GUILTY FL - Rilya Wilson, 5, Miami, 18 Jan 2001

Welcome to Websleuths!
Click to learn how to make a missing person's thread

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

Aw, I didn't even know Rilya had a thread here until now. I remember when this happened. Since her mom lives here, this was on the news all the time at first. Such a pretty baby, and a pretty name. She's never too far from my thoughts.
 
A decade on, Fla. missing girl trial to begin

More than a decade after foster child Rilya Wilson’s disappearance shook up the state’s child welfare system, the caregiver accused of killing the girl is finally set to go on trial in a highly circumstantial case hinging on jail inmates who say they heard the woman confess.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday for the trial of Geralyn Graham, which is expected to last about eight weeks. Graham, 66, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has written letters to judges insisting she is innocent. She faces life in prison if convicted.

More: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2...trial-begin/8FnF8dz140H05bMFZDSrXI/story.html
 
A decade on, Fla. missing girl trial to begin

http://globegazette.com/news/nation...cle_007cb43f-0bea-516c-88f8-83243077f56b.html

3 hours ago • Associated Press [11/4/12]

More than a decade after foster child Rilya Wilson's disappearance shook up the state's child welfare system, the caregiver accused of killing the girl is finally set to go on trial in a highly circumstantial case hinging on jail inmates who say they heard the woman confess.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday for the trial of Geralyn Graham, which is expected to last about eight weeks. Graham, 66, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has written letters to judges insisting she is innocent. She faces life in prison if convicted.

"I've never hurt a soul in my life," she said in one letter.

Rilya's body has never been found. Police have no witnesses to any killing and scant physical evidence. The crux of the case are alleged confessions Graham made to fellow jail inmates that she killed Rilya and buried her body near a lake.

More at link.....
 
The long-ago death of Rilya Wilson demands justice

Against all odds, I kept the faith. I expected a smiling little girl with pig tails and chubby cheeks to say, “Hi, Ms. Wilson!” I was not ready, and certainly not willing to give up on finding Rilya Wilson.

As we begin Rilya’s murder trial on Monday we all have to deal with the cold reality that Rilya is gone. When Rilya went missing she was four years old, and if she were still alive today she would have been a 16-year-old teenager in the prime of her life.

More: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/04/3079868/the-long-ago-death-of-rilya-wilson.html


qtENQ.Em.56.jpeg


 
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/nati...cle_9fbb2bf9-7550-5321-989b-33c94e158730.html

"She snuffed the life out of this child," said Weintraub, holding a large photo of the smiling 4-year-old. He added that Rilya was frequently punished harshly, including being kept in a dog cage and tied to a bed with plastic restraints.

"Rilya was always in timeout. Always being punished," Weintraub said.

Graham, 66, uses a walker to move around in court. She has long insisted she is innocent and claimed a Department of Children and Families worker took Rilya from her Miami-area home one day and never returned the girl.

Rilya and a younger sister were both given over to state care because their drug-addicted, frequently homeless mother could not care for them. Rilya's name is an acronym for "remember I love you always" given by her birth mother.
 
The defense for Geralyn Graham, the foster mother accused of murdering 4-year-old Rilya Wilson a decade ago, asked for a mistrial Tuesday morning after a Miami Herald reader found that one of the prosecutors was not technically a member of the Florida Bar.

The trial is proceeding as usual, and Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez will rule on the mistrial by the end of the day.

Assistant state attorney Joshua Weintraub completed more than the required 30 hours of continuing education in August but failed to enter the correct course number, and the credits were not recognized by the Florida bar.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/27/3115504/defense-in-rilya-wilson-trial.html#storylink=cpy
 
:headslap:

Doh!
 
Judge in Rilya Wilson trial denies mistrial based on prosecutor’s standing with Florida Bar

.............Following a full day of witness testimony Tuesday, Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez told attorneys she would not grant the motion. Trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday. ............

Weintraub was pulled from the trial Monday afternoon and temporarily suspended until his credits could be straightened out, said Don Horn, a chief assistants to the state attorney. Weintraub was reinstated and had returned to his seat at the prosecutor’s table before the judge announced her decision.

The trial proceeded with the state calling Willie Harris, supervisor for the Department of Children and Families. Harris was questioned on his decision to remove then 3-year-old Rilya Wilson from the home of her first foster mom, Pamela Kendrick, and place her in the care of Geralyn Graham, who is now standing trial for her murder.


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/...wilson-trial.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
 
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The trial of Geralyn Grahamm who is charged in the death of foster child Rilya Wilson more than a decade ago, slowed to a crawl Wednesday afternoon after the attorneys and judge got into protracted discussion concerning a witness statement.

Detra Winfield gave Graham a dog cage which she sometimes put the girl in as punishment, according to Assistant State Attorney Joshua Weintraub in his opening statement.

Winfield gave police a statement about the cage more than 10 years ago but now says she can’t remember what she told police.

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/11/28/testimony-resumes-in-rilya-wilson-murder-trial/
 
Social worker who found Rilya Wilson was missing testifies
12/4/12

http://www.local10.com/news/Social-...es/-/1717324/17662914/-/10q7q5bz/-/index.html

MIAMI -
A veteran state child welfare worker testified Wednesday that she was dumbfounded to learn in spring 2002 that foster child Rilya Wilson had been missing for more than a year and no records seemed to exist to explain her whereabouts.

Dora Betancourt, a 35-year employee of the Department of Children and Families, said she couldn't understand why the girl's caretaker, Geralyn Graham, was claiming that an unknown DCF worker had taken her in January 2001 for a mental evaluation and never returned her.

"I was in disbelief," Betancourt testified. "It didn't make sense at all."...........

*********

DCF investigator testifies in Rilya case
12/6/12

http://www.local10.com/news/DCF-inv...case/-/1717324/17679418/-/so8m58/-/index.html

MIAMI -
Another former Department of Children and Families employee testified Thursday in the murder case against Geralyn Graham, who is accused of killing Rilya Wilson, her foster child.

Elizabeth Laufer was the first worker sent to investigate Graham when DCF realized Wilson was missing in 2002. Laufer testified that Graham didn't appear to be surprised when she spoke with her............

Laufer said Graham told her someone from DCF had taken Wilson for an evaluation..........

*********

Witness: Defendant got aid falsely
12/10/12

http://www.local10.com/news/Witness...sely/-/1717324/17718444/-/8rm7fu/-/index.html

..........Diana Ramirez Romero, a Department of Children and Families employee who handles economic assistance, testified that 66-year-old Geralyn Graham said she was the grandmother of Rilya and a younger sister, Rodericka, and that both girls lived with her. Ramirez Romero said that enabled Graham — who used the name Geralyn Smith in their meetings — to get cash assistance and food stamps.

Graham is not related to the girls and was not even their legal custodian. Her live-in companion, Pamela Graham, was their official caretaker at the time...........

Rilya's sister attends the trial

An older sister of Rilya's, Brandy Sims, attended trial for the first time Monday. Now 18, Sims said she didn't know Rilya but felt compelled to come to court on her behalf...............

*********

No clues in national search for Rilya Wilson
12/11/12

http://www.local10.com/news/Detecti...Rilya/-/1717324/17732474/-/lm8mo/-/index.html

MIAMI -
A nationwide dragnet launched in 2002 for a missing Florida foster child turned up no trace and also nothing to back up her caretaker's claims that a state worker had taken the girl for mental tests months earlier, a police detective testified Tuesday in the caretaker's murder trial.

"Every lead, every information that I was provided came to a dead end. Nothing panned out," said Det. Giancarlo Milito of the Miami-Dade Police Department. "All rocks were turned.".............

Milito said Graham was precise about the date — Jan. 18, 2001 — and that the supposed worker was a dark-skinned black woman who was unusually tall, somewhere around 6 feet, and spoke with an unspecified accent. Graham said the woman asked for some clothes and toys for Rilya as well, Milito said. Graham had no contact information or a name for this person but told Milito she thought she could identify a photograph.

Authorities provided Graham with a pair of 6-inch-thick binders of DCF worker photographs, but she never responded, Milito said. After using law enforcement databases and resources of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Milito said the decision was made to turn Rilya's case over to homicide detectives..............

The director of a day care center that Rodericka attended, Mary Rosado, testified earlier Tuesday that she never heard about Rilya's existence from Graham until the month she was discovered missing..............

Rosado, however, said that Graham told her a male DCF worker had picked up Rilya for the mental tests, not the tall female with an accent. Rosado said she asked Graham, "Did you call to find out about her? Where did they take her?"..................
 
Trial continues in missing Fla. foster child case
12/13/12

http://www.local10.com/news/Trial-c...ase/-/1717324/17761288/-/id5vj1z/-/index.html

.......Jurors on Wednesday heard from police investigators and were played a video of 66-year-old Geralyn Graham's 2002 interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." Graham insisted then and now that a state child welfare worker took the girl for mental tests and never returned her.............

Homicide detective testifies in Rilya case

http://www.local10.com/news/Homicid...ase/-/1717324/17754692/-/f7bi7oz/-/index.html

............Stoze, the lead homicide detective in the case at the time, said Graham could give details, dates, and times, but couldn't remember the name of the Department of Children and Families employee she said took Wilson.

"She described this lady as 6 foot, little taller than me, light-skinned, black female," said Stoze.

A day care director testified Tuesday that Graham told her a male DCF worker picked up Wilson. Other witnesses testified that a woman took Wilson to New York for the holidays.

"She stated that if I could prove that she's lying about anything that we talked about, I would know that she's lying about everything," said Stoze................

Mistrial denied in Rilya Wilson case
12/13

http://www.local10.com/news/Mistria...ase/-/1717324/17766548/-/bkyshyz/-/index.html

...........Attorneys for 66-year-old Geralyn Graham took exception Thursday with a prosecutor's question to a detective asking if police checked out whether "little green men" from space may have abducted 4-year-old Rilya. Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez called the question inappropriate but denied the mistrial motion.

Testimony then resumed, and the dog cage that witnesses testified Graham kept Wilson in returned to the courtroom.

"This stuff is not preserved on metal for a lengthy period of time, and with that dog cage sitting outside in the elements, there is nothing that's going to be retrieved from that," said retired Miami-Dade Police Det. Gregory Smith..............


Mistrial denied in Rilya Wilson case
Video

http://www.local10.com/news/Mistria...ase/-/1717324/17770182/-/bkhik5z/-/index.html
 
Missing Fla. foster child's custodian feared worst

http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19205456&ps=931&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

MIAMI (AP) — The legal custodian of missing foster child Rilya Wilson testified Monday that she suspected the worst when the girl abruptly disappeared in late 2000 but did not contact police or child welfare officials because she was afraid of taking the blame.

Pamela Graham, 48, also told jurors she never reported abuse involving the 4-year-old girl — including being tied to a bed with her wrists in plastic restraints — because she feared her live-in lover and the girl's main caretaker, Geralyn Graham, who is on trial for murder in Rilya's disappearance.................

"She was always controlling and dominant. I was just afraid her," Pamela Graham testified. Her voice frequently quavered and she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue during much of the daylong testimony.

Geralyn Graham, 66, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse and kidnapping charges. Pamela Graham made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to child abuse and child neglect charges in return for her testimony, and likely will face no jail time...................

Another time, Pamela Graham said she found Rilya crying in a bathtub of "extremely hot" water. Geralyn Graham told her it was punishment for wetting her bed. The bed restraints, Pamela Graham added, were to prevent Rilya from getting up at night and climbing on kitchen counters to reach sweet treats in a high cabinet.

One day in December of 2000, Pamela Graham returned from work to find Rilya gone. She said Geralyn Graham didn't offer much of an explanation.

"She said (Rilya) wasn't coming back and I wasn't going to see her anymore," Pamela Graham testified. "She just kept telling me Rilya was OK and not to worry. I thought something bad had happened."................more at link........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Fairfield County Jane Doe (1993)?

Members online

... and 130 more.
Total: 1,750 (members: 131, guests: 1,619)

Online statistics

Members online
131
Guests online
1,619
Total visitors
1,750
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
606,282
Messages
18,201,525
Members
233,797
Latest member
Mwaggoner16
Back
Top