Christopher Hedges » Kwana Shaw

Someone Threatened Kwana Shaw Before Shooting

Christopher C. Hedges — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:18:13 +0000

Kwana Shaw’s family says someone threatened Kwana and baby Josiah Shaw before the carjacking and shooting that killed 13-month-old baby Josiah Shaw and left Kwana critically injured with a gunshot to her lung, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Family members say the shooting wasn’t a random carjacking.

Reports Steve Schmadeke in the Chicago Tribune:

The family of an infant fatally shot in Gary Monday night while strapped into the back of his mother’s car said they believe his death stemmed from a personal dispute, not a carjacking as police have theorized. …

Samuel Shaw said his daughter moved in with him after someone threatened to kill her and the baby.

Josiah Shaw was a “miracle baby” who was born without a heartbeat but had since thrived, his grandfather said. His name came from the Bible, and the boy liked to listen to his grandfather read from Scripture. His mother, the younger of two children, is a “really sweet person” planning to become a teacher in the Gary school district, Shaw said.

Technorati Tags: carjacking, crime, Gary Indiana, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw

ID Theft Key To Motive In Baby Josiah Shaw Shooting?

Christopher C. Hedges — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:08:20 +0000

An identity theft case allegedly designed to avoid a DNA paternity test may be a motive in the Baby Josiah Shaw shooting in Gary during a carjacking earlier this week.

The Post-Tribune’s Lori Caldwell reports:

A complicated identity theft scheme involving the “person of interest” held in Monday’s shooting death of 13-month-old Josiah Shaw may provide detectives with a motive.

Indiana State Police began an investigation in early 2007 after a Gary man attempted to obtain a driver’s license using Terry Noel’s identification, including a birth certificate and bank card.

The man told State Police detectives Noel, also known as Terry Bethel, wanted to avoid a DNA test that would link him to a child born out of wedlock, sources said.

Technorati Tags: carjacking, Gary Indiana, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw, Terry Bethel, Terry Noel

Dad Won’t Be Charged In Baby Josiah Case

Christopher C. Hedges — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:32:59 +0000

The father of slain Baby Josiah Shaw who was arrested and named a “person of interest” by police — won’t be charged, say police to the media. The father had been arrested on a warrant by Portage police and Gary SWAT for another unrelated matter.

Reports Christine Kraly in the Northwest Indiana Times:

The father of a 13-month-old boy shot to death Monday is expected to be released from custody Thursday after being held as a person of interest in the case, Gary police said.

Terry L. Bethel, 34, of Portage, was arrested in Portage on an unrelated warrant Tuesday and has been in the custody of Porter County authorities since. Bethel will not face any charges related to the shooting death of Josiah Shaw, said Gary police Cmdr. Samuel Roberts.

Meanwhile, the Post-Tribune’s Lori Caldwell details the dramatic 9-1-1 call that was made to police reporting the carjacking that wounded Baby Josiah’s mother and killed Josiah Shaw.

“Somebody just stole my best friend’s truck with her baby in it and I think he shot her,” Kwana Shaw’s friend told a Gary police dispatcher Monday night. “Please hurry up.”

Technorati Tags: carjacking, crime, Gary Police, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw, SWAT, Terry Bethel, Terry Noel

Gary SWAT Arrests Dad of Baby Josiah in Shooting Case

Christopher C. Hedges — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:34:00 +0000

Gary Police say that baby Josiah Shaw’s father is a person of interest in the case of his killing during a carjacking that left his mother — Kwana Shaw — on life support after a bullet ripped through her lung, reports Lori Caldwell for the Post-Tribune.

Kwana Shaw is in critical condition from a single gunshot wound that destroyed her lung.

Her 13-month-old son is dead, shot twice — in the face and groin — by a carjacker who left the woman’s car a few blocks from the abduction, Lt. Del Stout said Tuesday.

Police believe the child’s father may have left his job at ArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor plant Monday night to meet Shaw, 29, of Schererville, about 7 p.m. at a friend’s house in the Lancaster Homes complex, 21st and Virginia.

Terry Bethel, also known as Terry Noel, 34, was arrested by Portage police and members of the Gary SWAT team shortly before midnight Monday at his Portage home. Police called him a “person of interest” in the shooting.

Technorati Tags: carjacking, crime, Gary Indiana, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw, shooting, Terry Bethel, Terry Noel