http://www.comcast.net/Ne...2073f.html

Mom, Boyfriend Charged With Drowning Kids

2 hours ago




CLINTON, Ill. - A woman and her boyfriend were charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the deaths of her three children, who drowned when their car plunged into a lake in September in what initially looked like a tragic accident.

DeWitt County Sheriff Roger Massey said authorities know what the motive was, but he would not provide details.

The sheriff also would not say what the two did to make the car slide off a boat ramp at Clinton Lake, killing the 6-year-old, 3-year-old and toddler inside, other than to say the car went in head first.

Maurice Lagrone Jr. and Amanda Hamm were each charged with nine counts of first-degree murder, Massey said.

Lagrone was arrested Tuesday in a motel near the St. Louis airport, Massey said. Hamm was arrested in Bloomington.

The two suspects were on the lakeshore on Sept. 2 when rescuers arrived at the scene. Hamm cried hysterically as rescuers tried to free the children.

Massey at first said the deaths were being investigated as an accident. Within two weeks he started calling them "the incident."

Lagrone initially was charged with driving under the influence. That charge was dropped last month, and Massey said Wednesday that investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor.

Clinton, a town of 7,500, is about 140 miles southwest of Chicago in central Illinois.



Three children that drowned on Sept. 2, 2003, in Clinton Lake in Clinton, Ill., after the car they were in slid down a boat ramp and became submerged, are shown in this family photo released, Friday, Sept. 5, 2003. From left are, Austin Brown, 3; half-sister, 23-month-old Kyleigh Hamm; and Christopher Hamm, 6. The DeWitt County Sheriff's Department is expected to announce at a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003, that arrests have been made in the case. (AP Photo/family photo via the Calvert Funeral Home)

This makes me physically ill. I'm at a loss

the grandmother of one of the children is the girlfriend of one of my parents' friends.

i'll refrain from spreading rumor and innuendo, but from what i've heard, it doesn't look good for the mother or boyfriend...

i went to school (K-12) with the mother...

AaronAlmighty said:

What was she like in school?

Un-fucking-believable.

summerdawn said:

slow and quiet, but very nice
[This message was edited Wed Dec 10 14:41:22 PST 2003 by AaronAlmighty]

IAmTheTouch said:

Don't get me started...

summerdawn said:

that was the only time i came close to advocating the death penalty...

this is too fucked up why would a parent kill their own child?

I can't imagine why a woman would be so influenced by her boyfriend..

This is so sad... but one thing we do know is that there are 3 angels in heaven...

sag10 said:

knowing the girl, i'm not so certain that it was the boyfriend's idea...

AaronAlmighty said:

OMG, that is even worse...

Damn...

Poor babies.

At least they are in a better place now.

Something like this must be affecting the entire town. (And those who come from there). My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this saddness.

bkw said:

It just makes you sick doesn't it?

What a bitch.

some people need to be shot