mysteriew & all, Here are a few things I pulled for a time-line of what happened:
What you need to know
The call: A 13-year-old girl called Winnebago County sheriff’s deputies the evening of Dec. 17, 2004, after her dog returned to her home on Will Road carrying a bloody piece of cloth in its mouth. On Aug. 6, the sheriff said the caller was the half sister of Katie L. Stockton.
The discovery:
Police found a dead newborn girl in a white garbage bag not far from the house.
The autopsy:
Results showed that the baby was full term and born alive. She had cocaine in her system and tested positive for hepatitis B.
The burial:
Law enforcement officials gave the baby the name Crystal and raised donations to bury her.
The charge:
Stockton, 28, of rural Rockton, is charged in the death of Baby Crystal.
The car:
Winnebago County sheriff’s police found bones belonging to two infants in bags in the trunk of Stockton’s car, which has been in a South Beloit police impound lot since Aug. 15, 2008.
Who was Baby Crystal?
Winnebago County sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of a newborn girl in a garbage bag on the side of Will Road in rural northwest Winnebago County in December 2004.
Law enforcement officials gave the baby the name Crystal because the sky above them was crystal clear that night as they searched the area for clues. An autopsy revealed that the girl was full term, born alive and died of exposure. The temperature outside the night she was found was 9 degrees.
The baby was buried Dec. 21 in Calvary Cemetery. Members of the community donated money to a fund established to cover funeral and burial costs.
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The chain of events began on Dec. 17, 2004, when a 13-year-old girl’s dog returned home with a piece of bloodstained clothing in its mouth. The girl, Katie Stockton’s sister, followed her dog to a garbage bag in the 1500 block of Will Road where the discovery of Baby Crystal was made.
Katie Stockton and her parents were questioned, but Katie was never linked to the case.
“She wasn’t living at home at the time,” Meyers said. “If there was a pregnancy, no one admitted to knowing of it.”
Over the next two months, authorities would later learn that Baby Crystal had cocaine in her system and hepatitis B.
In July 2008, Stockton began to accumulate a record of traffic offenses that includes driving on a suspended license and suspended registration.
South Beloit police impounded Stockton’s car on Aug. 15, 2008, after arresting her on charges of driving on a suspended license and registration. The car had been kept for the past year in an impound lot.
The law does not allow tow companies to enter towed vehicles.
“We’re not allowed to go through the car, the trunk, the glove compartment. It would be like someone going through your house without you knowing it. We can only hook it, tow it and lock it up.”
Sherer also said she remembers Stockton calling her husband several weeks later in an attempt to retrieve her car.
“She called once and wanted to make a deal with my husband. He went down to the impound and waited and waited, but she never showed up.”
Ace Towing charges a $30-a-day storage fee, which is on top of the $100 initial towing charge.
South Beloit police came into possession of the vehicle on Aug. 15, 2008. Winnebago County Court records showed officer Dan Kutz pulled Stockton over at 3:31 p.m. in the 400 block of Gardner Street and arrested her on charges of driving on a suspended license and registration.
In September 2008, Stockton pleaded guilty to forgery and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and two years probation.
In October and December 2008 and again in June 2009, Stockton refused to submit to a DNA test as directed by the Winnebago County probation office as part of her plea agreement. Stockton also failed to appear at an Aug. 3 court date and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Over the years, authorities ran out of leads. In recent months, authorities struggled to get a DNA sample from Stockton to test against the baby’s. Stockton resisted, but investigators eventually got the sample, police said
On Aug. 4, Stockton was propelled from probation violator to prime suspect in the death of Baby Crystal when Winnebago County sheriff’s detectives received unspecified “new evidence” linking her to the case. Police located Stockton a day later in Kansas City, Kan., where she reportedly was visiting a friend.
She was arrested two days later at a Merriam, Kan., motel by an FBI fugitive task force. She is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Baby Crystal case, and is being held in the Winnebago County Jail on $1 million bail. Meyers said her son is with is with his father.
In the sheriff’s department’s quest to find additional evidence to link Stockton to Baby Crystal, detectives received a tip that Stockton had a car, a 1993 Saturn littered with bags of clothing and other belongings. That led them to the impound lot in South Beloit. Authorities located the car Wednesday, searched it and found the skeletons of two infants in the trunk. Authorities said one baby was in a plastic bag, the other in a paper bag.
It was only after Stockton's arrest that investigators discovered her 1993 blue Saturn had been sitting in an impound lot for the past year. So they towed it to a Winnebago County Sheriff's Department facility to search for more clues _ maybe blood, hair or fibers. They found the remains instead.
A hearing is set for Sept. 3, when prosecutors may present probable cause, although they could decide to take the case to a grand jury instead, Bruscato said.
:angel:
