to act on those wishes.

A woman had to be submitted to the hospital after the police claimed that her husband had shot her inside of their Mesa Home.

The Mesa Police Department said that they responded to a call that came out, just after six o’clock in the evening. The call came from an upscale gated community of “Las Sendas”. Las Sendas is located near the McDowell and Power Roads.

Police are keeping quiet about this scene. They are releasing very little information about what happened. However, they have said that the couple’s two children were inside of the house at the time of the shooting. Those poor kids must have been scared to death! The police say that the couple’s children are a young girl and an adult son. Hopefully the adult son can shed some light on the situation.

The police also say that the woman who was shot, is now in the hospital. Hopefully she will make a full recovery. The husband of the victim has been taken in for questioning. However, he has not been formally charged at this time.

The Mesa Police Department are now on the case and are investigating the incident.

Criminal Defense Lawyers PLLC

668 N 44th St. Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85008
(480) 351-6445
https://www.criminaldefenselawyers.me