KAMIYA GROSS (FRENCH) - 2 yo (7/14) - / Charged: Raymone Jackson and Rapheal Hearn - Inkster, MI

‘My heart is gone’: Michigan mom devastated after gunman kills daughter, 2, for revenge on dad 

Erica Gross recalled the devastating moment she heard her only child, 2-year-old Kamiya, was shot execution-style in front of the toddler's father, Kenneth French, in front of his Inkster home on Tuesday. The alleged shooter, Raymone Jackson, was ordered held without bail for the cold-hearted killing.


NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Mich. dad: Toddler was killed 'to make me suffer'

Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
10:34 p.m. EDT July 16, 2014

DETROIT — The father of a 2-year-old girl shot in the head at point-blank range earlier this month did not hesitate when he described why his daughter was killed.

"The idea was to kill my baby to make me suffer before they killed me," Kenneth French said, his voice thundering through a courtroom in the Detroit suburb of Inkster on Wednesday. It was a motive that he said had been posted on Facebook.

French, the father of KaMiya French, or KaMiya Gross as she also is called, was one of five witnesses who testified during the preliminary examinations for Raymone B. Jackson, 25, and Rapheal Hearn, 29. Jackson and Hearn face first-degree murder and other charges in what police have described as the retaliation killing of KaMiya at an Inkster housing project on July 1. Jackson faces the additional charge of torture.

Judge Sabrina Johnson ordered the case against Jackson bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court, where Jackson is to be arraigned July 23, and also ordered an expedited competency exam for Hearn, whose next court date is Sept. 4.

Attorneys had argued over Hearn's competency, with his defense attorney, Matthew Evans, saying Hearn had been undergoing therapy and was taking psychotropic medicine. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Jaimie Powell Horowitz noted that in previous criminal cases, Hearn's mental health had not been questioned.

Jackson's defense attorney, Evan Callahan Jr. of Westland, argued that the torture charge was not warranted, but Johnson said if a 2-year-old was shot to hurt her father, then "there is some evidence that that would be considered torture." Callahan also argued against the murder charge, noting that "testimony conflicts as to who was shot first," based on a statement by French that Jackson shot him in the chest and then began shooting at others.

But Horowitz said, "It was a choice to turn the gun on KaMiya. It was a choice to turn the gun on Mr. French."

It was an intense day in court, with at least one spectator tossed and Johnson threatening to boot others, noting that "this is not television; this is serious." She also challenged Jackson, who could be seen smiling at times, as well as mouthing and gesturing to one of the witnesses in what Horowitz suggested was intimidation.

During a brief break in his testimony, French glared and then pointed at Jackson, shouting, "You walked up like a friend," before an officer intervened and calmed him. French, who is in a wheelchair and has casts on his left arm and foot, wore a black T-shirt with a photo on the front showing him and his daughter together. The words "R.I.P. My baby girl KaMiya" stretched across the back.

Multiple witnesses identified Jackson as the shooter and Hearn as the getaway driver. Saneetra Smith said she watched Jackson, who was wearing black Cartier sunglasses, walk past her as she sat in a vehicle the evening of July 1. He nodded at her and continued to the porch where French was sitting and KaMiya was playing nearby with other children. French greeted Jackson, who said nothing before opening fire on KaMiya followed by the others, she said.

She watched as French rolled over and tried to shield others on the porch with his body.

"I was in shock. I was in shock," Smith said.

Wayne County Medical Examiner Carl Schmidt said KaMiya was shot in the right eye.

As the shooting unfolded, Tori Holt, French's cousin who also was at the porch, said she heard French saying over and over, "My baby, my baby. They shot my baby."

Holt's 12-year-old daughter had been shot in the stomach, which Holt covered with her hand to keep the girl from bleeding to death.

Holt acknowledged during questioning that she could not initially Jackson without his sunglasses.

The case has been painted as retaliation for a shooting in April at a motorcycle club. French testified that Hearn, who is known as Shoes, had come into the club where French spends time to buy ecstasy, but asked for an escort out because some people there did not like him.

Problems began, French said, when Hearn got a gun from his car, returned to the club and shot someone. But Hearn also was shot. French said that Hearn blamed him for not protecting him.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Jackson and Hearn would face life in prison. Both have had multiple convictions on other charges.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/16/mich-dad-toddler-killed-to-make-me-suffer/12765201/

The evilness and horror of this murder makes me sick to my stomach.

Eric D. Lawrence and Gina Damron, The Detroit Free Press12:07 a.m. EDT July 24, 2014




(Photo: Detroit Free Press)


DETROIT — A man accused of gunning down an Inkster, Mich., toddler this month would have been in jail on the day of the killing if he had not been released early on a sentence for drug possession from last year.
Raymone Jackson, 25, of Inkster was credited for good behavior on an 11-month jail sentence he received in September and released in March, according to Paula Bridges, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Jackson is accused of shooting 2-year-old KaMiya French in the head to make her father suffer, but Jackson would have been in jail until August had he served his full sentence.
Bridges, in a statement released Wednesday evening, called it a "a nonviolent, non-assaultive conviction" and said the sheriff's office was authorized to let Jackson serve as an inmate worker, who was able to earn time off his sentence.
"With additional time credited for 'statutory good behavior,' Jackson was released in March, following notification to the (Michigan Department of Corrections). The MDOC had the option to pick Jackson up and return him to MDOC custody — they declined and removed the detainer. Upon release in March 2014, Jackson was to be on probation under the supervision of MDOC through September 2015. In addition, Jackson was turned over to Dearborn Heights Police due to outstanding warrants," Bridges said in the statement. She did not offer details on the Dearborn Heights case.
Russ Marlan, an MDOC spokesman, said the state could not keep Jackson beyond June 25, the end of his parole on a 2010 case and noted that Judge David Groner could have sentenced Jackson to state prison — where early release for good behavior is not permitted — rather than jail and probation for the 2013 case.
"The judge assessed his risk, all of the factors at play and made the decision that prison wasn't warranted,"  said. "We kind of take our lead off of the judge at the time of those sentences."
During Jackson's arraignment in Wayne County Circuit Court today on first-degree murder, torture and other charges, Groner had expressed dismay that Jackson was neither in jail nor on parole.
"The judge asked why (Jackson) didn't do 11 months in jail and that would probably be a question for the Wayne County Sheriff's Department," Marlan said. "We couldn't do anything more with him after (June 25). We had no other options, we had to discharge him on that date. ... Maybe the judge was thinking he had more time left on his sentence. He did not."

Raymone Jackson listens in court as he hears testimony during a hearing before Judge Sabrina Johnson in Inkster, Mich., Wednesday, July 16, 2014, in the case of the execution-style fatal shooting of 2-year-old girl and the wounding of two others July 1 in a local public housing complex. Judge Sabrina Johnson must decide whether there's enough evidence to send Jackson to trial on first-degree murder, torture and other charges. Co-defendant, Raphael Hearn, is charged with first-degree murder. Police say KaMiya Gross was killed outside her Inkster home in a retaliatory shooting.(Photo: Charles V. Tines, The Associated Press)


Groner had quizzed a probation officer in court about Jackson's release.
"Why would he have been discharged from parole if I had placed him on probation consecutive to his parole sentence?" Groner said. "Why would someone be discharged from parole if they picked up a new case. Wouldn't they normally be what we used to call flopped, like given more time? … Certainly if someone is on probation for this court, the court wants to know what has occurred and why the person is out."
Jackson had pleaded guilty in August to a drug charge and was sentenced the following month to 11 months in jail and two years probation.
Jackson, who was found not guilty of first-degree murder in March 2010, also had previously been sentenced to two to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a drug charge in April 2010. He was paroled on that case in 2011.
Jackson is accused of killing KaMiya, whose last name is also given as Gross, on July 1, less than a week after his release from parole. Witnesses said Jackson shot KaMiya and then opened fire on others outside a residence at an Inkster housing project, striking her father, Kenneth French, and a 12-year-old family friend. French and the other girl survived.
Authorities said the shooting was in retaliation for a shooting that happened in April at a motorcycle club. French said in court last week that Jackson shot KaMiya to make French suffer. Jackson's co-defendant, Rapheal Hearn, 29, also of Inkster, is charged with murder as well. A competency hearing is scheduled for Hearn, who is accused of being the getaway driver, on Sept. 4 in 22nd District Court in Inkster.
During Wednesday's arraignment, Groner entered a not-guilty plea on Jackson's behalf.


 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/24/inkster-toddler-slaying/13081015/

What a sad, sad thing this is.  She was a beautiful, precious little baby girl. 

He won't be getting out early for good behavior again.