COLE FRASIER - 21 months - (2009)/Murdered by: Timothy Frazier, father Bardstown KY

Father kills toddler in murder-suicide

May 27, 2009
Man Shoots Young Son, Then Himself

Custody Battle Leads to Murder-Suicide

It's a crime so horrible, it's difficult to hear. A Bardstown father shoots his young son and then turns the gun on himself.

Looking at the big smile and bright eyes of 21-month-old Cole Frazier, it's obvious he was a happy toddler.

"He was a darling little boy," says Sister Mary Driscoll, a former teacher and current neighbor to Tim Frazier.

Sister Mary Driscoll says she though Timothy
Frazier was a good dad, who was once a bright student, so she was
shocked to hear he shot his son inside their Tree Top Drive home in Bardstown on Tuesday.

"I just thought he was a loving young man and it was a terrible shock to hear," says Sister Mary Driscoll.

Police say on Tuesday Tim Frazier, in the middle of a custody battle, shot his son and then himself.

"Just because he couldn't get along with my
daughter, he does something like this and just destroys peoples lives.
He shot an innocent baby," says Kevin Clark, the grandfather of Cole
Frazier.

The family of Cole Frazier says they hadn't been
able to see the toddler or speak to him in two weeks because of an EPO
being filed by his father against Cole's mother, Candice Dempsey, one
they say shouldn't have been approved by the court.

"Decided to write a bunch of lies. Untrue, not documented and the judge signs off on it," says Kevin Clark.

They say the court system made a bad decision but they were expected to get Cole back Wednesday.

"For two weeks we haven't seen him and now the
next time we see him he'll be in a casket. This is our only grandchild
and now we won't have him anymore," says Kevin Clark.

It's a tragic shooting that this family says should never happen to anyone.

"I just hope people pray for us because it's just
terrible. I pray to God nobody has to go through this again. He loved
that little boy so much and now we'll have to bury him. It's just
awful," says Kevin Clark.

According to the Nelson County Jail, Tim Frazier
had been arrested nine times since 1998, most of those for driving under
the influence, alcohol intoxication, and criminal mischief.

The family of Cole Frazier says funeral
arrangements haven't been finalized just yet but they are being handled
by Ritchie and Peach Funeral Home in Lawrenceburg.

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/46158272.html

Deputies: Bardstown man kills toddler son, self

Posted: May 27, 2009 5:31 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 29, 2009 11:30 AM EDT

Cole Frazier (Photo source: Kevin Clark)


By Janelle MacDonald

BARDSTOWN, KY (WAVE) - A 21-month-old baby is dead and police believe it was at the hands of his father. Nelson County deputies say they are not ruling out anything at this point, but they think 28-year-old Tim Frazier was the shooter; his toddler son, Cole, the victim, and it all was the culmination of a heated custody battle.

The baby's grandfather, Kevin Clark, said he should have never had the child in the first place. "If he wants to kill himself, I don't care what he does, but not my baby."

Clark's family can scarcely believe it, but investigators said it was a murder-suicide that ended Cole Frazier's life. They said his father picked up Cole from Tim's mother's house Tuesday morning, saying the two were going to take a nap. Sources told WAVE 3 Frazier's mother became concerned Tuesday afternoon and went to check on the pair, finding them shot to death. Investigators believe they'd been dead for several hours.

Deputies believe those are the facts, but the haunting question remains unanswered.

"We'll never be able to know exactly what was in his mind. There's nobody there to speak about
what happened. The victim can't speak for himself and the perpetrator can't speak," said Detective Jason Allison.

During a check of court documents, WAVE 3 found that Frazier had a pretty contentious custody battle going on, which at times involved police.

Frazier was supposed to be at a court hearing the day after he and Cole were shot over an Emergency Protection Order he filed May 13 on behalf of his son. In his petition, Frazier said the boy's mother was a danger.

He said, while driving she, "Threatened to wreck all three of us while son in car." He continued, "I suppose that she is on illegal pain pills as of this moment. I want custody of son. Afraid for his safety."

Based on that, a judge ordered Candice Dempsey to stay away from her son, a decision Kevin Clark questioned.

"They took him in an environment where he wasn't safe," Clark said. "My daughter ain't never done drugs. He was just making it all up. He wanted to get an EPO out on her and get the kid to punish her and he did it and now he's punished us for the rest of our lives."

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dempsey and Frazier were supposed to be back in court, where Clark said his daughter hoped to get Cole back.

"We've been worrying for two weeks since he's had the baby," said Clark. "Every night, my wife, my daughter, both crying and saying, 'one more day, one more day we get to see our baby. One more day and we get to see our baby,' and then we get the call last night saying that this guy kills our precious baby."

Tim Frazier also had upcoming court appearances for two arrests earlier this year.

On January 31, he was pulled over for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Twelve days later, police arrested him on drunk driving charges.

A former school teacher and neighbor of Tim Frazier painted a different picture. Sister Mary Driscoll said, "He was always courteous, happy Tim." She remembered Cole as, "an adorable little boy. (Tim) was a great dad."

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=10433234

Mother files suit after police turn son over to father who killed him

Posted: Jul 30, 2009 8:09 PM EDT

Updated: Sep 08, 2009 8:02 AM EDT



Cole Lance Frazier (source: family members)


Timothy Lance Frazier (source: Nelson County Jail)


Candice Dempsey and Cole Frazier (source: family members)




By Connie Leonard

BARDSTOWN, KY (WAVE) - In a tragic scenario that has become all too familiar, 21-month-old Cole Lance Frazier was killed by his father, Timothy Frazier, who then used the gun to kill himself. But the boy's mother says there's much more to the story.

According to police records, Frazier fatally shot Cole on May 26, then turned the gun on himself after requesting an Emergency Protective Order against the child's mother, Candice Dempsey.

But Dempsey's attorney, Ron Hillerich, says the judge never granted custody to Frazier, and that police made a deadly mistake when they turned Cole over to his father.

Dempsey, who lives in Lawrenceburg, Ky., is filing a $10 million lawsuit in federal court claiming the police didn't read the judge's order correctly and therefore had no authority to take Cole from her, and that doing so led to his death.

Hillerich says the lawsuit "has ramifications for law enforcement nationwide and across this Commonwealth."

During this federal court case one of the biggest issues will be determining the police officer's ability to read and correctly interpret the judge's order.

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place," Dempsey said, "but it did. And if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody."

Here's what happened to Dempsey: in May of 2009, police officers showed up at Dempsey's house in Lawrenceburg, claiming they had a signed judge's order to place the baby with his father in Nelson County.

Dempsey says that's the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice.

"It's pretty much like giving your child to a monster," she said.

Frazier had been in trouble with police in the past, and has also been arrested for DUI several times. In February of 2009, a police report says he kicked the window out of a police cruiser during a DUI arrest; later that month, he was again arrested for DUI. During that arrest, police say he was combative in jail and had to be subdued with pepper spray.

Hillerich says there's no way "any judge or anybody is going to give custody of a not even 2-year-old baby to that person. I don't think so."

Hillerich believes the officers were looking at a motion Frazier filed in Nelson County that made claims against the mother. In the motion, the judge states if Frazier is worried about the child's welfare to contact the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

On the actual EPO, the judge leaves the custody section blank. Hillerich says the judge only ordered Dempsey to stay away from Frazier until the next hearing.

In a phone call between Lawrenceburg Officer Nathan Doty and someone at the Nelson County Clerk's office, Hillerich says he believes the officer is reading from the Motion instead of the EPO, and both he and the clerk seem confused.

OFFICER:
"The motion says the father is granted temporary custody of the child?"
CLERK:
"Yes."
OFFICER:
"And that was signed by the judge?"
CLERK:
"Yes."

The lawsuit's purpose is to make sure officers read and understand EPOs before they attempt to execute them.

It may be too late for Dempsey, but she hopes to prevent others from experiencing her ordeal. "He was my life and he was everything to me. And we're going to do our best to do everything possible to see that this doesn't happen to anybody else."

Frazier was due in court for a hearing the day after he murdered his son and committed suicide.

The city of Lawrenceburg, Police Lieutenant Chris Atkins and Officer Nathan Doty are named in the suit.
Our calls to the Lawrenceburg Police Chief were not returned Thursday.

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=10822859

State didn't do review of Nelson County toddler's 2009 death
By Beth Musgrave and Bill Estep

Posted: 12:00am on Jan 28, 2012; Modified: 3:48am on Jan 28, 2012

FRANKFORT — After an extended legal battle with Kentucky's two largest newspapers, the state's child-protection agency began releasing extensive records on Friday about children who died as a result of abuse.

In response to a judge's order, the cabinet released more than 1,000 pages of documents detailing the state's involvement with five abused children who died in 2009.

In at least one of those cases, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services never did an internal review of the child's death despite having prior contact with the family. State law mandates a review in every abuse death or near-death when the cabinet "had prior involvement with the child or family."

The reviews are supposed to examine the cabinet's actions to determine if there were any missteps and to identify needed improvements and training.

Cabinet officials maintained Friday night that no review was required in the death of 21-month-old Cole Frazier, who was shot and killed by his father, Timothy Frazier, in May 2009 in Nelson County. Timothy Frazier later shot and killed himself.

The cabinet, which oversees child protection, had received multiple reports of domestic violence between Cole's parents, including one 13 days before Cole's May 29, 2009 death. But the cabinet did not investigate the last claim because they did not consider it domestic violence — Cole's parents did not live together at the time, according to cabinet records.

Jill Midkiff, a spokeswoman for the cabinet, said child-protection workers did not do an internal review of Cole's death because there was not an ongoing case at the time of his death and all previous allegations involved domestic violence among adults in the home.

"There were no allegations of abuse or neglect related to the child," Midkiff said.

However, according to a summary of some of the previous domestic violence incidents between Timothy Frazier and Candice Dempsey, Cole's mother, a November 2007 report showed that Cole was present during a fight between his parents.

"He took the bottle out of child's mouth and threw it, slammed mother head in couch," the summary said. That report was unsubstantiated by adult-protection workers due to lack of evidence.

A summary of an April 2008 allegation of domestic violence between Frazier and Dempsey said he "threatened me about taking my son, expressed concern for the life of my son and myself."

Adult-protection workers made no finding in the case because they were unable to make contact with the victim.

Two other reports of domestic violence came in May 2009.

On May 15, Timothy Frazier filed a domestic violence petition against Dempsey and was granted temporary custody of Cole. Dempsey had asked police to check on her son three different times prior to his May 29 death, according to state records.

The other children whose records were released on Friday include:

 James Owen Utley, who was 3 years old when his father, Ralph Utley, shot him to death in Gallatin County in February 2009. Ralph Utley then killed himself.

 Kiara Smith, a 1-year-old from Grant County, who died of head injuries in January 2009 after her mother left her with caretaker Douglas Brandon Barnhill, who was later charged in her death.

 Kayden Stewart, 18 months old, whose stepfather, Alan Rolley, was charged with killing him in Muhlenberg County in March 2009. The boy was beaten to death.

 Chloe Senseman, a 2-month-old Boone County girl whose father, Benjamin Senseman, was convicted in her July 2009 death. The child had a broken arm, leg and ribs and a head injury, according to the file.
In three of the five cases, the cabinet had no documented previous contact with the family before the child's death.

In the death of James Owen Utley, child-protection workers had received a report in September 2007 of a domestic violence incident between James' parents, where James was present. The cabinet offered services to the family and the case was closed, according to records released Friday.

The next reference in the file is the murder of James and suicide of his father in March 2009. Following the deaths, officials conducted an internal review of the cabinet's actions and filed a three-page report.
Other reviews not done Cole Frazier's death is not the first time the cabinet opted not to complete an internal review.

The cabinet never did an internal review in the death of Amy Dye, a 9-year-old Todd County girl who was beaten to death by her adoptive brother in February. The cabinet said it did not do an internal review because Dye's death was caused by a sibling, not a custodial parent.

School officials had called multiple times to report suspicious injuries to Dye two years prior to her death.

The cabinet also did not complete an internal review of the death of 22-month-old Kayden Branham, who died after drinking drain cleaner used in the making of methamphetamine in May 2009. Both Kayden and his then 14-year-old mother had extensive previous contact with the cabinet and were under the cabinet's supervision at the time of his death.

That omission came to light after the Lexington Herald-Leader successfully sued the cabinet to get records about Kayden's death. After the Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal in Louisville received those records, the newspapers asked for records of all children who died or nearly died from abuse in 2009 and 2010.

The newspapers sued again in January 2011 when the cabinet refused to release the documents. In that case, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled again that in instances involving child deaths and injuries, the public has an overriding interest in information that could shed light on how the cabinet performed its duties.

Earlier this month, Shepherd ordered the cabinet to begin releasing at least 1,000 pages of records a week on about 180 files involving child fatalities and injuries, starting Jan. 27.

The cabinet had proposed withholding a broad range of information when it released the records, citing privacy and legal concerns. Shepherd, however, said the agency could redact only limited information. On Thursday, the cabinet sought an emergency order from the Court of Appeals so that it could release documents that contained more deletions than Shepherd's ruling allowed. Shortly before the deadline Friday, Chief Appeals Court Judge Jeff Taylor issued an order allowing the cabinet to redact the records on its terms.

However, Taylor said that stay will remain in effect only until a hearing before a three-judge appeals panel on Feb. 7.

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/27/2045794/judge-lets-state-withhold-more.html#storylink=cpy