CAMERON WALLACE - 2 yo -(2010) Chattanooga TN

Parents charged in daughter's fatal shooting

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.

Police arrested a Chattanooga couple on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in the shooting of their 2-year-old daughter while she and her older siblings were playing with a handgun.

A police statement said 22-year-old Thomas Wallace and 25-year-old Samantha Wallace are charged in the July 12 death of Cameron Wallace.

The police statement said a grand jury indicted the couple Sept. 16.

A medical examiner's report shows the child was fatally shot while she and her 4- and 5-year-old siblings were in their parents' bedroom playing with a loaded handgun.

A Hamilton County Jail officer said Wednesday there was not yet any record of the couple being booked on the charge.

published Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Trial set for parents of toddler sibling shot



The parents of a 2-year-old girl accidentally shot to death by her 6-year-old stepbrother are set to face trial in January, a Hamilton County judge ruled.

Thomas and Samantha Wallace each face a charge for criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of their daughter Camron. She died on July 12, 2010, after her stepbrother shot her with a gun he retrieved from the couple's bedside table in their home on Tinsley Place in Chattanooga.

The couple, both out on bond, appeared together Wednesday before Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern. The judge set the Wallaces' trial date for Jan. 17.

"Samantha knows the only way they're going to put this behind them and put their family back together is to go to trial, and so she's eager for that to go ahead," said Samantha Wallace's attorney, Daniel Ripper. "She and her husband are very ready to have their children back with them."

Her husband is being represented by Assistant District Public Defender Steve Brown, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas Wallace, 23, has made an application for pretrial diversion, a motion that gives first-time offenders the chance to avoid a trial and permanent criminal charges. The court has not yet issued a decision on whether to grant Wallace the diversion.

Samantha Wallace, 26, was not able to apply for pretrial diversion, Ripper said, because she has a past misdemeanor charge.

Currently, the Wallaces, who still are married, do not have custody of their two remaining children. Ripper said he did not know whether the children were in the custody of the state or with relatives.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/aug/11/b1-trial-set-for-parents-of-toddler-sibling-shot/

Attorney asks judge to revoke bonds

Aug 18, 2011

Prosecutors have asked that parents charged in the 2010 death of their 2-year-old daughter be put back in jail.

Assistant District Attorney Charlie Minor has filed documents asking the bonds be revoked for Thomas and Samantha Wallace on charges of criminally negligent homicide.

Camron Wallace was shot to death in July 2010 by her 5-year-old stepbrother, who found a loaded .45-caliber pistol on Thomas Wallace's nightstand.

Minor filed documents noting that both parents are facing charges not connected to Camron's death.

He also wrote that Thomas Wallace "chose to be irresponsible in his gun ownership" and failed to teach responsible gun safety "purchasing the four year-old a pink .22-caliber handgun with a cricket on it and the five year-old a blue .22-caliber handgun with a chipmunk on it. This taught the children to associate real guns with toys."

The pair are scheduled for a hearing before Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern on Friday.

Minor said he could not comment on the case.

Neither Assistant Public Defender Steve Brown, Thomas Wallace's attorney, nor the family could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Thomas Wallace asked for pretrial diversion, which allows first-time offenders to avoid a trial and permanent criminal charges. But since filing for diversion, he has been charged with assault in relation to a March 19 incident and with felony theft and vandalism in connection to an incident on April 11, records show.

Minor noted in his filing that Thomas Wallace has not added these incidents to his diversion request. Minor said he cannot support pretrial diversion.

"[Thomas Wallace] lacks a stable support structure as his closest family members have numerous arrest and criminal convictions," Minor wrote.

Samantha Wallace has pending charges in Marion County for drug possession, vandalism and theft.

Her criminal history also includes assault counts in 2004 and 2009 in Sequatchie County and in 2005 in Marion County, Minor noted in his court filings.

Minor included a record showing that, when asked for his recitation of the facts in his daughter's death, Thomas Wallace wrote that "someone tried to break into my house and I had put my gun in my night stand for protection and the kids must have gotten in my droor [sic] and found it covered up. for more info check reports."

Minor wrote that "It is a direct result of he and his wife's negligent and criminal conduct that his two year-old daughter was killed and that his surviving stepchildren will live and struggle with this for the remainder of their lives."

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/chattanooga-times-free-press/mi_8094/is_20110818/attorney-asks-judge-revoke-bonds/ai_n58037377/

published Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
Chattanooga parents charged in child's death remain free on bond


Theft, vandalism, drug and assault charges against a couple charged in the death of their 2-year-old daughter were not enough to send them back to jail.

Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Charlie Minor had asked Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern to raise or revoke the bond for Thomas and Samantha Wallace, whose trial date is Jan. 17, 2012. They are free on $2,500 bonds each.

Minor argued Monday that the couple's behavior while free on bond in Marion County required they be detained again.

After a half-hour hearing Monday in which the alleged victim of the vandalism, theft and assault testified, Stern ruled that the pending charges were not sufficient to put the couple back in custody.

"This is a mess between all of these people," Stern said. "I do not find it a basis to raise or revoke a bond."

The Wallaces each face a charge of criminally negligent homicide in the accidental shooting death of their 2-year-old daughter Camron Wallace.

Camron died moments after her 5-year-old stepbrother shot her in the chest with a .45-caliber pistol that he'd picked up from Thomas Wallace's nightstand on July 12, 2010.

Stephanie Bryant testified Monday that she had allowed Thomas, 23, and Samantha, 26, to live in her Marion County mobile home in September or October 2010, shortly after their daughter's death.

From that time until March 2011, Bryant said, arguments grew between her and the couple, who were not paying rent, and she asked them to leave. Problems reached a head on March 19, when Bryant and the Wallaces got into a fight. Police were called and arrested the couple, Bryant and her boyfriend.

Thomas and Samantha Wallace were released from jail earlier than her, Bryant said, and before she could get back to the home, the Wallaces had vandalized the trailer and stolen some of her property.

"It was completely empty of furniture, pictures, everything," Bryant testified.

The Wallaces were in the courtroom with their attorneys, but didn't testify.

During the Monday hearing, Steve Brown referred to a letter that claimed the Marion County charges against the Wallaces would be dismissed next week.

Bryant said after the hearing that was the first time she had heard the charges would not be pursued.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/sep/20/b1-parents-charged-in-childs-death-remain-free-on/

published Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Date set for negligent homicide trial in death of 2-year-old

The parents of a 2-year-old girl killed when her 5-year-old stepbrother shot her with dad's pistol both have suffered equal pain after the tragedy, one of their attorneys said Tuesday.

Thomas, 24, and Samantha Wallace, 27, each face a charge of criminally negligent homicide in their daughter Cameron's death on July 12, 2010. On Tuesday, Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern set their trial date for Sept. 11.

Samantha's court-appointed attorney, Dan Ripper, said after the hearing that the Wallaces had "suffered enough" and deferred questions about their charges to the district attorney's office.

"What happened here was an accident between one young child and another young child," Ripper said. "Neither parent believes the other parent did anything wrong."

Cameron died moments after being shot in the chest with the .45-caliber pistol that Thomas kept loaded on the nightstand.

Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern set the new trial date Tuesday morning.

The trial would have begun Tuesday, but Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Charlie Minor asked the judge to move the trial because of other previously scheduled trials, according to court documents.

Both Minor and Thomas' attorney, Assistant District Public Defender Steve Brown, said they could not comment on pending cases.

The Wallaces each are free on $2,500 bond. Minor had sought to revoke or raise their bond in September after learning the pair faced theft, vandalism, drug and assault charges in Marion County.

Stern declined to raise or revoke the bond.

Criminally negligent homicide is a Class E felony. If convicted, the Wallaces face one to six years in prison.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2012/jan/18/negligent-homicide-trial-planned-sept-11/?local

one to six years? they must b kidding!!!

Update: Chattanooga parents found not guilty in child's death case (with video)

Update:

Jurors have found the parents of a toddler killed by her young brother not guilty of criminally negligent homicide.



The verdict comes after a two-day trial for Thomas Wallace, 25, and his wife, Samantha Wallace, in the 2010 death of 2-year-old Camron Wallace.

The pair could have faced one to six years if convicted.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/05/attorneys-battle-over-parents-responsibility/