@ Peace

Hello everyone.

I decided to post the final resault concerning my niece Felicia Nicole Mikels.

It began January 18th of this year. Out of everything that has happened in my family throughout our lives, we had never thought of this one to ever happen.

A body was found on the afternoon of Tuesday May 6, a few days away from my 45th birthday and mother’s day. On Wednesday, an autopsy found that it was a female body and dental records identified that it was my niece. On Friday May 9th both paternal and maternal family members gathered along with a few close friends at a funeral home in Malton, NJ.  The mother (my sister) was finally faced with her loss. I had never seen the father express emotions until that day.

We all went to the burrial in Camden, NJ. It rained hard all that day. We then went on our way back into our lives. Some of us had the need to hold onto available time with our family members. The next day was my birthday. I had so many emotions that I stayed quiet, only to speak as I was spoken too. This was how I made it through my childhood.

Thank you for listening.

Marie

 

two luring attempts

UPDATE: May 14, 2008

Three days after police learned of two attempted child lurings in an East Camden neighborhood, two brothers escaped a similar, but unrelated, incident Monday, law enforcement officials said.

The boys, both 9 years old, were approached by a man in a white pickup truck between 3:30 and 4 p.m. near Yorkship Square and Kersarge Road, officials said. The children told police the man stopped his truck, exited the vehicle and grabbed one of the boys by the arm. He demanded both get in his vehicle, but the two managed to escape, officials said.

Officials said the truck had an extended cab, flared rear wheels and a silver ladder on top. No description of the suspect was provided.

Officials described the man as a white male in his late teens or early 20s with black hair and a thin build. He had a tattoo with writing along his left forearm and wore a blue shirt and jeans.

His vehicle had a rainbow sticker on the truck.

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City police are seeking a man who attempted to lure two youngsters into a vehicle in East Camden.

The incidents occurred near Burwood and Fremont avenues about 6:50 p.m. Friday, authorities said. They said a man first offered a ride to a 6-year-old boy, who refused, and then approached another minor, who ran away.

The man was driving a four-door red vehicle with a rainbow sticker on the trunk. He was in his late teens or early 20s, with black hair, a thin build and a tattoo with writing along his left forearm. He wore a blue shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information should call city police at (856) 757-7486.

FULL STORY

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS01/805140374/-1/&source=nletter-news

Newborn boy drowned

A newborn boy found Monday morning stuffed in a toilet tank in a bathroom at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds drowned, an autopsy report concluded Tuesday.

The Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office identified a 14-year-old Bridgeton girl as the mother.

A cleaning crew working Monday in the women’s bathroom at the fairground following a Cinco de Mayo celebration on Sunday found the boy shortly before noon.

“Even with the mother having been found, if the family is going to not take that responsibility we would still do it,” foundation representative Susan D. Ferrier said late Tuesday afternoon. “The baby obviously can’t sit in the morgue forever and there’s absolutely no reason the baby should have to go,” into a pauper’s grave.

Infant killed with adult medicine

An Atlantic County couple will spend five to seven years in prison for giving their infant son adult medicine, resulting in the child’s death.

Catauga Caldwell of Buena Vista Township pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter in the April 2007 death of his 7-week-old son Demitrious. His wife Melyssa pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

The father told a judge he gave the baby his prescription medication Promethazine as well as adult-strength Tylenol.

An autopsy found the boy died from Promethazine intoxication.

The couple remain at the Atlantic County Jail and will be sentenced Aug. 1.

courierpostonline

Police Officer won’t be charged in shooting of 2-y/o boy

A Deptford police officer acted negligently when a handgun he was cleaning discharged and injured a fellow officer’s 2-year-old boy, an investigation by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office has found.

Patrolman Michael Riggs, who has worked for the department for 21 months, had been drinking beer at the time of the April 17 incident. He is suspended with pay pending an administrative review by the department, but will not be charged criminally, officials said.

Other incidents involving the department.

In 2005, Officer William Taylor was speeding on Delsea Drive and broadsided Sarah Donovan-Weingartner, who lost her unborn child in the accident. Taylor was driving 64 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone.

In 2006, three officers were charged for their involvement in a traffic stop gone wrong. A trial aired claims of workplace intimidation and Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton said he planned a review of the department’s operations. Weisenfeld said Wednesday he did not know the status of the review.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS01/805080375/-1/&source=nletter-news

assault on 15-year-old

A Bucks County musician who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he met on the Internet faces two to six years in state prison.

Christopher Leasher of Warminster, went by the name “Christopher Jive” on the MySpace.

The victim told police she contacted Leasher through the Web site. She says he picked her up at a Warminster shopping center, drove her to Philadelphia to purchase cocaine and had sex with her numerous times.
Judge says Leasher will be listed as a sex offender for 10 years

< href=”http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS01/80506013/-1/&source=nletter-news”>FULL STORY

FULL STORY

Body ID’d as slain teenage mother

A decomposed body pulled from a stream earlier this week is that of 17-year-old Felicia Mikels, a township girl slain in January, authorities said Friday.

The identification, made through a check of dental records, ended a long, difficult wait for the girl’s loved ones. But some family members said they have continuing concerns for another relative — the girl’s uncle, Christopher Mikels, who’s charged as an accessory to murder in her death.

“Chris is not a killer,” Sue Mikels, the suspect’s sister and the victim’s aunt, said Friday outside the girl’s former home on Rudderow Avenue. “The family knows him better than anyone.”

Felicia Mikels, the mother of a 6-week-old girl, was beaten to death in a Pennsauken company’s parking lot on the night of Jan. 18, officials say. Christopher Mikels was at the scene with the victim’s baby, they say.

Felicia Mikels’ body was found in a foot of water on Tuesday afternoon. An autopsy on Tuesday determined the victim, who was attacked with a two-by-four, had died from blunt trauma.

“Felicia was kind and good-hearted,” said her grandmother, Marge Mikels, who lived with the teenager. “She said her prayers every night.”

But family members, citing conversations with Christopher Mikels, say they see him as a victim, too.

They say the uncle, described as a child-like personality who attended Burlington County’s Special Services School, was surprised by the attack on his niece and could not save her. And, while they acknowledge Christopher Mikels did not come forward to report the night’s events, they contend his actions were caused by fear and a desire to protect the baby from Mandichak.

“I definitely don’t think Chris planned this,” his sister said.

Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, offered a different view. “We feel very comfortable with the charges we filed,” said Laughlin, who noted the accessory charge is the equivalent of a murder charge.

Both suspects are being held in Camden County Jail.

Results are pending from paternity tests given to both defendants and to Mikels’ boyfriend.

Family members, who marked Felicia’s 18th birthday with an observance on Sunday, are preparing for the girl’s funeral.

“We just had a memorial,” noted Susan Mikels. “Now, we’ll do it all over again.”

Reach Jim Walsh at (856) 486-2646 or jwalsh@courierpostonline.com

Body confirmed

Officials confirmed today the body found this week in Pennsauken Creek is that of homicide victim Felicia Mikels.

Mikels, 17, was reported missing Jan. 18. her body was so badly decomposed when it was found by a surveyor about 2 p.m. Tuesday that the sex of the person had to be determined through an autopsy, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

Authorities believe Mikels, a Pennsauken resident, was fatally beaten by her uncle and a family friend. The two men, Christopher Mikels and Douglas Mandichak, then dumped her body in the creek, officials said. Both men are being held in Camden County Jail.

CourierPost

 

Autopsy inconclusive

Although an autopsy performed on a decomposed body pulled from Pennsauken Creek was inconclusive, the family of a 17-year-old Pennsauken mother killed in January hopes the remains are those of Felicia Mikels.

The report confirmed the body is a female, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Jason Laughlin said, although the victim’s approximate age was unavailable.

The report also confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma, although officials would not release where or how the trauma occurred.

Investigators are now hoping dental records will identify the victim. Results are expected today, Laughlin said.

FULL STORY

Autopsy Results

Autopsy can’t confirm identity of body found in creek

The report confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Jason Laughlin said.

Investigators are now hoping dental records will identify the body, he said.