GUILTY FL - Shannon Dedrick, 7 mo., Chipley, 31 Oct 2009 #5

Updated: 11:56 AM Jul 8, 2010
Hearing Scheduled For Shannon Dedrick Case
A hearing is scheduled today in the case of Chipley infant Shannon Dedrick.


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The judge in the case said today- if the attorneys are ready, he is looking at jury selection on July 23rd in the Baker case and the trial to start on July 26th. Otherwise, he will move it to September.

a little more here

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/98030504.html

It appears 1-of-the-2 defendants in the disappearance of a Chipley baby may stand trial at the end of this month.
The baby Shannon saga had the nation on the edge of it's seat for about a week last fall, after authorities found the 7-month old child stuffed in 2-by-3-foot wooden box shoved under a bed in a Chipley home.
The house belonged to Susan Baker, Shannon's aunt and babysitter.
Authorities arrested Baker and Shannon's mother, Crystina Mercer.
Baker may go to trial by the end of this month.

It's been almost 9-months since authorities arrested 50-year-old Susan Baker for her alleged involvement in the disappearance of Shannon Dedrick.
They say she conspired with Dedrick's mother, Crystina Mercer, to give the child away.
Mercer is the one who made the 911 call on Halloween morning, reporting the child as missing.
"Washington County 911."
"Yes my little girl, I woke up this morning and my 6-month-old daughter, uh...7-month-old daughter is missing. My front door looks like it's been jimmied open today."
Dedrick, who was 7-months-old at the time, was last seen in her parents' custody at their Brown Street home in Chipley.
For the next 5-days, rescue teams searched on-the-ground and from -the-air, combing wooded areas and trash bins for any sign of the little girl.
Then on the night of November 4th, authorities searched Baker's home and found Dedrick inside of a 2-by-3-foot wooden box stuffed under a bed.
"We are the proud papas of a little girl. This is something that usually doesn't happen percentage wise if you look across the United States, you do not usually get the happy endings that we have here today," says Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock.
The 2-women face a long list of criminal charges.
During Thursday's pre-trial hearing, Judge Allen Register said he's leaning heavily toward Baker's trial beginning by the end of this month, pending her lawyer's schedule.
"If we can work it out so that Mr. Virga's Bay County case will be continued next week and if we can also make arrangements for him to be available the afternoon of jury selection then I see no reason that we cannot get this case tried this term of quarter."
Crystina Mercer also appeared in court this morning.
Judge Register continued her case to the September pre-trial docket.

Baker was also involved in the disappearance of her stepson, Paul, in Beaufort, South Carolina, back in 1987.
She's still being held in jail on $150,000 bond.

this is old news, but well put together.

http://www.newsherald.com/articles/baker-79099-dedrick-shannon.html

Attorneys for the defendants in the Baby Shannon case, were due in court today to address motions pertaining to their upcoming trials. Susan Baker, 51 and Tina Mercer, 26, have been ordered to stand trial in the disappearance of Mercer's (then) seven month old daughter - Shannon Dedrick. Baby Shannon was found alive, five days after her mother made a call to 911, last October 31. Mercer told the operator her daughter was missing from her crib, when she woke that morning, in the Chipley home she shared with Shannon's father, Rusty Dedrick.

Gerard Virga, Jr and Assistant Public Defender Floyd Griffith, attorneys for Baker and Mercer, respectively, told Circuit Judge Allen Register, they do not believe Mercer or Baker, will receive fair trials in Washington County. They have requested a change of venue, sequestering of the jury, a request to suppress evidence and a questionnaire for prospective jurors, to determine the amount of media coverage they have been exposed to; in the case that made front page headlines, across the nation - as people from all across the country prayed for the safe return of Baby Shannon.

On Friday, Sept 10 - a pre-trial hearing for Crystina Mercer, was scheduled for November 15, 2010, in the Washington County Circuit Court. The judge, will have to rule on the defense motions, before that hearing. Tina is accused of making a false 911 report, deserting a child, giving false information to law enforcement and interfering with custody.

Susan Baker, Shannon's step-aunt and baby-sitter, is facing felony charges of aggravated child abuse, interference with custody, and giving false information to law enforcement during an investigation. Baby Shannon was found, five days after she was reported missing, in a latched, 2 foot by 3 foot cedar box - shoved under a bed, in Susan Baker's mobile home. Investigators said Shannon had been in the box for twelve hours the day she was found - while Baker was being questioned, by law enforcement officials. Baker is scheduled to stand trial in Washington Co. beginning Sept. 24. Her attorney, Gerard Virga said, she won't get a fair trial Chipley or anywhere near here, but “We’re looking forward to our chance”, when he asked for a continuance in July, his law partner and wife, co-counsel in the case, was pregnant.

News and internet coverage, that Virga called; “inflammatory media,” has tainted the jury pool across Northwest Florida - Orlando and Tampa are the two alternatives, Virga has specified, as being far enough away, but still convenient for travel. Local and national coverage, caused Judge Register, to seal Shannon's dependency hearing, last November. Prosecutor Greg Wilson said; “Obviously, the case got a lot of publicity." While he wants the trial held locally, he stated 'it will be up to the judge to decide.'

In December, Susan Baker pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the five days, Baby Shannon was missing. She appeared before Circuit Judge Allen Register, via video - from the Bay County Jail where she is being held in protective custody. Her only question for the judge was; “Are you going to give me bail?” Judge Register restated Baker's $150,000 bail and said, “Right now, that will remain your bond.” Baker was moved to Bay County, while Tina remained in the Washington Co Jail, in Chipley, so both women could be kept in protective custody.

While the Asst States Attorney, Greg Wilson, is not willing to bring Susan Baker's past criminal case up - in her trial for kidnapping 7 month old Shannon Dedrick - he has moved forward in the charges against Baker - originally facing up to ten years for aggravated child abuse, Baker is now facing a first degree felony charge of "caging" little Shannon, a charge that means Baker faces 35 years in prison, if she is convicted! This charge seems appropriate, since we know Shannon was placed in the box any time anyone was at the house and she was placed there for at least 12 hours, prior to being rescued by LEOs, the day they spent questioning Baker about inconsistencies and lies she was circulating about Tina and baby Shannon.

Tina, according to the reports, has never wavered in her claim that she took a fussy Shannon for a walk, then brought her home and put her back to bed. When she awoke several hours later, Shannon was gone. Tina told the psychologist she had dreamed of a dark figure stealing Shannon out of her bed, the night she was reportedly kidnapped. Baker's account of the incident had Tina handing Shannon over in a late-night "exchange" at the end of the road, by her home. An "exchange" would imply Tina was rewarded for her action, but there has been no reports from LE that point to what exactly Tina had to gain by participating in Baker's plan.

Why is Baker's story of a missing baby "hoax", called into LE - more believable than the possible kidnapping, when Tina and Rusty refused to let Baker keep their daughter over the weekend? While admittedly Tina's stories don't make sense, the FDLE agent states Tina went to LE on her own, told them she wanted to help them find her daughter! This according to a report by FDLE Special Agent Kristen Cortes! Tina agreed to speak with a psychologist and spoke with Bay Co Sheriff's Captain Jimmy Stanford, an experienced interrogator who said, "her mind seemed to wander." He listened to varying accounts by Tina, who claimed Shannon was was hidden in a variety of places. Not that Tina was claiming responsibility for leaving Shannon in those places!

Baker has admitted to lying to LEOs, claiming Shannon was mistreated and unwanted by her parents, she sent a letter to Governor Crist, asking for his help in saving Shannon, before she was in danger, according to CPS reports. Baker also accused the state of not doing enough to save Shannon from her parents! And yet Baker is the one who has admitted to hiding Shannon in a box under a bed; saying she knew it wasn't right, but also saying she had no choice. Baker claims she only placed Shannon in the wooden chest when someone came close enough to discover her.

Baker also claimed she had made a contract, that had vanished before her arrest. She stated to investigators she made it on MS Word, but "I just took and deleted it, so you wouldn't find that promissory note." In regards to the custody swap, Baker said, “I devised it and I convinced her.”

During the five days Shannon was missing, Sue Baker was also feeding lies about Tina to Tabitha P. Tabitha thinking she was being helpful, was posting Bakers lies on a variety of web sites, claiming Sue to be her "relative" and someone she left her own children with. Just days later, finding out she had been duped, a badly shaken, Tabitha said, Baker had fooled everyone.

In March, the state attorney’s office offered Baker a plea deal of 20 years. Asst States Attorney, Greg Wilson said, he won’t accept anything less. At the time, Baker’s attorney Gerard Virga Jr, said he couldn't speak for his client, but released the following statement; “Every American has a right to be tried by a jury, and Mrs. Baker has a right to be tried on the facts of this case and what transpired in the fall of 2009. At this point, the proper place to comment on this case or the facts surrounding this case is in the courtroom.”

Had Shannon died while caged that day, or any of the other times Baker locked her in the cedar box, would another child have disappeared forever? Her family left to wonder for the rest of their lives what became of Baby Shannon? If Baker had somehow gotten away with the kidnapping, would Shannon have disappeared off the face of the earth at three years old, after soiling herself or her bed, while she was ill? Or would she have endured beatings and untreated broken bones, as a six year old - just learning to count?

Anyone who is capable of the atrocities we know Sue Baker to be guilty of, wouldn't think twice about setting up a troubled, young mother to take the blame for a crime she conceived and committed! Why then, is it so hard to see this to be the truth?

Circuit Judge Allen Register declined the change of venue and declined sequestering of the jury.

Regarding the request to suppress evidence he asked the states and defense attorney to submit written arguments as to whether the Bakers were giving two specific officers the right to search their house or if they were giving all law enforcement the right to search the house. Register is expected to rule before the trial starts in late Sept.

There were so many officers that it “looked like fleas on a tick — I mean a dog,” Baker testified.

The Bakers complained that they didn't feel they had a right to decline going to the sheriff's office, after two officers showed up at their home the morning of Nov 4.

They also stated they felt like they were not being allowed to leave, once they arrived. They were not offered any food and no matter how many times she asked for food or to leave, she was always told she had to stay.

Prosecutor Greg Wilson pointed to multiple moments that would prove the couple voluntarily gave up their rights. Baker stopped and gassed up her van on the way into town, the officers even offered to pay for it, neither she nor her husband were ever placed in handcuffs. Once back at the house, the Bakers unlocked the door, Sue went inside alone to corral her "critters" - she picked up her skunk and came outside.

Baker says she cooperated with the investigation “up to a point.” She says she sat on her steps, holding her pet skunk, while officers searched her home.

Defense atty Verga believes with just 24,000 people it will not be possible to sit an impartial jury.

Registered said it doesn't matter if jurors are aware of the case, but rather whether they have “formed an opinion based on that coverage.”

“I have every confidence that our potential jurors will be up front with us,” Register said.

Jury selection is scheduled for Sept. 24.

Susan Baker found guilty. poss 35 yrs. I also posted in the other thread. Ive had some personal issues and failed to go to the trial. Now I really want to know how the trial went.

what about tina? what about Susans husband? he was not totally innocent here. He knew darn well his wife was doing something wrong. jmo, she killed his child, yet he remains with her through another child disappearing.

orb4me said:

Susan Baker found guilty. poss 35 yrs. I also posted in the other thread. Ive had some personal issues and failed to go to the trial. Now I really want to know how the trial went.

what about tina? what about Susans husband? he was not totally innocent here. He knew darn well his wife was doing something wrong. jmo, she killed his child, yet he remains with her through another child disappearing.

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I'm with ya on this...I don't see how he couldn't have known that Shannon was in his house. But, the last paragraph of this article says different.

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/104172839.html

"Neither woman’s husbands are believed to have been involved in the conspiracy. Baby Shannon remains in private foster care with the Department of Children and Families."

I believe Tina is still set to stand trial. I'm not sure of any date though.

I wish that Susan Baker would finally tell the truth about the disappearance of Paul Baker.

The mother of baby Shannon Dedrick pleaded no contest Friday to a single misdemeanor charge. Crystina Mercer pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor charge of providing false information to law enforcement officers as they searched the Washington County area for her missing daughter, according to ta State Attorney's Office release.
The other charges against Mercer &#8212; interference with custodial care, making a false 911 call and providing false information to law enforcement &#8212; was dropped, the release said. She was sentenced to a year in the year, and, since she's served that amount of time awaiting trial, she has been released.
Baby Shannon was 7 months old when she went missing Oct. 31, 2009, sparking the largest search in Washington County history. The search ended Nov. 4 when she was found in a cedar box under the bed of of Shannon's baby sitter, Susan Baker. Baker was convicted Oct. 1 of interference with custodial care, aggravated child abuse and providing false information to law enforcement.
The State Attorney's Office said Baker's conviction prompted modification of the charges.
http://www.newsherald.com/articles/misdemeanor-88180-mother-pleads.html?fimobile=0

When officers arrived, Mercer was acting strangely, according to testimony from several officers at Baker’s trial. Mercer, who has mental health problems, didn’t seem concerned her baby was missing, and she made several bizarre statements that led officers to believe she had killed Shannon.

Baker claimed she and Mercer had an agreement to give the then-7-month-old child to Baker permanently. Not one shred of independent evidence supported Baker’s story,” Wilson said. Mercer’s defense attorney, Floyd Griffith, wasn’t surprised by the result. “This whole concept of Mercer giving Baker the baby — that all came out of Baker’s mouth,” Griffith said.

Baker broke into Mercer’s home in the middle of the night and took Baby Shannon. There was never any evidence to support Baker’s version of events, Wilson said.

Baker took the stand at her trial and said she did what she had to do to protect Shannon from her parents, who she claimed were abusive and neglectful.

Since Baker stole the baby, Mercer’s 911 call was legitimate, authorities said, and Mercer didn’t interfere with custody. “So the only thing she’s guilty of is lying to an officer,” Wilson said. She pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor charge of providing false information to law enforcement officers.

Judge Colby Peel imposed the maximum sentence of 364 days in jail for Crystina Mercer for providing false information to law enforcement; she was given credit for time served and released after spending much of the last year in jail.

Shannon Dedrick is now in Texas with a relative, Mercer has been ordered to have no contact with her daughter, Peel said.

A sentencing hearing for Baker is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Washington County.

I hope that Shannon is healthy and happy in her new home in TX and that Sue Baker is never again free to hurt another child - Shannon truly had a Guardian Angel keeping her safe while she was locked in the cedar box, it was no thanks to Baker that she was found alive.

Yes, praying she has a long, happy, healthy life.

I never will forget that presser when LE brought her out alive! It was so heartwarming.

God bless baby Shannon.

Sue Baker had a date with fate this morning, she was scheduled to be at the Chipley Court House at 830 AM for sentencing, after being found guilty of Interference with Custody, Giving False Information and Aggravated Child Abuse. She is facing up to 35 years in the state prison.

Thus far none of the local news teams have reported the results of the hearing -

James Baker testified that he had no knowledge that Shannon was in the home he shared with Sue. News Herald reporter Chris Olwell blogged live from the Susan Baker trial. She said James has divorced his wife.

Sue had claimed that Shannon was only placed in the 2' x 3' box one time, for 10 - 12 hours, but Baker later told investigators she left Baby Shannon in the box most of the day on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday - while she was at the Sheriff's Office.

The box had one small air hole, a box of baking soda and Shannon was found with a dirty diaper and a rash. She had no bottle or food in the box. Baker testified in her own defense, saying she took Shannon to save her life, claiming DCS was failing to do their job.

Baker's atty has already said he plans to appeal.

I wonder why no report on the sentencing. It was supposed to be at 8:30 this morning.

Nina Baker Hernandez moved past horrific childhood.

http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/10/15/1408971/susan-bakers-stepdaughter-tries.html

"No matter how often Nina changed addresses, no matter where she moved, Susan Baker's letters and gifts found her. They came for years....."

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IMO Evil doesn't begin to describe Sue Baker.

"Before Judge Register sets a sentence, Florida officials will examine Baker's background, including her criminal record. Her treatment of Nina was inadmissible during the trial but can now come into play, according to Washington County prosecutor Greg Wilson.

During the sentencing phase, "people can come in and testify about mitigating and aggravating circumstances," Wilson said."

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I guess they just need more time to round up the mitigating factors and aggravating circumstances...

Susan Baker sentenced to 25 years aggravated child abuse, 5 years interference with custody to run concurrent. Birth mom sentenced to 1 year, time served. JUSTICE

yes!!!!!!!! I couldnt find that info mfcmom, so thank you very much for posting it.

so, in Fl, inmates do 85% of their sentence. that is as long as they dont do something to loose their gain time. She will have 1 yr jail credit. Unless she was given a minimum mandatory. So she will be just under 70 when she gets out. There is no parol in Fl. She will still be able to do it again 70 might seem old to some, but Im 68 and feel great.

The creepy mother must be back home???? oh geeish, shes less than a mile from me. Where are the men involved?

Assistant State Attorney Greg Wilson told the judge the baby, Shannon Dedrick, had spent about 36 hours locked in the box during the five days she was missing and asked that Baker be sentenced to one year for each hour the child spent in the box. Wilson said Baker was self-righteous and showed no remorse for what she had done, so there was no reason to mitigate her sentence.
.........................

The judge said the case was among the most bizarre things he'd seen.

"How bizarre and how cruel?" Register said. "No reasonable person who cared about the well-being of this child, as you claim you did, would have allowed the child to remain in that box for any period of time, certainly not for over 10 hours on the day the child was eventually found."


http://www.tallahassee.com/article/...14/Baker-gets-25-years-in--Baby-Shannon--case

Way to go State Attorney and Judge!

orb4me said:

yes!!!!!!!! I couldnt find that info mfcmom, so thank you very much for posting it.

so, in Fl, inmates do 85% of their sentence. that is as long as they dont do something to loose their gain time. She will have 1 yr jail credit. Unless she was given a minimum mandatory. So she will be just under 70 when she gets out. There is no parol in Fl. She will still be able to do it again

70 might seem old to some, but Im 68 and feel great.

The creepy mother must be back home???? oh geeish, shes less than a mile from me. Where are the men involved?

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JBaker divorced sb - I guess he finally realized she would be going away for a long, long, time. No point in staying hitched. Still don't understand how he could share a home with her after what he told investigators re his own flesh and blood. I can only assume that she told him if she went down, he would go with her, over alleged mistreatment of his son and daughter, that he had admitted to participating in to LE. He din't prevent the abuse or interfere in the punishment she doled out to the kids, for kids just being kids. sb had also taken NB out of school and he did nothing about this either. (One exception was the time sb almost beat NB to death and then he didn't get medical treatment for her.)

God only knows what she put poor little Paul through before putting his body in the river. (If in fact the story JB told LE is true.)

Shannon's daddy was never implicated in her disappearance - although he did admit during the custody hearing for Shannon, that in 7 mos time he had given her one or two bottles and had changed one or two diapers. He signed over his parental rights and admitted he should have done more. I guess he has just gone on with his life. (I have not tried to find out anymore about him).

Tina has not signed over custody, but would have to prove to a judge that she has changed her ways if she were ever to want custody of Shannon again - she is (according to docs) not allowed contact with Shannon at this time.

Who knows what will happen in the future, but for now I believe Shannon is safe and loved where she is and is where she belongs - with the grandma who tried to prevent this from happening in the first place, but was prevented by the laws that protected Shannon's parents rights.

sb had the gall to claim she achieved her goal which was to have Shannon removed from her parents custody - God forbid she had tried to do so with Shannon's best interest at heart - by staying in touch with Tina's family - since Tina and RD had broken off communication with them, because of Gma notifying CPS and trying to convince Tina to come home with Shannon shortly after she was born.

I'm just so grateful that sb will not have another chance to get her hands on a child - IMO spending the number of years behind bars that sb is looking at, will put a huge dent in her vitality - 30 or so years of hard time will not be kind to her (at least this is what I am hoping with all my heart).

I hope Shannon and family have a wonderful Christmas together and that she is now a lively, happy toddler with no recollection of those horrendous hours she spent locked in a box.

I also hope and pray the decisions like the SA requested and the Judge handed down are a turning point in America - too many babies are dying at the hands of those who are supposed to love and cherish them and too many of these parents have walked away with a slap on the wrist.

*******

ETA - UGH -JBaker has not changed a bit...

"Even if she went about it the wrong way, her biggest intention was to get Shannon out of a bad situation," James Baker told Judge Allen Register before his ex-wife was sentenced.

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20101116/NEWS01/11160314/Baker-gets-25-years-in--Baby-Shannon--case

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