GUILTY SC - Devon Epps, 7, murdered, Greenville, 12 Aug 2007

[Reannan]

Here is a copy of my post from over at Steve's site:

Well, apparently, Amanda didn’t shed a tear at the visitation tonight. This information is gained by getting into an argument with various posters over at the other site. I hate violating my own rules (cleverly learned from Steve) of not feeding trolls, but sometimes, it gets people to talk about issues other than stupid stuff. Makes me appreciate this forum A LOT!!!

 

[Taximom]

Thank you for sharing, Reannan. Is the other site the greenville forum? I don't drink and I need a drink to get through that one. BLEH.

Re: the vigil tonight. I would have been sobbing.

Heck, I don't understand how you can't cry even if you know you did it. There must be something mental going on. (NOT excusing the murder, just saying.)

 

[Texana]

Did that poor child not have a home or school where they could hold a vigil? Of course he did--so why the choice of another venue? Supposedly the crime scene was more remote?

Poor child!

 

[Reannan]

Thank you for sharing, Reannan. Is the other site the greenville forum? I don't drink and I need a drink to get through that one. BLEH.

Re: the vigil tonight. I would have been sobbing.

Heck, I don't understand how you can't cry even if you know you did it. There must be something mental going on. (NOT excusing the murder, just saying.)

Taximom, your statement of "There must be something mental going on." is a great example of why I freaking LOVE you guys. For one thing, you are intelligent, and you are very capable of expressing tremendous human thoughts and emotions via your postings. You are extremely experienced in true crime, and I think it is somewhat of a shame that LE doesn't recognize this site, and sites like Steve's for the value that they offer. Most sites are like the Greenvileonline site that I have just lowered myself to the level of getting into an argument on (intentionally). The calibur of posting is just SO far off of what I find here..... thanks to ALL of you regulars - I mean that more than words can say!

 

[Taximom]

Reannan, you are so right about this site and Steve's. The caliber (sp?) of people in both places is why I come back, whether I'm wanted or not!

Yeah, that greenville forum reminds me of another crime forum the name of which I will not say here. WS and Huff's are the cream of the crop.

P.S. Gee, :blushing: thanks for all the compliments! :blowkiss: Back at you!

 

[KatK]

:waitasec: I keep coming back to that fire... What if it was set intentionally by someone, not the mother, who was trying three months ago to get rid of both mother and child? What if they decided to settle for just getting rid of the child? That doesn't quite feel right, but saying it, and thinking about it further can help find the truth too.

 

[sherri79]

:waitasec: I keep coming back to that fire... What if it was set intentionally by someone, not the mother, who was trying three months ago to get rid of both mother and child? What if they decided to settle for just getting rid of the child? That doesn't quite feel right, but saying it, and thinking about it further can help find the truth too.

i think most of us agree it makes no sense for this to be random. a random crazy guy who wants to kill a kid would not stop with 1 and would leave behind clues. that leaves either mom or a enemy of mom/child.

for me the enemy theory does not fit. how would a enemy know mom would be there? how would a enemy know mom would not just drive off? if it was a enemy how can mom stand outside the car and watch him kill her child? if mom is innocent how do you explain a dead child and mom only has minor injuries? why would he be willing to settle for just the kid when he had a knife? how hard would it have been to just stab her when he had killed the child? fathers have hired men to kill the mom and/or the child before to get out of support. if something like this happened here mom did everything possible to play right into the killers hands.

 

[KatK]

I threw the idea out there so people could help me pinpoint why it's not quite right, so we can better find what is true.

 

[Taximom]

It could have simply been an accident. My daughter wanted to put colored scarves over her halogen lamps to create pretty colors in her room. YIKES. I stopped that before she did it.

I can easily see a boy making himself a tent to play in using a blanket and lamp, but not a nightlight. Maybe he didn't want his mom to see that he was still up? Maybe the blanket landed on the lamp (or whatever it was) during the night? She didn't make him clean his room so maybe the lamp was on the floor instead of on a table.

In any case, I think it's weird that LE (or whichever dept handles these fire investigations) hadn't determined if it was arson or accident by now. Surely they interviewed both parties and were able to figure that out by what Devon and ARS said.

Death by blanket or pillow. Sad thought.

 

[JanetElaine]

You know what I just thought of - is there any mention anywhere (not that I've seen) of damage to the car? If she truly was locked out and 'this guy' was in there killing her son, wouldn't she have kicked, hit, anything, the car doors and windows? Depending on what car it is (material wise) the damage may not be very noticable, but surely the police would be very scrutenous (sp?) in a case like this (?).

And, expanding on that, what about injuries to her hands and feet? Any rocks, sticks laying around where the car was found?

If the police didn't look into that, they know there was no 'guy', and they're just waiting until they have all their t's crossed and i's dotted against her. JMHO.

 

[Reannan]

You know what I just thought of - is there any mention anywhere (not that I've seen) of damage to the car? If she truly was locked out and 'this guy' was in there killing her son, wouldn't she have kicked, hit, anything, the car doors and windows? Depending on what car it is (material wise) the damage may not be very noticable, but surely the police would be very scrutenous (sp?) in a case like this (?).

And, expanding on that, what about injuries to her hands and feet? Any rocks, sticks laying around where the car was found?

If the police didn't look into that, they know there was no 'guy', and they're just waiting until they have all their t's crossed and i's dotted against her. JMHO.

Over at the greenvilleonline forum, several posters have indicated that one of the windows was broken out with a rock, but the thing that doesn't make any sense, is that the windows were all rolled up, but the sunroof was open.

 

[JanetElaine]

The window being broken is one of the least valuable pieces of evidence IMO. It could easily have been done afterwards or during the (a) staging.

I want to see bruises on her hands and toes from kicking the car, trying to break open the sunroof, that sort of thing. A window broken with a rock... come on... that's so amateur (sp?). Excuse my sarcasm but parents killing their little kids and trying to make it seem like someone else did it pi$$ me off. (Yeah, I'm opinionated, I know... usually I'm not like this - but this one, to me, is so clear).

Thanks Reannan!

 

[KatK]

If the sunroof was open I'd be climbing on top of the car, and reaching in to get ahold of the guy and beat his head against the car roof, or strangle him. I might be finding sharp sticks with which to assault him. I certainly wouldn't be trying to break out another window! The longer I can keep him occupied trying to fend me off, the longer my son lives... Something's really, really fishy here, and it's even more noticeable.

 

[Reannan]

The staging of this murder is just unbelievably bad. I can't recall a more ridiculous cover story! Where do we submit her name for a Darwin award? Geesh....

 

[Reannan]

This poster over at the greenvilleonline forum sums up a lot of Amanda's inconsistencies nicely:


Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:52 am Post subject: i did attend the clv last night. it wasnt anything more than a staged event, no real emotion on amandas part. just another chance for her to be the center of attention, which is what she craves, being the sociopath that she is. which feeds into the munchasen (sp?) aspect. SHE SAYS she rescuded him from the burning room, according to her friends. devon said he burned his hand on the door opening it and had a hard time waking her up. SHE SAYS she hurt herself breaking the car glass and fighting the bhs. some reported not seeing anything on her arm at the funeral. SHE SAYS she tried cpr on devon for 10 minutes at the scene. who knows on that one. as you can see, what SHE SAYS and what is reality arent always the same thing.

_________________
http://tinyurl.com/25hs4u

I keep coming back to motive. It appears she wanted a life without a child. She wanted to party and live the glamorous life, free as a bird. From her old MySpace account, she was already living that life, so why NOW? It will be interesting to see if there is a new boyfriend in the picture who didn't want a child around.

 

[KatK]

Over at the greenvilleonline forum, several posters have indicated that one of the windows was broken out with a rock, but the thing that doesn't make any sense, is that the windows were all rolled up, but the sunroof was open.

I've fallen behind at greenvilleonline, can you post a link (or links) to the pages where this is said, please?

 

[Reannan]

Here is a link to the discussion that is current:

http://tinyurl.com/23akzy

 

[KatK]

Question: Who first released the name of the mother? The police, or the people on the greenvilleonline forum? (Or here?)

 

[bakerprune64]

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070822/NEWS01/708220377/1004/NEWS01

Pillow tested for clues in boy's death
Investigators also running tests on car where mother says child was killed

Published: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 2:00 am
By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER
[email protected]



Investigators are running forensic tests on a woman's Honda Civic and the pillow that she says a carjacker used in the Aug. 12 death of her 7-year-old son, a spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.
Nine days after Devon Epps' killing, Lt. Shea Smith said deputies haven't named a suspect. Smith declined to say whether deputies were testing DNA or hair samples from the car and pillow. Asked whether a suspect brought the pillow to the crime scene, Smith said, "My understanding is that the pillow was inside the vehicle." (more at link)

I wondered if they would be able to pick up anything from the pillow. If they can somehow pick up Devon's dna (sweat, drool, blood), and find some of her's on it too...but not anything from a stranger that might be telling.

I'm getting too CSI, aren't I?!

Epithelial Cells found on the pillow could determine who killed the boy, I would think. And yes we've both been watching too much CSI...or not enough.

 

[sherri79]

Epithelial Cells found on the pillow could determine who killed the boy, I would think. And yes we've both been watching too much CSI...or not enough.

saliva would also be a clue. here is the problem i see. in this case lack of evidence may tell more than what they actually find. if they find saliva it wont mean it was ever held over his face. he may have drooled while sleeping on it at some point. skin cells from mom mean nothing. it was in her car so she probably touched it more than once.

if they dont find saliva from him it is a clue. if a man held it over his head while he pressed on his throat you would expect saliva. none means the pillow was never held over his face. no male skin cells except Devon's is a clue. any one who has given medicine to a 2 year old knows how hard a kid can struggle. i would find it hard to believe that during approximately 4 mins of this child being held down and fighting with a pillow over his head that the killer would not leave behind some skin cells. no cells from a male strange again points at the mother.