JADON HIGGANBOTHAN - 6 yo (2010) - Durham NC / Colorado Springs CO

Murder charge in killing of 5-year-old boy in Durham; man was being held in woman's death

June 09, 2011 - 10:28 pm
DURHAM, N.C. — Officials say a man being held in the death of a
Durham woman whose remains were discovered behind a house has been
charged with murder in the death of a 5-year-old boy.
Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Thursday that Pete Lucas Moses Jr. was charged in the slaying of Jadon Higganbothan.
Authorities believe a body found at the house Wednesday
is that of is that of Antoinetta McKoy, who disappeared five months
ago. Jadon had also been reported missing. Michael said remains found
Thursday at the house were consistent with those of a small child.
Police have said they believe McKoy and Jadon's mother,
25-year-old Vania Rae Sisk, were members of a polygamist sect. Sisk is
one of seven people charged with murder. All seven are in police custody
and are being held without bond.
McKoy's family, who reported her missing on Feb. 1, said they hadn't seen her since early December.
Investigators believe McKoy had been living with Sisk
and Pete Lucas Moses Jr., in a religious sect known as the Black
Hebrews. The group believes it descends directly from the ancient tribes
of Israel, and some of the sects, including the one in Durham, practice
polygamy.
As police investigated McKoy's disappearance, they discovered Jadon was missing.
Court documents say that a former sect member, who
wasn't identified, had told investigators that McKoy and the boy had
been killed. The documents say the former member reported that Moses
became angry with the boy and took him to the basement. He said he then
heard the sound of a gunshot.
He said Moses put the body in a suitcase, which he
eventually disposed of after leaving it in the attic until the body
began to stink.
Sisk, however, told investigators that she left her son with an acquaintance on Feb. 20 of this year.
The former member also said Moses told Sisk to shoot McKoy after a heated argument about car keys.
Besides Moses and Sisk, the others charged in the case
are: Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40; Larhonda Renee Smith, 40; Sheilda
Evelyn Harris, 56; Sheila Falisha Moses, 20 and P. Leonard Moses, 21.http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/5a58e77e5329435ead9ccad9ff0e7f95/NC--Polygamist-Sect-Missing-Members/

Geologist assists police at murder scenes




Raleigh, N.C. — One week ago, police found the remains of a missing woman and 5-year-old boy buried behind a Durham home.

To help find the remains at 2622 Ashe St., police enlisted the help of geologist Ron Crowson, who works in conjunction with the North Carolina Program for Forensic Sciences at North Carolina State University. The program has assisted in the death investigations of Zahra Baker, Nancy Cooper, Shaniya Davis and Kelly Morris.

One of the first things a forensics team does is look for an area of ground that might have been disturbed, such as a bare patch of land, Crowson said. Then, they test the soil to see how hard or soft it is.

First, Crowson surveyed the Durham site with a high-tech metal detector. It picked up on mineral in the soil that's usually deeper in the ground, indicating that someone might have dug up the area recently.

Crowson then used a ground-penetrating radar, which creates a map of the area.

"It does have the ability to look into the ground and see if there are object underneath the ground," he said. "It doesn't identify what the objects are, but it does tell us there is something there."

Crowson used a computer to put several maps together, ultimately leading to the discovery of Jadon Higganbothan's remains wrapped in a plastic bag.

"That morning they found the boy and it was exactly where the radar and EM (electromagnetic) unit had shown," Crowson said.
Higganbothan was last seen in October. An informant told Durham police in February that the boy was killed inside a home at 2109 Pear Tree Lane, and his body was stuffed into a suitcase and disposed of.

Police charged Peter Lucas Moses, 27, with murder in Jadon's death. Moses is also charged with murder in the death of Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, whose remains were also found behind the home.

Crowson, who works as a private contractor through his company Geo Solutions, has worked on murder cases in Hope Mills and Elizabeth City. He said that while he tries to keep his mind on science, he knows his work might ultimately lead to justice.

"My main Impetus is to provide information for police to nail the guy. That's what I'm after," Crowson said

Prosecutors seek death penalty against Peter Moses



Updated: July 08, 2011

DURHAM, N.C. --

Durham County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Peter Moses, Jr., who is accused of killing Jadon Higganbothan and Antoinetta McKoy.

Moses didn't say anything during his court hearing Friday morning. However Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline gave the judge a gruesome description of the shootings that took place last year at a home on Pear Tree Lane.

Cline said Moses lived at the home with a number of woman and eight children. All of the children were fathered by Moses except Jayden. Jadon's mother, Vania Sisk, was one of the women who lived at the home and is charged with the murder of McKoy.

Cline said during the Spring of 2010 Moses got angry at Jadon for hitting another child on the bottom. Prosecutors believe Moses thought Jadon was a homosexual, like his biological father, and it was against Moses' religious beliefs so he shot Jadon in the head.

Cline said Moses kept Jadon's body in his master bedroom until it started to decompose and smell.

Cline also explained to the judge about an incident last December when McKoy tried to escape the home. She says the women caught her and beat her for hours before Moses instructed them to shoot her.

Cline said Moses moved the bodies to his mother's backyard on Ashe Street in Durham where they sat for months before being discovered by a worker earlier this year.

Cline told the judge that Moses killed Jadon and McKoy because they didn't fit into his religious beliefs.

"It did not include a 4-year-old who he accused of and thought was a homosexual, and it did not include a woman who could not have children and who was trying to get away from there and we believe at the time was trying to go to the police," Cline said.

Sheilda Harris, Sheila Moses and P. Leonard Moses, all related to Moses, were indicted on charges of accessory after the fact to first degree murder of Antionetta McKoy. A $500,000 bond was set Friday for Sheilda Harris, Moses' mother, and Shelia Moses, Moses's sister. Prosecutors say Moses showed them the dead bodies during a party he threw at his house on Pear Tree Lane.

A Durham County grand jury has indicted Moses on two counts of murder and Lavada Harris, Vania Sisk and Larhonda Smith each on one count of murder.

Harris, Sisk and Smith were also indicted on one charge of accessory after the fact to the murder of Higganbothan.



http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2011/jul/08/6/prosecutors-seek-death-penalty-against-pete-moses-ar-1190302/

Prosecutors seek more time to try sect members in slayings

Durham, N.C. — Prosecutors on Thursday asked for a slower schedule in trying seven members of a religious group charged in the slayings of a Durham boy and a woman.

Peter Lucas Moses, 27, faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against him.

Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline filed notice Thursday to declare the case "exceptional," which would put it on an extended timetable. Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson is expected to hear the request in two weeks.

Prosecutors said Moses led a religious group of women and children who called him “Lord” and feared him. They said Moses killed Jadon last October because he thought the child was gay and ordered that McKoy be killed in December after he learned she couldn't have children and wanted to leave the group.

The group lived in a home at 2109 Pear Tree Lane, and searches of the home early this year turned up evidence of blood, shell casings, projectiles and signs of cleaning.

Jadon's and McKoy's bodies were found in June buried behind a house on Ashe Street in Durham where Moses' mother used to live.

Jadon's mother, Vania Rae Sisk, 25, and two other women who lived with Moses, Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40, and Larhonda Renee Smith, 40, have been charged with murder in McKoy's death and as accessories in the boy's death.

Moses' mother, Sheilda Harris, and siblings P. Leonard Moses and Sheila Moses are charged as accessories in McKoy's death.

Cline also received permission Thursday to share information in the case with child welfare workers.

Sisk's three children, Lavada Harris' five children and Sheila Moses' two children children are in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9952962/

Posted: 4:18 p.m. yesterday
Autopsies: Victims in Durham sect case shot in head

DURHAM, N.C. — A Durham boy and a woman who authorities say were killed and buried by members of a religious group had been shot in the head, according to autopsy reports released Tuesday.

The bodies of Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28, were found in June buried behind a house on Ashe Street in Durham.

Jadon had been missing since last October, and McKoy was last seen in December.

McKoy was shot twice in the top of the head and once in the right arm, and Jadon was shot once in the top of the head, according to autopsy reports.

Peter Lucas Moses, 27, faces first-degree murder charges in their deaths, and prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty against him.

Authorities said Moses led a religious group of women and children who called him “Lord” and feared him. The group lived in a home at 2109 Pear Tree Lane in Durham, and searches of the home early this year turned up evidence of blood, shell casings, projectiles and signs of cleaning.

An informant told police that Moses killed Jadon last fall because he thought the child was gay and ordered that McKoy be killed after he learned she couldn't have children and wanted to leave the group.

Jadon's mother, Vania Rae Sisk, 25, and two other women who lived with Moses, Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40, and Larhonda Renee Smith, 40, have been charged with murder in McKoy's death and as accessories in the boy's death.

Moses' mother, Sheilda Harris, and siblings P. Leonard Moses and Sheila Moses are charged as accessories in McKoy's death.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10220995/

Updated: October 18
Cult-like group behaviors come out in court


Durham, N.C. — Prosecutors laid out the case Friday against a Durham man charged with killing a
4-year-old boy and 28-year-old-woman, saying he led a “religious” group
of women and children who called him “Lord” and feared him.

Peter Lucas Moses, 27, faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of
Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28. Prosecutors said
they will seek the death penalty against him. Defense attorneys didn't
speak in his behalf at a court hearing Friday.

Prosecutors said Moses killed Jadon because he thought the child was gay and McKoy after
he learned she couldn't have children and wanted to leave the group.
Prosecutors said the case came to police's attention in February when a young woman
escaped from a house at 2109 Pear Tree Lane house, where she had lived
with McKoy, Jadon, eight other children and three women charged in
connection with the two slayings – Jadon's mother, Vania Rae Sisk, 25,
Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40, and Larhonda Renee Smith, 27.

The woman, whose identity wasn't released, told police that two people had
died at the house, Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline said.
Court records have revealed that Durham police had a confidential
informant in the case.

The women counted themselves as Moses' "wives or common-law wives," Cline said.

"The arrangement was the women would periodically occupy the master suite
with" Moses, Cline said, adding that she wouldn't go so far as to say
the group was a cult.

Living with them, all in one were room, were
Sisk's four children and Lavada Harris' five children, prosecutors
said. Moses is the father of all the children, except for Jadon.
Witness told police of child's death

Moses feared that Jadon might be gay because his father had left Sisk, and
Moses told her to "get rid" of the child, prosecutors said.
"In the religious belief of that organization, homosexuality was frowned on," Cline said.

Sometime in October 2010, Smith told Moses that Jadon had hit another child's
bottom, and Moses became angry and started walking around the house with
a gun that belonged to Sisk, prosecutors said.

"He starts screaming, 'I told you to get rid of him!'" and told Sisk, "'How am I
going to do this?'" Cline recalled the witness' account.

Moses ordered two of the women to set up computers and speakers in the garage,
prosecutors said they were told by the witness. They said he started
playing music with the Lord's Prayer in Hebrew, took Jadon in the garage
and shut the door, and the women then heard a gunshot.


Prosecutors said the witness told them that the women helped
clean up the body of Jadon, who had been shot in the head, and put it in
a suitcase in Moses' master suite. He later told them to get the body
out because it was beginning to smell, prosecutors said.

The other children, who have been placed in foster homes by Social Services, have
told authorities they feared that Moses would do to them "what he did
to Jadon," Cline said. "The children are fearful of Pete Moses Jr."
Prosecutors: McKoy killed after beating

Moses killed McKoy in a similar manner on Dec. 21 or 22, 2010, prosecutors said.

Family members said that Moses encouraged McKoy, whom he had known as a
teenager, to join him and that after she left, they didn't hear from her
again.

McKoy found that she couldn't have children and wrote dairy entries begging "Lord" not to kill her, prosecutors said.

On the day she died, prosecutors said, McKoy ran to a neighbor's house and
asked to use a cell phone to call her mother in Washington, D.C. The
neighbor said she didn't call police because she thought that it was a
group home and that McKoy might be mentally disturbed.

Prosecutors said the neighbor told them that the other women came out of the house,
and Moses struggled with McKoy and dragged her back inside.

Moses beat her throughout most of the day, with the women joining in at least
once, and tried to strangle her with an extension cord, according to
the witness.

The witness described how McKoy begged for her life,
but Sisk got the gun Moses used to kill Jadon and took it to the
bathroom, prosecutors said. The women told Moses "you cannot let her go"
and said they feared him going to jail, Cline said.

They turned on the same music in the bathroom and took McKoy in there, prosecutors
said. Sisk shot McKoy several times, killing her, they said.

The group threw a party a few days later, prosecutors recalled the witness
saying, and Moses showed McKoy's body to several relatives, including
his mother Sheilda Evelyn Harris, 56, his brother P. Leonard Moses, 21,
and his sister, Sheila Falisha Moses, 20.

McKoy's body was also kept in the house for some time, taped up inside black garbage bags
placed in a garbage bin, prosecutors said the witness told them.

Later, Jadon and McKoy's bodies were buried in the backyard of a house at 2622
Ashe St., where Moses' mother lived until early this year, prosecutors
said. Plumbers led police to discover the remains in June.

Prosecutors said that police found .22-caliber shell casings and a projectile and
blood in the garage and master bathroom of the Pear Tree Lane home. They
also found a .22-caliber gun on the roof of a Colorado townhouse, where
the group moved in February, prosecutors said.
Women face charges linked to deaths

Sisk, Lavada Harris and Smith face first-degree murder charges in McKoy's
death and as accessories in Jadon's death. Police said two of the women
are pregnant.

Sheilda Harris, P. Leonard Moses and Sheila Moses are also charged as accessories in McKoy's death.
Sheila Moses and Sheilda Harris were granted a $500,000 secured bond at Friday's court hearing.

Defense attorney Mani Dexter said that prosecutor's case against Sheila Moses
is based on one person's word and that she's trying to get custody of
her children back from Social Services.

Prosecutors said that police went to the Pear Tree Lane house in February but found nothing
suspicious. They went again when they received word that McKoy's family
had reported her missing in D.C. in December.

Then, the women denied that Moses lived there, but officers found him hiding in a bathroom cabinet, prosecutors said.

Cline said the suspects told contradictory stories about what happened to
McKoy: One woman said she didn't know what happened, another said that
McKoy planned to move in but didn't, and Moses said that McKoy got mad
about money and left.

Sisk did not acknowledge having a 4-year-old
child named Jadon, and police only verified his existence because of
Social Services reports, Cline said. The children were homeschooled.

McKoy's mother, Yvonne McKoy, said Friday that she is still numb and can't believe her daughter is gone.
“I’m just grateful to God that justice has been served and God is going to do what God is going to do," Yvonne McKoy said.

Alleged cult leader pleads guilty to killing boy, woman

23 hrs ago
BY BETH VELLIQUETTE, bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 919-419-6632

DURHAM – The alleged cult leader of the Black Hebrews, who police say killed a woman and a 4-year-old boy in 2011, pleaded guilty Monday morning to two counts of first-degree murder in Durham County Criminal Superior Court.

Peter Lucas Moses Jr., 28, entered the plea to the surprise of many on a day when he was scheduled to appear in court only for a status update on his case.

Instead, deputies brought him into the crowded courtroom first thing in the morning, and he pleaded guilty to killing Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinette McKoy, 28.

Moses was not sentenced, and he was returned to jail, where he is being held without bond.

“He pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder and agreed to testify against his co-defendants if he is called upon to testify,” said District Attorney Leon Stanback.

His plea took the death penalty off the table, Stanback said.

“He’s facing two life sentences consecutively without parole,” he said.

Moses will likely be sentenced after the cases against his six co-defendants are resolved.

Plea deals have not been worked out with the other co-defendants, but Stanback said the other co-defendants might appear in court later this week. They, like Moses, are on the docket for a status update.

Investigators believe that Moses was the leader of a polygamous cult-like group called the Black Hebrews, and that he shot and killed Higganbothan in October 2011 in the home he shared with other adult members of the group and their children at 2109 Pear Tree Lane.

Assistant District Attorney Dale Morrill declined to characterize Moses as the cult leader, saying that since the cases of the other six co-defendants have not yet been resolved, he did not want to talk about the evidence in the case.

Investigators found Higganbothan’s decomposed remains wrapped in numerous black plastic trash bags, secured periodically by bands of clear tape, in a shallow grave in the backyard of 2622 Ashe St., the home of Moses’ mother, Sheilda Harris.

Investigators also found the body of McKoy, wrapped in a similar manner, in a separate shallow grave in the same backyard. It’s believed that Higganbothan’s mother, Vania Sisk, shot and killed McKoy in December 2010 after McKoy tried unsuccessfully to escape from the house at 2109 Pear Tree Lane.

Former District Attorney Tracey Cline told a judge during a hearing last July that Moses shot the boy, who was the only child in the house that was not his biological child, because he thought the boy was gay.

The other co-defendants are Vania Sisk, P. Leonard Moses, Lavada Quinzetta Harris, Sheilda Harris, Sheila Moses, Larhonda Smith.

Read more: http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/18950051/article-Alleged-cult-leader-pleads-guilty-to-killing-boy--woman

Three face additional charges in ‘Black Hebrew’ cases

15 hrs ago
BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

DURHAM – Three female defendants in the “Black Hebrew” murder cases have been indicted by a grand jury on additional charges.

Vania Sisk, Lavada Harris and Larhonda Smith were each indicted for first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder by a grand jury this week.

“This was a result of some other evidence we received,” said District Attorney Leon Stanback. “We received some reliable evidence in this case that caused us to seek those charges.”

Stanback declined to say what the evidence was but said it wasn’t the result of fingerprint testing done on plastic bags and tape that was removed from the bodies of the two victims.

The three women had already been charged with murder and accessory after the fact to the murder, and those charges remain in place, Stanback said.

The three women were allegedly involved in a polygamous cult-like group called the Black Hebrews. The alleged leader of the polygamous group was Peter Lucas Moses Jr.

Members of the group, along with relatives of Moses, have been indicted on charges associated with the death of 4-year-old Jadon Higganbothan and the death of a 29-year-old woman, Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy.

In June, Moses pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Higganbothan and McKoy and agreed to testify against his co-defendants. He has not yet been sentenced, but he is facing two consecutive life sentences without parole.

Investigators found Higganbothan’s decomposed remains wrapped in black plastic trash bags in a grave in the backyard of Moses’ mother, Sheilda Harris.

Higganbothan was last seen alive in October 2010, and according to former District Attorney Tracey Cline, Moses shot the boy, allegedly because he thought the boy was gay. Higganbothan was Sisk’s son and the only child living in the house who was not fathered by Moses.

They also found McKoy’s body wrapped in a similar manner in a separate grave in the same backyard. Witnesses said McKoy, who was a member of the group, tried to escape but was taken back into the house the group shared on Pear Tree Lane and killed.

She was last seen alive in December 2010.

http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/19897690/article-Three-face-additional-charges-in-%E2%80%98Black-Hebrew%E2%80%99-cases