MELANIE HAYNES - 2 yo - (2010) Rincon (Savannah/Effingham County) GA

Effingham County sheriff's deputies are investigating what they are
calling the suspicious death of a 2-year-old Rincon girl.Sheriff's
office spokesman David Ehsanipoor said deputies responded to an Aspen
Drive residence Tuesday shortly after 9:30 p.m. on a report of an
unresponsive child who was not breathing.Deputies arrived within
minutes and started life-saving measures, Ehsanipoor said. The child
was transported by emergency service personnel to Memorial Health
University Medical Center in Savannah. The girl died about 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Ehsanipoor said.Her name was not released.The
child's body was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime
lab in Savannah for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death,
deputies reported.No other children were at the residence at the time of the incident,
Ehsanipoor said.The Effingham County sheriff's office criminal investigations division is handling the investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Ga.


A Rincon man has been charged with murder in the death of a two-year old girl.Effingham County sheriff investigators arrested 27-year-old Kevin Johnson Friday night in the death of Melanie Haynes.Effingham
County sheriff's spokesman David Ehsanipoor said the child's death
Wednesday was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and multiple
other injuries.Local news outlets reported that deputies
received a report at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday concerning an unresponsive
child who was not breathing.The child was taken to a Savannah hospital where she died Wednesday evening.

A Rincon man has been charged with the death of Melanie Haynes, a 2-year-old Rincon child.Effingham
County sheriff investigators arrested Kevin Johnson, 27, Friday night
on murder charges after autopsy results showed the toddler's death was
caused by blunt force trauma to the head and multiple other injuries,
Effingham County sheriff's spokesman David Ehsanipoor said.

Johnson
was babysitting the child Tuesday when deputies were called to the 30
Aspen Drive residence shortly after 9:30 p.m. on a report of an
unresponsive child who was not breathing. Deputies started CPR, and the
child was taken to Memorial University Medical Center, where she died
about 5 p.m. Wednesday.The injuries to the toddler were brutal, Ehsanipoor said."This crime is particularly heinous, especially since it was committed against an innocent child," he said.Johnson is not the child's father, but is the boyfriend of the child's mother, Ehsanipoor said.Johnson was alone with the child at the time of assault, deputies reported. No other children were in the home."The
child's father was serving overseas in the United States Army at the
time of the crime," Ehsanipoor said. He has since returned.Tuesday's assault on Melanie Haynes may not have been the first case of abuse, deputies reported."We are investigating possible episodes of previous abuse," Ehsanipoor said.The Effingham County sheriff's department criminal investigation division is continuing to investigate.Johnson is being held in the Effingham County Jail pending a bond hearing.

Man faces additional charge in toddler's death
An additional charge has been filed against a Rincon man
accused in the death of a 2-year-old child last week.Effingham
County sheriff's spokesman David Ehsanipoor said Kevin Johnson, 27, has
now been charged with cruelty to children in the first degree.The
charge was added over the weekend after he was arrested Friday and
charged with murder in the death of the toddler, Melanie Haynes.According
to sheriff's officials, Johnson was baby-sitting the child Tuesday when
deputies were called to the residence on Aspen Drive on a report of a
child not breathing and unresponsive.The child was transported to
Memorial University Medical Center, where she died about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Johnson is being held in the Effingham County Jail, pending a bond hearing in Superior Court.
Ehsanipoor said additional charges against Johnson are expected.

A Rincon man has been charged with the death of Melanie Haynes, a 2-year-old Rincon child.

Effingham County sheriff investigators arrested Kevin Johnson, 27, Friday night on murder charges after autopsy results showed the toddler's death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and multiple other injuries, Effingham County sheriff's spokesman David Ehsanipoor said.

Johnson was babysitting the child Tuesday when deputies were called to the 30 Aspen Drive residence shortly after 9:30 p.m. on a report of an unresponsive child who was not breathing. Deputies started CPR, and the child was taken to Memorial University Medical Center, where she died about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The injuries to the toddler were brutal, Ehsanipoor said.
"This crime is particularly heinous, especially since it was committed against an innocent child," he said.
Johnson is not the child's father, but is the boyfriend of the child's mother, Ehsanipoor said.
Johnson was alone with the child at the time of assault, deputies reported. No other children were in the home.
"The child's father was serving overseas in the United States Army at the time of the crime," Ehsanipoor said. He has since returned.
Tuesday's assault on Melanie Haynes may not have been the first case of abuse, deputies reported.
"We are investigating possible episodes of previous abuse," Ehsanipoor said.
The Effingham County sheriff's department criminal investigation division is continuing to investigate.
Johnson is being held in the Effingham County Jail pending a bond hearing.

Man accused of murdering toddler denied bond
Updated:
Mar 29, 2010 9:13 AM CDT

SPRINGFIELD, GA (WTOC) - A man accused of murdering an Effingham County toddler is going to stay behind bars.

Kevin Johnson is charged with the murder of two year old Melanie Haynes.

When Johnson took his seat in an Effingham County courtroom Thursday morning, all eyes were on the father of the little girl he's accused of murdering.

Sergeant Kevin Haynes came to court in his Army dress uniform. He's a 3rd ID soldier, he was in Afghanistan when his daughter was killed.

He says he's making sure he gets justice for his little girl.

Effingham County Sheriff's Office investigator Michelle Buchmeyer told the Judge John Turner that Johnson was babysitting the little girl at their home on Aspen Drive, while her mother was a work. On February 9, Johnson called 911, Melanie wasn't breathing. The next day she died from severe head injuries.

Buchmeyer said she had two skull fractures, one of her eye bones was broken and she had been violently shaken.

Buchmeyer said Johnson told deputies a variety of stories about how Melanie got hurt, that she fell off the back of a couch, that she fell in the bathtub, then he told them he was spinning her around in her room and she hit her head on the dresser. Investigators say those stories don't match up to Melanie's injuries.

"It would not be consistent with falling off the couch because her nose was not broken," Buchmeyer told the judge.

She said after Johnson was locked up, he told more stories.

"Then he said we had ruined his social life," Buchmeyer testified.

Johnson's social life will be on hold for quite some time. Judge Turner denied bond and sent the case to a grand jury.

Melanie's father was whisked away from the courthouse, he had nothing to say.

Johnson's attorney pointed out that this was his first arrest. The 27-year old served four years in the army and was born in Panama. His mother now lives in Port Wentworth.

Melanie's mother was not in court. She has moved back to California to be with her family.

http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=12203592

I just don't believe these moms are innocent. They live with these men, they bed them, they know their temperament. They know they are cruel and will harm their children.

These moms need to be arrested also. If they don't know their children are being abused, they should know. They need to be arrested and charged.

JMO.

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, GA --
(Springfield, GA) Two falls from a couch, and a slip in the bathtub. That's the story from the defense as a Rincon man faces a jury, charged in connection with the death of his girlfriend's two year old daughter, Melanie Haynes.





Kevin Johnson was arrested in February of 2010, after little Melanie was taken to the hospital. Johnson had called 911 saying "the baby isn't breathing."

Effingham County investigators say that from the beginning, Johnson's explanation for what happened didn't make sense. Then the autopsy results indicated Melanie had died of blunt force trauma.

Thursday morning, a pediatric child abuse expert testified that Melanie had numerous injuries that led to her death and told the jury the child could "not have been hurt so severely by falling off a couch."

Dr. Donna Evans was called in to examine two year old Melanie on the night of February 9, 2010 after the toddler was rushed to Memorial Hospital.

Johnson initially told investigators Melanie had fallen from the couch the day before.

Dr. Evans however said in her opinion, the injuries she saw could not have come from a short fall from a couch or from a fall in the tub as the defense also contends.

Dr. Evans said Melanie had bleeding her head, retinal hemorrhages behind both eyes as well as bruising on her eyelid and nose. Evans said marks on Melanie's face in her opinion came from being hit with a hairbrush. She also said the child appeared to have a hand print on her thigh.

During the questioning of Dr. Evans, the prosecutor showed a picture of Melanie in a hospital bed with tubes in her head and nose. A man in the audience, who is a relative of Melanie's father, became upset and left the courtroom.

Dr. Evans said early on on her testimony that there was no adequate explanation for why a child would have gone into cardiac arrest as Melanie had when 911 was called.

The defense attorney asked Evans if she was familiar with several studies that short falls in children could produce serious injuries. Dr. Evans said in one case she was familiar with a study but said many in the medical community questioned its validity and the data used. At one point, Dr. Evans said some of the findings in that study were normally only cited by defense teams.

Dr. Evans told the jury "the inflicted trauma and brain injury done to this child was no accident."

The second witness Thursday was Michelle Buckmeyer, an investigator for the Effingham County Sheriff's office.

She testified that on the night of February 9, 2010 that she was called to the home that defendant Kevin Johnson shared with Melanie's mom, Angela Rocha.

Buckmeyer testified that Johnson told her that he and Melanie had been watching Sponge Bob and eating popcorn when Melanie vomited. Johnson said later she vomited a second time and that he bathed Melanie and washed her clothing.

The defense has said that in addition to falling from the couch the day prior, that Melanie also hit her head on the bathtub.

However, Buckmeyer says no one saw or smelled any vomit in the home. She also testified there was a hole in the door of Melanie's bedroom.

Buckmeyer also testified that a hair brush found on the kitchen counter was bagged as evidence.

She also said that on February 25, 2010, Johnson asked to speak to investigators after he had been arrested. Buckmeyer testified that Johnson wanted to ask them about his social security card. During this meeting, she said that "Johnson told us we had ruined his social life.".

Buckmeyer also testified that later Johnson told them he had been swinging Melanie around in her bedroom and she hit her head hard on the dresser. Investigator Buckmeyer said the statement came as a surprise. "We had never heard story before from him," she stated even though Johnson had been interviewed several times.

On cross examination, the defense attorney pointed out that Johnson had cooperated with authorities on the night if February 9, 2010 by answering questions and letting them search the home. "True," Buckmeyer said.

Buckmeyer was asked why Johnson did not receive his Miranda rights again during the February 25th meeting. "Because he asked for the meeting," she said.

Finally, the defense asked Buckmeyer if anyone ever asked Johnson or Melanie's mother how the hole may have gotten in Melanie's door? She said no but earlier testified there not holes in any other door in the home, that the only hole was found in the door to the little girl's room.

A little red flowered pajama worn by Melanie Haynes as she was rushed to Memorial Hospital was shown to the jury as part of entering exhibits. Matt Holbrook from the Effingham County Sheriff's Office testified that he took photographs at what authorities believed was a crime scene on the night of February 9, 2010.

He also gathered items, including the one piece pajama worn by Melanie. The item was viewed by a solemn jury and quiet courtroom audience as Holbrook held up the delicate piece of clothing. The jury was also shown a hair brush found in the kitchen of the home.

The defense attorney asked Holbrook about a pair of jeans later given to authorities by Johnson. The defense contends the item may contain vomit. Holbrook said the jeans appeared to have "some kind of stain" but were not tested for DNA. Holbrook said the jeans were given to him by the defendant and he had no way of knowing what the stain was or how long it may have been on the clothing.

Later in the day John Bradley, another investigator with Effingham County, said he had interviewed Kevin Johnson on February 10, 2010, the day after Melanie Haynes was rushed to the hospital. (This was also the day Melanie died but her death had not taken place yet.)

Mr. Johnson stated that the day before the ambulance was called (February 8, 2010) that Melanie had fallen off the couch not once but twice in the afternoon. He said the falls happened within about 30 minutes of one another. Johnson said he was in the kitchen both times washing dishes.

Johnson also reportedly showed emotion during the interview and said "Melanie may not make it."

Butler also testified that Johnson told him that on the night of February 9, when the ambulance was called, that Melanie had vomited twice a few hours before. Bradley testified that Johnson said he had given Melanie a bath and when getting out of the tub that he startled her and the child fell and hit her head.

Bradley testified that Johnson initially told him that after falling in the tub that Melanie had a bump on the right side of her head. Later Johnson said the bump was on the left side of her head.

On cross examination, Bradley told the defense attorney that Johnson said he had an "awesome relationship with Melanie" and even showed him pictures of Melanie and a video of Melanie he had on his phone.

Later, Johnson said that Melanie's father was coming back from Afghanistan and coming to the hospital to see Melanie. Johnson reportedly told Bradley he was concerned about his own safety and afraid Melanie's dad would blame him for what had happened.

Another witness was Eric Reiner, an investigator for the District Attorney's Office in the Ogeechee Circuit. Reiner testified he had interviewed Johnson on February 12 after Melanie had died.

Reiner testified that Johnson had told him that on February 8, 2010 - the day Melanie had fallen from the couch, not once but twice - that Johnson had seen a bruise right away on her face. Reiner testified it was "unusual" that a bruise would form so quickly and be visible so quickly. Johnson also told Reiner that emergency reponders had "handled Melanie very roughly" and grabbed her and that her head was flopping when they took her to the ambulance.

Reiner also said that Johnson also told him that he and Melanie had a close relationship. Reiner said Johnson "acted like he was getting choked up" but Reiner said he didn't believe it was genuine. He said at one point Johnson showed him pictures he had on his cell phone of Melanie. Reiner asked about a video game he saw in the background of a picture. Reiner said: "Johnson got all enthusiastic saying Oh man, this is a really cool gae, four people can play at the same time."
Reiner said he thought it was inappropriate, considering the reason Johnson was being interviewed.

Later on the night of February 12, Reiner said they advised Johnson of his rights, telling Johnson" what you've told us isn't enough to have cause the life ending injuries that Melanie had and all evidence points to you."

The trial continues Friday.

http://www2.wsav.com/news/2012/feb/16/3/child-abuse-expert-stand-right-now-kevin-johnson-m-ar-3242141/

Rincon man sentenced to life without parole in toddler's murder
Posted: March 1, 2012 - 11:24am | Updated: March 1, 2012 - 12:07pm

By DeAnn Komanecky
A Rincon man was sentenced to life without parole in Effingham County Superior Court this morning for the 2010 murder of 2-year-old Melanie Rose Haynes.

Kevin Johnson was convicted on Feb. 17 after a three day jury trial of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and cruelty to children.

Johnson was home alone babysitting the toddler on Feb. 9, 2010 when she suffered multiple blunt force injuries.

In handing down the sentence Superior Court Judge John R. Turner said life without parole was the only appropriate sentence.

http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2012-03-01/rincon-man-sentenced-life-prison-murder-toddler#.U1U5fvldVQE

This POS mother should have been charged.