Stacey's Murder Investigation |
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12/05/06 |
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The following news article is included as it appeared on The Bolivar
Commercial website on December 4, 2006, and is intended for informational purposes only:Fannings found guilty of murderFamily to continue search for daughter's bodyAimee Robinette
James Arthur Fannings Jr. was found guilty of fatally shooting Stacey Lynn Hazelton in May 2004 at the Alligator Place Apartments. He will serve a life sentence. For Hazelton's family, their daughter's death irrevocably changed their lives. Bruce Hazelton, Stacey's father, said sitting through testimony about the callous, cold murder of their oldest daughter had been torture. Natalie, Hazelton's mother, said it was difficult for her not to be in the courtroom. She was a witness in the case. Chavon Mack, aka Pierre, testified to Fannings shooting Hazelton point blank in the head after an argument over his being monogamous. Fannings was playing with a gun during the argument, casually point the gun at himself and Hazelton. When Fannings said he might as well be dead if he couldn't see other women, Hazelton said "No, shoot me," and he did. Hazelton collapsed on the floor of the apartment building, and Fannings, still holding the gun, told Mack to find something to put her in while he wrapped her body in a sheet. Mack found a large plastic container as Fannings cleaned up the blood. They put her in the container. Mack said Fannings drove Hazelton's green Chevy Blazer around to a side window, and they put her in the back. They drove for two days, according to Mack, with Hazelton's body still in the blazer. The third day after the murder, Mack said they attempted to burn Hazelton's body in a large metal barrel and stayed all night on a road parallel to the Hushpuckena River. Afterwards, they drove to a patch of woods on the banks of the Hushpuckena River and buried her in a shallow grave. Five days after the murder, Fannings, Mack and another female friend drove Hazelton's blazer back to Pennsylvania, where Fannings used it as a personal vehicle until it was impounded. Fannings stole a motorcycle and the accomplice drove Hazelton's blazer as the getaway car. The blazer remained impounded for over a year. While all the evidence in the case was circumstantial, each witness' testimony coincided with the other, even though they lived in different places and hadn't seen each other and in some cases, hadn't known each other. Each testimony painted a picture of Fannings as being a ladies' man, who used them and manipulated them into doing what he wanted. He was known to be abusive. Once he had been indicted by Bolivar County and arrested in Pennsylvania at his current girlfriend's home, he propositioned another inmate in prison to help him "take care of" Mack, the only witness to the crime. This corroborated Mack's reason for not coming forward until over a year later when officers from Pennsylvania State Police Corp. Patrick Quigley and Thomas Waters interviewed him about Hazelton's disappearance. "I was scared," Mack said. Mack also testified that after Fannings killed Hazelton, he pointed the gun at Mack and threatened him and Mack's father. Hazelton's remains have not been found and that will now become the mission of her family. One witness testified that while in the Bolivar County Regional Correctional Facility with Fannings, they saw television coverage of the first dig on the banks of Hushpuckena River. Fannings told the inmate, "they were right on top of her." This ignited the family's desire to continue to search for Hazelton so they can "bring her home." The Hazeltons said in an interview Friday morning that they knew Stacey had not given up her life for nothing, that her life was taken so that Fannings could not hurt other girls. "He's a predator," said Bruce Hazelton. "This was her way of stopping him - of getting someone to stop him," Natalie Hazelton added. Emotions ran high for many involved in the case, including the jurors. After court was dismissed, several jurors approached the family with their condolences and said "the Lord would be with them." "We weren't expecting it," said Bruce. "Not because I didn't' think they were good people, I just didn't know we were allowed to talk to them." Natalie Hazelton said Mack had been spotted praying on his knees in a room outside of the court before the verdict was announced. The Hazeltons were also allowed to address the court. They had prepared statements prior to the verdict, but had left them in the car, so they said they had to "wing it." Natalie Hazelton said it was hard to see Fannings sitting there, when he was the one who took her daughter's life. She added they will never be able to hear her laugh again. The Hazeltons said that they knew they were in good hands with District Attorney Laurence Mellen and Assistant District Attorney Brenda Mitchell. They also said the case had been investigated well by the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department and Quigley and Waters. Circuit Court Judge Kenneth L. Thomas approached the family and said, "See, we do have justice in the south" as he hugged them as well.
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