GARY DeTOMA Jr - 5 yo (2010) - Decatur GA

- A Decatur man is accused of doing the unthinkable. He's charged
with murdering his own child, a 5-year old boy.
Police have issued a warrant for Gary DeToma Sr., who was taken into
custody at the Eastlake Drive apartment where his son was found dead
Monday afternoon.



Though neighbors were relieved the murder wasn't random, they were
struck by the fact that a father was accused of killing his son.
"It's very disturbing, that's what it is," said neighbor Terry
Broughton. Broughton and his wife Twana have lived in the neighborhood
for years. "It's just heartbreaking to know that kind of stuff is
happening in your neighborhood," said Twana Broughton. "Especially a
child being killed."
Another neighbor said she just learned it was a child who was killed.
"That hurts real bad," said Nicia Taylor.
Neighbors knew the 5-year old boy and his 4-year old brother, who
played at the Oakhurst Place Apartments on East Lake Drive. They're
father lived in apartment #20.
Now their father, Gary DeToma, Sr., is charged with murder.
One of DeToma's co-workers went to his apartment at about 1-PM
according to Decatur police. The co-worker told police DeToma didn't
show up for work Monday.
Deputy Chief Keith Lee said the co-worker was able to coax the 4-year
old brother to open the door. "When he went inside he found the five
year old child, who appeared to be deceased, laying in a bedroom
upstairs," said the Deputy Chief. "The father was in the room with him"
Deputy Chief Lee said it appeared the child was suffocated but a
final determination will be made by the medical examiner's office.
Police were at the apartment two hours before the co-worker arrived,
according to police. They were called by an attorney who represents
DeToma's wife, because the children were not returned to her after
spending a weekend visitation with their father.
"Out officer initially went to the residence, knocked, checked around
the residence, it was secure, it was locked and no one answered the
door," Lee said. "There were no legal grounds to enter the home for our officer."
According to DeKalb County court records, DeToma and his wife,
Melanie, were in a heated divorce and custody battle.
Gary DeToma is in the DeKalb County Jail charged with murder. Police
said his 4-year old son has been returned to his mother.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is also involved in the investigation.

The killing of a 5-year-old boy was being investigated by Decatur
police, who arrested the boy’s father late Monday afternoon.
Officers arrived at a home on East Lake
Drive to find the child lying dead in an upstairs bedroom. Gary DeToma
Sr., the boy’s father, was arrested at the scene and charged with
murder.

Police said they had been to the home earlier in the day when
they received a complaint that two children had not returned home from a
weekend visit with their father. No one answered the door and officers
found nothing suspicious, officials told Regan.A second call to
check the home was later made by a co-worker of DeToma, according to
officers. Police said that’s when they found the dead child, another
sibling and DeToma inside. Police declined to give details of the
child’s death. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was helping with the
investigation.

Gary Detoma, a Georgia father involved in a bitter custody battle
with his wife, murdered his 5-year-old-son and attempted to kill his
other son, a 4-year-old, authorities said.
The boys' mother, Melanie DeToma, became alarmed Monday morning when Gary
DeToma failed to return the two boys to her, as per the terms of the
couple's custody agreement. Police paid a visit to DeToma's suburban
Atlanta home, but no one answered and the officers saw nothing out of
the ordinary, said Police Deputy Chief Keith Lee. On Monday afternoon,
one of DeToma's co-workers went to check on him
because he had failed to show up for work that day, and discovered the
tragedy. The co-worker "continued knocking, knocking and finally
a 4-year-old child came to the door. The co-worker went inside and he
found Mr. DeToma in a bedroom with his 5-year-old son and [the child]
appeared to be deceased," according to the deputy.
Detoma has been charged with murder in the death of his son "Little Gary."

Gary DeToma Jr

Police say DeToma's other son, Will, was also at the apartment, but was
alive when they arrived at the home. Detoma
is facing aggravated assault charges for allegedly attacking Will.

Neighbors knew the couple was going through a divorce and were
fighting over custody of the kids, but they had no idea it would end like this.
"I just never noticed anything wrong, no problems
at all," Nica Taylor, a neighbor, said in dismay.
The DeTomas had been married six years and were set to finalize a custody agreement this
week. Melanie DeToma's attorney, Blue Spruell says that a fund
has been set up to help Melanie DeToma pay for expenses stemming from the murder.
Decatur First Bank is accepting donations to the
fund. According to Spruell, checks can be made out to the Gary DeToma,
Jr. Fund and can be mailed to 1120 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA 30030.

Gary DeToma Facing the Death Penalty
By Captain Obvious on July 21, 2010




A little over a week ago I told you about Gary DeToma, the Decatur man who murdered one of his young sons and tried to kill the other.

42-year-old DeToma was indicted on charges of Murder yesterday by a DeKalb County Grand Jury and the DA is going to be seeking the death penalty in the case.

http://www.sickcrimes.us/2010/07/gary-detoma-facing-the-death-penalty-4189

Decatur Community Remembers Slain 5-Year-Old
Community Started Memorial At Harmony Park
By Jennifer Mayerle, CBS Atlanta Reporter

POSTED: 10:08 pm EDT July 16, 2010
UPDATED: 10:04 am EDT July 17, 2010


DECATUR, Ga. -- On the day a slain 5-year-old boy is laid to rest, the community quietly comes together to remember him.

The Oakhurst community of Decatur has started a memorial for Gary DeToma Jr. at Harmony Park.

“This was a young, young man with a bright future ahead,” said Mary Mack.

Mack is the principal of Oakhurst Elementary, the school DeToma Jr. was supposed to start in the fall. She and another teacher left the school mascot and other memorabilia at his memorial.

“We’re going to miss the opportunity to get to know this child,” said Maria Boyant-Fowler.

They are are just two of a number of people who stopped to pay tribute to the 5-year-old taken too soon. Police say his dad, Gary DeToma Sr., confessed to killing him and attempting to suffocate his younger brother.

“We feel it as a loss and we feel sad for any family who would have to go through this,” said Boyant-Fowler.

DeToma Jr.’s mother, Melanie DeToma, hasn't spoken publicly, but she did write a letter posted on Decatur Metro.com. The letter says in part, "My son, Gary, was a bright, shining light in our lives. He was smart and creative and funny. His father, for whatever reason, chose to end Gary's life on Monday. I feel like the light in my soul has been snuffed out. I look at will and remind myself that I have to forge ahead through this grief somehow."

These educators left a message for the family.

“We love them and if there's anything we can do as a school or as a school system or as a community we will open up our hearts and our homes to do that,” said Mack.
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/24291453/detail.html

Updated: 8:43 a.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | Posted: 8:38 a.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Father pleads guilty to murdering son

A father who suffocated his 5-year-old son apparently to get back at his soon-to-be ex-wife will spend the rest of his life in prison, never to be paroled.
Gary DeToma said nothing in court Tuesday other than to plead guilty to murdering Gary Jr. and trying to kill his younger son, Will, to avoid a possible death penalty if convicted at trial.
District Attorney Robert James said DeToma's ex-wife Melanie Roberts was satisfied with the decision, especially considering that DeToma accepted responsibility for murdering their son and trying to kill their other son, who was 4 at the time, in July 2010.
As was part of the agreement, Gary DeToma, now 44, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; he had been given until June 1 to decide or James was moving forward with a death penalty trial.
"It’s a resolution," James said after the guilty plea. "Nobody wins. You've got a child who has lost his life and is no longer with us, and was killed in a horrible fashion; he was suffocated. You've got a father who is going to prison for the rest of his life, without parole, who never again will never be a father to his surviving son. You've got a mother grieving for the life of her child."
And Gary DeToma's family is grieving as well, James noted.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/father-pleads-guilty-to-murdering-son/nQTqm/