GUILTY VA - Prince Rams, 15 mos, drowned in his Manassas home, 20 Oct 2012

[tlcya]

sounds like the only smoke being blown was the smoke that judge blew up everyone's :butthead: with that ruling. Jerk

 

[jjenny]

From what's reported, earlier visits were supervised by a retired police person. Those went well. But then the visits were changed to unsupervised.
Boggles my mind that the judge would allow this man unsupervised visitations.

"Mr. Ebert said the father had three life insurance policies on his son. According to Prince’s mother, Hera McLeod, police told her that the amount of the policies totaled more than $500,000 and that they were taken out in the fall of 2011. That’s the same time period in which Mr. Rams was fighting Ms. McLeod in Montgomery Circuit Court for custody of the boy. Ms. McLeod was granted sole legal and primary physical custody last March; Mr. Rams was afforded visitation but only under the supervision of a retired Montgomery police officer. Unsupervised visits were allowed months later, in August."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...987302-673f-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html

 

[belimom]

From what's reported, earlier visits were supervised by a retired police person. Those went well. But then the visits were changed to unsupervised.
Boggles my mind that the judge would allow this man unsupervised visitations.

"Mr. Ebert said the father had three life insurance policies on his son. According to Prince’s mother, Hera McLeod, police told her that the amount of the policies totaled more than $500,000 and that they were taken out in the fall of 2011. That’s the same time period in which Mr. Rams was fighting Ms. McLeod in Montgomery Circuit Court for custody of the boy. Ms. McLeod was granted sole legal and primary physical custody last March; Mr. Rams was afforded visitation but only under the supervision of a retired Montgomery police officer. Unsupervised visits were allowed months later, in August."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...987302-673f-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html

Another thing that is so sad: this unsupervised visit was only for like 3 or 4 hrs. I can't find the link right now that says that, but it just shows that unfit parents cannot be trusted even for a few hours. It only takes seconds to kill someone (or harm them), especially a small child. He had this planned to a T. :furious:

 

[jjenny]

Because there was no charges against the father, the judge basically said he didn't care about any suspicion. Similar situation as with Josh Powell, who got visitation, although his were supervised. And yet they had an older female supervising Josh Powell's visitations. How is she going to be physically able to protect the children?
Changes need to be made to protect the children in these situations.
:furious:

 

[mikeysmommom]

Judges making these decisions have seen many mothers who fight the father's over visitation and custody issues just to be spiteful. IMO Woman who use the family court system just to punish the father,My grandsons mother goes to court almost monthly trying to take away his 4 days a month with his son.She does it because she can!She never follows a court order and they do nothing about it.Woman and men who use the system just because they can should be jailed or have to do community service IMO.Maybe then Judges will make better calls! No parent should be able to insure a child for more then the cost of a burial IMO! That should have been a big red flag!Life insurance on a child of over 400k should not be allowed ever!

 

[MsFacetious]

The mother of a 15-month-old boy who died on a court-ordered visit to his father filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday against the psychologist who sanctioned the visitation.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/02/19/mother-sues-psychologist-following-toddlers-death/

 

[belimom]

I see that the Washington Post did a 4-part series this week on this case:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

From the last link (bbm):

“All I know,” McLeod added, “is I had a healthy baby and he came back to me dead.” She supports seeking the death penalty for Rams. Prince William Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney James Willett said after last week’s preliminary hearing that no decision had been made on whether or not to seek a capital murder charge. The Prince William grand jury will meet Monday.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Here is the latest article on this story. Details I had never heard, and also new details on how Prince's mom is carrying on, inspired by the love and memory of her son:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...8f6ffc-4c89-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html

 

[Valleyboy]

From what's reported, earlier visits were supervised by a retired police person. Those went well. But then the visits were changed to unsupervised.
Boggles my mind that the judge would allow this man unsupervised visitations.

"Mr. Ebert said the father had three life insurance policies on his son. According to Prince’s mother, Hera McLeod, police told her that the amount of the policies totaled more than $500,000 and that they were taken out in the fall of 2011. That’s the same time period in which Mr. Rams was fighting Ms. McLeod in Montgomery Circuit Court for custody of the boy. Ms. McLeod was granted sole legal and primary physical custody last March; Mr. Rams was afforded visitation but only under the supervision of a retired Montgomery police officer. Unsupervised visits were allowed months later, in August."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...987302-673f-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html

How could the life ins. policies be taken out in the fall of 2011.

The baby was not even born then.

 

[jjenny]

How could the life ins. policies be taken out in the fall of 2011.

The baby was not even born then.

What baby? If you are talking about little Prince (the child we are discussing) he was born in July of 2011.

 

[Valleyboy]

What baby? If you are talking about little Prince (the child we are discussing) he was born in July of 2011.

Sorry, My mistake for not looking at the date this thread started.

When I saw he died in Oct. I thought it was just this past oct.

Getting dottie in my old age.

 

[Mitsana]

Blog post by the mother...

Dear Judge Algeo,
You may not remember me, but I will remember you for the rest of my life. I am Prince’s mother. The Prince who died on October 20, 2012. The Prince who died on just his fourth court ordered unsupervised visit with his father.

In case you still don’t remember me, I would like to take a moment to remind you. I was the woman who came into your court room in March of 2012 (and again in July 2012) begging you to keep my son safe from his father. You heard testimony from several women Luc had abused. I told you about how I had fled Luc’s house in July 2011 with my newborn son and the clothing on our backs – that was after Luc had raped my then 19 year old sister. You heard testimony about all the people who died around Luc (including the mother of his older son and his own mother) All the horrifying information we presented, however, was still not enough for you to choose to keep my son safe...

- See more at: http://cappuccinoqueen.com/?p=259#comment-2535

Petition to remove the judge...

https://www.change.org/petitions/judge-michael-j-algeo-montgomery-county-md-call-for-resignation

 

[tezi]

Here is the latest article on this story. Details I had never heard, and also new details on how Prince's mom is carrying on, inspired by the love and memory of her son:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...8f6ffc-4c89-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html

This article made me cry. It was heartbreaking as well as inspiring. Thank you for posting it Irish_Eyes.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Mods can we move this to Currently Awaiting Trial?

Not sure of the naming conventions in that forum, but Joaquin Shadow Rams is charged with capital murder in the death of his son, Prince McLeod Rams. He is also charged with killing Shawn Mason, the mother of his living child.

 

[borndem]

Thanks for asking, Irish, :lepsmilie: and thanks to our super-duper Mods for bringing forward the info, etc., under the Awaiting umbrella!!

:websleuther::gomods::websleuther:​

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...a179a2-563e-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html

Virginia’s chief medical examiner has reversed a ruling that a 15-month-old boy died by drowning in Manassas in 2012, finding that the cause of Prince McLeod Rams’s death “should be changed to undetermined” and that “the possibility of a natural death cannot be totally eliminated.”

The reversal was one of two key setbacks Friday for Prince William County prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty against the boy’s father, Joaquin S. Rams, whom they suspect of killing his son and two others as part of an attempt to collect six-figure insurance payouts. Prosecutors moved to use the other two uncharged slayings as evidence against Rams, but Prince William Circuit Court Judge Craig D. Johnston denied their request. The judge ruled that “a propensity” to commit crimes is not admissible to prove guilt in one specific case.

“The case against Mr. Rams is incredibly weak” after the medical examiner’s reversal, defense attorney Tracey Lenox said, arguing that prosecutors were trying to save the case by introducing two uncharged slayings. And the judge prohibited it, saying it would lead to “three murder trials in one.”

 

[OkieGranny]

http://readingeagle.com/ap/article/psychologist-paying-550000-in-boys-death

The mother of a 15-month-old boy who died while on a visit to his father in Manassas, Va., in 2012 will be paid a $550,000 wrongful death settlement from the psychologist who testified that it was safe to leave the boy with his father, Joaquin Rams...

The boy's mother, Hera A. McLeod, has collected $650,000 in settlements related to her son's death, although no one has been convicted of causing it.

The settlement is the latest twist in the case of Prince Rams, which in the two years since his death, has veered into confusion over how he died and allegations of insurance scams and serial murder.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...murder-trial-of-joaquin-rams-in-death-of-son/

The lawyers and judge in Prince William County have agreed at last on a trial date for Joaquin Rams, facing a capital murder charge for the death of his toddler son in 2012: Jan. 11, 2016...

The death penalty case took an unusual turn in October when the chief medical examiner of Virginia overruled his assistant, DiAngelo, and said that drowning was not the cause of death. In fact, the cause of death could not be determined...

But Prince William prosecutors are still seeking the death penalty for Joaquin Rams, even without a cause of death for their victim, and even though three other people in the house — the couple that owns it and Rams’s teenaged son — all say that Rams did not kill his son.

 

[Rayemonde]

November 2015:

A Virginia court ruled this week that a four-year-old videotape depicting what a woman says is her rape will be handed over to the defense team in an upcoming capital murder trial, even though the woman says the video was recorded without her consent.

Lara McLeod, now 24, is not a witness and will not testify in the trial, which is slated for January 2016...

In September, a BuzzFeed News investigation found that the police had mishandled the case by hastily charging Lara with false reporting and her sister, Hera, with obstruction of justice without a thorough investigation. In a private meeting, the chief of police admitted parts of the investigation were “improper,” “sloppy,” and “shortcutted,” but defended his officers’ instincts.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/judge-hands-over-alleged-rape-tape#.hlWxJ5pjEo

 

[OkieGranny]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...9c288a-c072-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html

The capital murder trial of Joaquin S. Rams, accused of drowning his 15-month-old son in 2012 to collect more than $540,000 in insurance proceeds, has been postponed from its Feb. 1 start date...

No new trial date was set, pending a hearing next week.