STORM2K

How horrible!!!

HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - A 7-year-old girl was found stabbed to death at a parochial school Thursday, and police said they had no suspects as of late afternoon.

Jerica Rhodes' body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, police Chief Peter Miller said. He would not say exactly where the girl's body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.

Parents rushed to pick up their children after learning of the slaying.

Jerica's father, Chris Rhodes, 27, dropped her off at school around 8:10 a.m. during a school assembly and she wasn't seen again until her body was discovered, police said. After questioning Rhodes, the son of a former village police chief, police said they do not consider him a suspect.

A woman who answered a phone listed for the Rhodes family declined to comment.

The school, run by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York, has 240 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

The school will remain closed Friday, but counselors will be available to help students and family members, said diocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Each school family was to be called Thursday evening, he said.

"We recognize the impact this can have on the broader community as well," Zwilling said.

Highland Falls is near West Point, about 50 miles up the Hudson River from New York City.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050128/D87SPC886.html

This is just horrible!!!

My heart breaks for her. No child deserves to die and LIKE THAT??

This was a 7 year old little girl.

This is an extremely disturbing story. You wonder why she was alone? When I was in school, I was rarely ever alone - you went to the bathroom in groups, you were always with your class and/or teacher (at this young age).

Very, very sad.

Mary

She was just a baby.

Just seen on FoxNews; Chris Rhodes was arrested in the death of his daughter; there will be a press briefing soon by the local police.

streetsoldier wrote:Just seen on FoxNews; Chris Rhodes was arrested in the death of his daughter; there will be a press briefing soon by the local police.

OMG.

OMG as well.

Well, this does support my opinion. Elementaries watch children of this age very carefully. In fact at my girls' former Elem., it was built in the 70s with an open class design. No interior walls. When I toured it years ago I thought that was so comforting - no abuse of any kind could take place - instantly 10 teachers would see it or hear it. And the bathrooms were off to a side, down a 'hallway' but it was open to classrooms. Another comfort too. This of course was when all the Catholic School/Priest abuse cases were coming to light and I was taught in Catholic Schools. Never had a public school looked so good to me back then.

How in the world can a parent do something so horrendous? I suspect he was covering up something.....hate to go there.

Mary

Miss Mary- I don't understand either. How could someone do something like this to their own child? He has to be covering something up. But it just breaks my heart. Parents are suppose to protect their children, not hurt them.

sunny wrote:Miss Mary- I don't understand either. How could someone do something like this to their own child? He has to be covering something up. But it just breaks my heart. Parents are suppose to protect their children, not hurt them.

Well, just look at the sad Jon Benet Ramsey story. We will never know what really happened to that sweet, grown up too soon, child. I think most suspect the parents, if not both, the father. And that he was abusing her.

Mary

Miss Mary wrote:

sunny wrote:Miss Mary- I don't understand either. How could someone do something like this to their own child? He has to be covering something up. But it just breaks my heart. Parents are suppose to protect their children, not hurt them.

Well, just look at the sad Jon Benet Ramsey story. We will never know what really happened to that sweet, grown up too soon, child. I think most suspect the parents, if not both, the father. And that he was abusing her.

Mary

This is true. I guess it's just hard for me to imagine because I was such a "daddy's girl". I knew my father would never let anyone hurt me. So to think a father could do something like this to their own child...

sunny wrote:

Miss Mary wrote:

sunny wrote:Miss Mary- I don't understand either. How could someone do something like this to their own child? He has to be covering something up. But it just breaks my heart. Parents are suppose to protect their children, not hurt them.

Well, just look at the sad Jon Benet Ramsey story. We will never know what really happened to that sweet, grown up too soon, child. I think most suspect the parents, if not both, the father. And that he was abusing her.

Mary

This is true. I guess it's just hard for me to imagine because I was such a "daddy's girl". I knew my father would never let anyone hurt me. So to think a father could do something like this to their own child...

Me too. To this day, my Dad would do anything to protect me!

I missed the press conference. Are there any more details, like WHY??? Of course there's no good answer to that question...this man needs to be tied up in the street and let the people take care of his punishment.

I just looked at the news sites - nothing about the press conference yet.

Thanks sunny. This just makes me sick.

cnn.com

Report: Dad arrested in girl's death at parochial school
Friday, January 28, 2005 Posted: 8:05 AM EST (1305 GMT)

HIGHLAND FALLS, New York (AP) -- A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of his 7-year-old daughter who was found stabbed to death at a parochial school.

Chris Rhodes, 27, was arrested Thursday night and was being held without bail, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown reported in its online edition Friday.

The body of first-grader Jerica Rhodes was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, police Chief Peter Miller said. He would not say exactly where the girl's body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.

Chris Rhodes dropped Jerica off at school during a school assembly and she wasn't seen again until her body was found, police said. The girl lived with her grandparents in Highland Falls, a small village next to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Police said they had not found a weapon and would not confirm how the girl died.

"I can't believe, for the life of me, that he would have done anything like that," Chris Rhodes' lawyer, Sol Lesser, told the Times Herald-Record. "I know him, and I know how much he loves his daughter."

Rhodes, the son of former police Chief Linwood Rhodes Jr., is on probation for misdemeanor drug probation, according to court records.

A woman who answered the phone listed for the Rhodes family declined comment Thursday.

Police said Jerica's mother lived "further upstate," and had not been in regular contact with the girl or Chris Rhodes.

The school, run by the Archdiocese of New York, has 240 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

The school will remain closed Friday, but counselors will be available to help students and family members, said diocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling.

I'll just never understand why people are driven to do horrible things to children. I guess that's a good thing: I hope I never do understand how a mind can work that way. Some people never need to see the light of day again.

So her father was on probation for drugs. The sick ******* was probably high or something.

And her mother isn't in regular contact with her? Gee, what a Mom!!

I feel sorry for her grandparents who loved her enough to take care of her when her mother apparently wouldn't even do it. A senseless crime and now this precious little girl is gone.

That poor baby. It makes me sick.