KENDRICK JACKSON - 3 yo (2006) - Houston TX

A father is about to go on trial for murdering his
three-year-old son, but the body of little Kendrick Jackson was never
found.
When Kendrick first went missing back in 2006, people turned out in
droves to find the little boy. But they never did, and now his father
is about to be tried.
To prove someone was murdered, you have to
first prove the person has died. KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy says
to prove that to a jury, without a body, is a huge challenge.

Roderick Fountain was in court on pre-trial motions Monday. He goes on
trial later this week for felony murder in the alleged beating death of
his three-year-old son Kendrick, even though the child's body has never
been found.
Androphy said, "It's very speculative unless you have the body."
When Kendrick was reported missing in April 2006, hundreds of
volunteers turned out to look for him. The child had been staying at
Fountain's apartment at the time, and the father told police his child
had run off. But investigators said his story never added up.
After weeks of looking, with no trace of Kendrick, the searches were
called off. Then in June 2009, there was a huge development. Fountain
was charged with his child's murder while he was serving 15 years in
prison on a weapons conviction.
Prosecutor Connie Spence told
Eyewitness News there was enough evidence, based on statements she said
Fountain made to other people.
But Androphy says for the state to prove felony murder without a body will be tough.
He said, "If he confessed to anybody, to friends or family members, you know, that could be enough."
But if those other people are cellmates, Androphy says the jury will
have reasonable doubt. And even if there's a conviction, he says on
appeal it would likely be overturned.
"The law says you have
to have more than just a little evidence," Androphy said. "You have to
have substantial evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the child is
dead."
According to the district attorney's office, in the last
25 years in Harris County there have been about six convictions for
murder without a body.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8386238

For many months in 2006 scores of volunteers searched, in vain, for 3-year-old Kendrick Jackson. They scoured apartment complexes, long stretches of waterways and wooded areas for the missing boy.
Last year, with new tips in hand, Texas EquuSearch again looked for Kendrick, and again came up empty-handed. His father, Roderick Fountain, made sure of that, prosecutors say.
"They
ain't ever going to find him," a fellow inmate was allegedly told by
Fountain, who is accused of beating his son to death and wrapping his
body in garbage bags.
The little boy's body has yet to be found,
but prosecutors in opening statements of Fountain's murder trial on
Wednesday said they are positive he killed the boy whose disappearance
five years ago riveted Houston.
It was Fountain's manner, the way
he carelessly smoked a cigarette just hours after reporting his child
missing, that first aroused investigators' suspicions.
"His demeanor was calm, non-concerned and seemingly cooperative," said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Connie Spence. "He gave details when asked, but those details kind of shifted depending on who he was talking to."
She told jurors that what Fountain was hiding was that he beat the boy to death on April 6, 2006.
"The very next day, Kendrick was reported missing and the lies started," Spence said.
Lawyers
for Fountain, 37, insisted that their client was not guilty of
anything. They said that despite there being no history of abuse
involving Fountain, he was interrogated by police for 24
consecutive hours.
Police focused on Fountain from the beginning and disregarded any other leads, said attorney Charles Brown.
"The only evidence in this puzzle was concocted by the state and its police officers," Brown said.
Fountain is on trial for felony murder in state District Judge Denise Collins's court.
Felony
murder is charged when prosecutors believe a death occurred during a
felony, in this case, injury to a child. The charge carries a maximum
punishment of a life sentence.
Spence told jurors they would hear
about a week's worth of testimony from a cast of characters ranging from
first responders and searchers to the women in Fountain's life,
including Kendrick's mother.
Two of the most important witnesses
will be a friend of Fountain's, who was watching basketball with the
accused the day before the disappearance, and the jailhouse snitch.
Fountain's friend is expected to testify that he was at the defendant's home as the child cried in the next room.
"The
defendant didn't like it when Kendrick cried," Spence said. "He will
tell you, he could hear the defendant hitting the child."
Then,
Spence said, he will tell jurors that Kendrick went quiet. Moments
later, Fountain emerged from his son's room and ushered his friends out.
"He said, 'It's time to go!' " Spence said.
Fountain reported his son missing the next day, beginning a search that went on for months.
Authorities
later conducted a search of Fountain's home, where they found a
12-gauge shotgun. Because he had been convicted of several robberies,
the felon was sentenced to 15 years behind bars on the federal
weapons charge.
Years later, apparently, he told a cellmate what happened.
Spence said that inmate would testify that Fountain told him he killed the boy, put his body in garbage bags and got rid of it.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Murder-trial-begins-for-man-whose-son-went-2227219.php

Snitch says dad told him missing boy 'deserved what he got'
By BRIAN ROGERS, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 11:20 p.m., Thursday, October 20, 2011

So disturbed by what he heard Roderick Fountain say five years ago as they rode in a police car together, a jailhouse snitch testified Thursday that he wrote detectives a letter hours later.

Ricky Johnson said he put the pieces together after seeing television news accounts that Fountain's 3-year-old son, Kendrick Jackson, had gone missing.

"He said, 'They ain't ever gonna find him,' " Johnson said. He quoted Fountain as saying, "He deserved what he got, peeing on himself."

Johnson's letter was filed without follow-up as he wound his way through convictions, paroles and probation revocations. There was no explanation offered in court as to why there was no follow up.

In court Thursday, the felon pointed out Fountain and said he remembered what the 37-year-old looked like five years ago when he penned the letter.

"I'm not accusing this guy of anything," Johnson wrote to police. "But it got to me, emotionally, after I saw that little boy on TV."

Kendrick's disappearance on April 7, 2006, mobilized hundreds of volunteers who searched for months for the boy, without result. His body has never been found.

Testimony from Johnson and another inmate, expected to testify Friday, is the lynch pin of the case against Fountain - a murder case without a body.

Defense lawyers for the accused were quick to enumerate Johnson's convictions, for sexual assault and domestic violence.

"You've basically been on probation for 21 years," said attorney Tyrone Moncriffe. Although Johnson did go to prison, he had been successful in staying out on probation on a number of charges, Moncriffe noted.

Johnson testified he had no deals with prosecutors and expects to be off of the natural length of his probation next week.

Fountain faces one charge of felony murder, accused of causing a death during the course of a felony - injury to a child.

Other testimony in Judge Denise Collins's state district court included that from a friend of Fountain's.

Leonard Patrick testified he saw Fountain hit Kendrick the day before the child disappeared for soiling himself and later heard the father "whup" the boy.

"He was mad, He was angry," Patrick said of Fountain. "He hit him, not with his fist, but he hit him."

Based on statements he made to police after Kendrick's disappearance prosecutor's expected Patrick's testimony to be more damning, but the 55-year-old man said he witnessed a "whupping" and little more.

"We knew he was whuppin' the boy," Patrick said, shrugging one shoulder. "We all knew what was going on."


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Snitch-says-dad-told-him-missing-boy-deserved-2229183.php

HOUSTON – A former girlfriend testified Friday in the murder trial of
Roderick Fountain, a 37-year-old man accused of killing his 3-year-old
son nearly six years ago.

Kendrick Jackson disappeared in 2006, but his body was never found.

An ex-girlfriend told jurors she saw Fountain and the child the night
before he disappeared. She said the boy had a busted lip and bump on
his head. According to the girlfriend, Fountain told her he whipped the
boy for wetting his pants in the car.

A juror was also dismissed from the trial Friday because she
allegedly had an inappropriate conversation with a family member about
the case while in a courthouse bathroom.

Testimony ended around 3:45 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to resume Monday morning.

The prosecution said it still had six more witnesses to call to the stand.

On Wednesday, while the defense said plainly that Fountain was not
guilty, HPD officers who took the stand painted a different story for
jurors.

They testified that Fountain seemed unusually calm when he called to
report his son missing, and that he showed no interest in joining the
search.

Prosecutors said on the night before Jackson disappeared, a witness
heard Fountain beating the child in his bedroom, because he was crying.

“And he could hear the defendant hitting the child,” Assistant D.A. Connie Spence said.

But the defense countered that prior to the child’s disappearance, there weren’t any problems in the home.

“No cps report, no police report, no mention of any kind of violent
behavior between this defendant and Kendrick Jackson. None,” defense
attorney Charles Brown said.

However, in 2008, while he was serving time for a weapons violation,
prosecutors claim Fountain told a fellow inmate about the murder.

They plan to call that man to the stand.

“The defendant told him that he hit Kendrick and he put his body in
some garbage bags and he took that body and ‘They ain’t never going to
find him,’” Spence said.

Defense attorneys will likely call that witness’ credibility into question, noting that he has a long criminal history, himself.

“I believe the evidence will show he’s received benefits for testifying the way he does,” Brown said.

Whatever the testimony, the defense also believes prosecutors won’t
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fountain murdered his child.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/Former-girlfriend-testifies-in-murder-trial-of-dad-accused-of-killing-3-year-old-son-132351343.html

Roderick Fountain lost his temper with his 3-year-old son, hit him in
the cheek breaking his skull and took the body, wrapped in garbage
bags, to a boat ramp at Sheldon Reservoir, a former inmate
testified Monday.
The jailhouse informant said he wrote to
authorities after hearing the story because, he said as he wiped tears
from his eyes, "I have a son, too."
Fountain, 37, faces one charge of felony murder, accused of causing a death during the course of a felony - injury to a child.
Prosecutors believe the former New Orleans resident beat Kendrick Jackson to death and disposed of the body before reporting him missing April 7, 2006.
Cheek was 'dented'
Hundreds
of volunteers searched for the boy on Houston's west side, where
Fountain lived. They later searched miles of waterways east of Houston
after reports changed. No body has ever been recovered.
The
informant, who the Chronicle is not naming, is the second jailhouse
snitch to tell police Fountain told them that the body would never be
found. The men acted separately more than two years apart.
Fountain
was in federal jail after police found a gun in his home during the
search. A convicted felon, Fountain was prohibited from owning firearms.
"He said he lost his temper," the informant said in Judge Denise Collins' state district court. "He said he struck the child."
The
informant said Fountain told him the child's left cheek was "dented" as
he put the body in his apartment's bathtub and wrapped the body.
Inmate weeps
Fountain,
who left Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, told the former federal
inmate he was "heading home." When he realized he would not make it to
New Orleans, he took the body to a boat ramp east of Houston.
The inmate inferred from Fountain's story that it was at Sheldon Lake, just east of Beltway 8.
The inmate sniffled and wiped his nose as he talked about the 2008 conversation.
"He
said it was accidental," the man said. He has since been released from
prison and said he received no benefit for testifying. He has
received threats.
Defense lawyers for Fountain objected
strenuously during the informant's testimony but did not cross-examine
the man. Attorneys for Fountain have argued their client is an innocent
father who called police when he discovered his son was missing.
They said police immediately focused on Fountain as a suspect instead of working on finding a missing child.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Jailhouse-informant-says-man-beat-toddler-son-to-2234234.php

Testimony shows father shook, beat, punched son before boy's death
By BRIAN ROGERS, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 08:11 p.m., Tuesday, October 25, 2011

BRETT COOMER : CHRONICLE ON THE STAND: Keyanna Jackson, left, demonstrates the shaking of her son, Kendrick Jackson, during testimony in the murder trial against Roderick Fountain on Tuesday, Photo: Brett Coomer / © 2011 Houston Chronicle

It was a pair of shoes next to the bed of a missing 3-year-old boy that first alarmed his mother.

A fastidious and insistent toddler, Kendrick Jackson would not wear a shirt with a spot on it. He was particular about everything, and he would not go outside barefoot.

As Roderick Fountain told Keyanna Jackson that their son must have opened the child-safety secured front door and gone out, never to be heard from again, the mother looked in the boy's bedroom and saw the shoes.

"I just didn't want to believe that I would never see Kendrick again," she testified Tuesday. "There were no words that would come out, except 'Where's Kendrick?'"

It would be almost a month before Jackson would be able to tell police her suspicions about the shoes and about Fountain's violent history with the boy.

Whipped and punched

The 27-year-old mother testified she had seen Fountain shake Kendrick, whip him with a belt and punch him in the chest in the months before he disappeared on April 7, 2006.

She also was shocked by what she saw after Fountain volunteered to give the boy a bath. "I saw Roderick holding Kendrick's head under water," she said. "His arms were splashing."

Jackson said she heard the splashing in her bathroom after the trio had returned to her apartment after a trip to the mall to buy shoes.

She said she walked in to see her baby's father holding the child's head underwater.

"He just turned around and gave me this evil look," Jackson said.

She said the boy panted in choppy breaths after he came up for air. She said he was scared and shaking.

Fruitless search

Fountain, 37, faces one charge of felony murder, accused of causing a death during the course of a felony - injury to a child.

Fountain reported the child missing after a rare night in which he watched the boy.

Despite his history, Jackson said, she wanted her son to be raised with his father in his life, because she was not.

Fountain told police the toddler wandered out of his home while he did laundry.

Hundreds of volunteers searched for months for the boy. No body has ever been found.

Jailhouse informants

Defense lawyers for Fountain have argued their client is an innocent father who called police when he discovered his son was missing.

They said police immediately focused on Fountain as a suspect instead of working on finding a missing child.

Two jailhouse informants have testified that Fountain told them he struck his son, killing him, then panicked. He wrapped the body in garbage bags, put it in his car and drove east, toward his former home in New Orleans, the informants said. He stopped at a boat ramp and disposed of the body.

Closing arguments in the trial, now in its second week, are expected Wednesday in state District Judge Denise Collins's court.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Testimony-shows-father-shook-beat-punched-son-2235401.php

Dad convicted in death of son whose body wasn't found
By BRIAN ROGERS, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Published 08:35 p.m., Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Jurors on Wednesday convicted Roderick Fountain of felony murder in the death of his 3-year-old son, whose body was never found.

State District Judge Denise Collins sent the jurors home after they announced their decision. They will return Thursday to hear evidence in the punishment phase. Fountain faces a maximum of life in prison.

Fountain was convicted of causing a death during the course of a felony - injury to a child.

In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutors said Fountain probably did not mean to kill his 3-year-old son, Kendrick Jackson, when he hit him, but the boy's death was the result of his father's action.

"Because you don't say 'Ain't nobody ever gonna find a body' when you're talking about a living child," said prosecutor Connie Spence, referring to a jailhouse informant's testimony about a statement Fountain allegedly made. "Kendrick is dead."

Fountain, 37, reported Kendrick missing the morning of April 7, 2006. Hundreds of volunteers searched for months for the boy. The fact that the body was never found prompted questions about whether prosecutors could secure a murder conviction.

Fountain's lawyers argued police focused on their client from the beginning instead of searching for the boy.

"You can reach a decision too fast, and that's what officers did in this case," said attorney Tyrone Moncriffe.

Defense lawyers also emphasized the absence of a body.

"You have no proof that Kendrick Jackson is dead. None. End of story," said attorney Charles Brown. "You have innuendo."

Beatings witnessed

Several people testified they saw Fountain hit, punch and dunk the boy in a bathtub in the months before he disappeared.

Two jailhouse informants testified that Fountain told them, two years apart, that he hit his son and killed him. Fountain was jailed on a federal weapons charge after Kendrick's disappearance.

Body dumped?

One informant, Fountain's friend in federal prison for two years, said Fountain told him he wrapped the body in garbage bags and drove it toward his former home in New Orleans, stopping at a boat ramp to dispose of it.

Several jurors had tears in their eyes as prosecutors urged them to convict.

They also saw a huge photo of a cherubic 3-year-old Kendrick, all smiles in the middle of playing, during the closing arguments.

"When you saw this photo yesterday, didn't you just want to take him home?" Assistant Harris County District Attorney Lance Long asked jurors. "Didn't your heart just break because you know that he's dead?"

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Dad-convicted-in-death-of-son-whose-body-wasn-t-2238268.php

Jury eyes dad's penalty for 3-year-old son's death
Published 04:00 a.m., Thursday, October 27, 2011

HOUSTON (AP) — A jury now begins hearing evidence on what punishment should go to a Houston man guilty of murder in his 3-year-old son's 2006 disappearance.

Testimony on Roderick Fountain's punishment begins Thursday. The Harris County jury deliberated about five hours Wednesday before finding Fountain guilty of killing Kendrick Jackson, whose body was never found.

Fountain could be sentenced to up to life in prison. He's said he was doing laundry when his son disappeared from their southwest Houston apartment. Authorities, however, alleged the child was fatally beaten and his body dropped from a Louisiana boat ramp.

Defense attorneys challenged the assertion that the child was dead. However, two jailhouse informants testified that Fountain, who was imprisoned on a federal weapons charge, admitted the killing to them.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Jury-eyes-dad-s-penalty-for-3-year-old-son-s-death-2238605.php

Houston dad gets life in 3-year-old son's death
Updated 07:55 p.m., Thursday, October 27, 2011

HOUSTON (AP) — A jury has returned a life sentence to a Houston man convicted of murder in his 3-year-old son's 2006 disappearance.

The Harris County jury deliberated about three hours before deciding on Roderick Fountain's punishment Thursday afternoon. Jurors had deliberated about five hours Wednesday before finding Fountain guilty of murder in the disappearance of Kendrick Jackson, whose body was never found.

He's said he was doing laundry when his son disappeared from their southwest Houston apartment. Authorities, however, alleged the child was fatally beaten and his body dropped from a Louisiana boat ramp.

Defense attorneys pleaded for a 28-year sentence, arguing that Fountain didn't mean to kill the child when he hit him.

http://www.the-leader.com/news/x671075331/Investigator-Baby-killed-after-mom-already-dead