Man Charged With Putting Kids In Trash Bin
Children Found Safe After 13 Hours In Trash
POSTED: 9:09 am EDT July 29, 2009
UPDATED: 9:52 am EDT July 29, 2009
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office has approved 11 felony charges against a 39-year-old Ohio man who police said confessed to putting two children in a trash can Sunday night.
The children, a 1½-year-old girl and an 8-month-old boy, are now in the custody of Children's Services. The girl is the biological daughter of the suspect, Tommie Lee Johnson Jr., reported WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio.
Johnson was charged Tuesday with four counts of kidnapping, three counts of domestic violence, two counts of endangering children, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of inducing panic.
Police said Johnson got into an argument with the mother of the children on Sunday night and then took the children from their home around 7:30 p.m. A short time later, the mother reported the incident to police.
Officers said Johnson was located a few hours later without the children and he refused to reveal where they were.
On Monday morning, an employee of Felty Electric who was entering the business heard a child crying and investigated. The employee found the children in a trash bin covered with mud and debris.
Police said the children were inside the trash can about 13 hours before they were discovered.
Police said Johnson was caught on surveillance video putting a stroller and another item into another Dumpster near where he left the children.
"The behavior of this defendant is simply despicable," prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said. "He tossed these children into a trash can and abandoned them. Thankfully, the alert actions of a citizen saved these children, preventing a certain tragedy."
Meanwhile, Johnson's girlfriend and the mother of the children, Alisha Whitehead, is having troubles of her own. Her Tuesday morning meeting with officials from Children's Services was cut short.
"We cut the meeting short because she was a little agitated, upset, of course, because her children are not with her," said Ann Stevens, a spokeswoman for Children's Services. The children, Ashonti and Tommie Johnson III, are now in foster care.
While Ashonti's biological father stands accused of putting her and her brother in the trash can, Children's Services said Whitehead, 27, has her own problems. "We have issues to discuss including the failure to protect her children," Stevens said.
Case workers are looking into the safety of the home where Whitehead and Johnson lived.
"We also have major concerns about the children's exposure to drug and alcohol abuse," Stevens said.
Whitehead addressed those concerns Monday while speaking to reporters about the argument she had with Johnson on Sunday night. "Beer after beer, six 40s, plus taking my pills on top of that triggered it a bit," Whitehead said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Whitehead found out that she will not be getting the children back any time soon. Children's Services was granted temporary custody of them.
Mitchell Combs, the father of one of Whitehead's children, 5-year-old Brianna Combs, told WHIO-TV that he is devastated that this has happened again. Children's Services took his daughter and a half-sister from Whitehead in 2005. "It's hard because little kids can't speak out," said Combs.
He hopes the court system will find a good foster family for the children
