Nailah Franklin Case Update -- $10K Reward Offered For Info Leading To Arrest
Nailah Franklin's
family is offering
a $10,000 reward
Nailah Franklin's family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in her killing, reports the Daily Southtown.
Anyone with information should contact the Harrison Area Special Victims Unit at (312) 746-9259.
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Labels: Nailah Franklin, Reginald Potts
posted by Chris Hedges at
9:19 PM
1 Comments:
The following was posted on a public message board by Reginald Potts
From: rrocrocky
Date: 2007-10-17T05:24:31
My Statement
From: rrocrocky
Date: 2007-10-17T05:24:31
My Statement
I would like to start by saying the last three weeks have been a living hell for me, my friends and my entire family. My prayers go out to the Franklin family, and I pray that God keeps Nailah close to him and allows her soul to rest. I have not had the time nor space to truly deal with how Nailahs disappearance and death has affected me. I have had to endure from day one the false belief by many, including members of her own family, that I somehow played a role in her disappearance. I am saddened by this horrible belief some may have, and am deeply pained by the words that have been used to describe me. I have been label everything from a murderer, stalker, killer, con-man, drug dealer, womanizer, evil man, and countless other insulting names. My name has been smeared all across the television, radio, internet, and print media. Everywhere I turn someone else is convicting me, and saying how I should rot in prison or hell for the rest of my life. This conviction is based solely on HEARSAY and GOSSIP!! There has not been one shred of information or evidence released by the authorities that indicates I was involved in the disappearance or death of Nailah Franklin. Additionally, I have never even been labeled as a suspect in her disappearance! Yet and still, the Media has associated my character and finally my name with this story to the point where any person who can read, listen to the radio, or watch a news cast, would believe I was involved. Because of these reports, my life has been threatened; my addresses have been circulated around the internet, along with pictures of myself and one of my daughters. There have been numerous threatening emails, voicemails, and text messages. There is also a reported contract on my life, which allegedly originated with members of Nailahs family. I am well aware of how my character was first introduced to the authorities and media. During one of the first interviews after the missing person report was filed on behalf of Nailah, one of Nailahs friends Dana McClellan stated to the media on camera that she had heard a threatening voicemail from one of Nailahs former acquaintances. From that point forward my character, and then my name began to be smeared through the media. I have heard the authorities speak on the report of a threat, however I have NEVER heard if the police have independently verified that a threatening voicemail exist or existed. Yet that report from Ms. McClellan has been reported over and over as if it is a fact. Aside from Ms. McClellans statement, NOTHING else directly indicates my involvement in this situation.
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH NAILAH FRANKLIN
I met Nailah in the spring of 2006, we began having very random telephone conversations, and tried a few times to hang out, however we never connected in person partly due to her schedule, and my own obligations. When we did finally start seeing each other, I really enjoyed the time we spent together. She reminded me of a female version of myself, very tough, opinionated, outgoing, determined to succeed, funny and very passionate. We are both Aries, and share the same birthday. With both of us always feeling the need to have the last word, we always engaged in very interesting conversations. I remember her sister, Marina, telling me at a lunch she attended with Nailah and I, that Nailahs nickname was little moot. She went on to say that the nickname came from their grandmother, who being the original moot, made it impossible for you to win an argument with her. So from that point forward, Nailah became little moot to me. At some point we became intimately involved. After a while things began to change. I had always stated that I was just dating and not looking for a serious relationship and she agreed at first. However, her feelings on us casually dating began to change after a while. There was also an issue that occurred when one of Nailah friends Alyssia Bailey, had her sister, who is a lawyer do a background check on me. This background check revealed that I had been arrested before. Nailah was hurt and angered by this because she felt she should have heard that from me, not another person. That caused a bit of tension, however after we talked about everything, and I gave her all the information about the past arrest, things were alright again. We continued to see each other on a causal level with no commitment. She told me she was dating other people, and she was well aware that I was dating a few other women also. Our only rule was, not to put each other at risk for anything, if we where indeed intimate with someone else. At some point Nailah started questioning why we didnt hang out or go out to the movies or dinner. She felt that I saw our interaction on only one level, and she implied she needed and wanted more out of our interactions. I continued to state my position of not wanting a girlfriend, and that all the things she was trying to interest me in doing were gearing toward boyfriend/girlfriend interactions, which I was not ready for, nor interested in having. After each of these conversations, Nailah would say, o.k. you need not be in my life anymore, I wont call you, you dont call me, and were done And I would always say alright. However within a couple days or the most a couple weeks we would find ourselves back involved in an intimate situation. This type of back and forth, on again, off again interaction went on at least ten times before our last contact in mid August. She sent me a very heartfelt email on July 16th 2007, expressing her need to walk away from our situation. I didnt respond to the email and I did as I had always done with her; give her, her space. If that was to truly be our adios then that was fine with me, however I knew it would be a matter of time before she called or text me and our situation would resume again. And she did. She text me about a week later saying she missed me, and wanted to see me. Shortly after that I received an email, inviting me to attend her art show. We met for the last time in late August and had breakfast at Yolk on South Michigan Ave. We left that breakfast saying we would be friends. She informed me that she had met a new gentleman named Andre, and that she liked him a lot and that she expressed excitement about their possible future. She said they were not intimate yet, and that he lived kind of far. I gave her some advice on things she shouldnt do in her new relationship, which always caused a problem for me, like pushing the boyfriend thing as hard as she did with me. Nailah, as most single women of her age do, had been dating several people while we were involved, there was a Northwestern Plastic surgeon, a young man who was in the music industry, and an old boyfriend she would still see. And she had no problem telling me of their existence. Our pattern showed that, every time one of those relationships heated up, she would give me her adios speech or email. I think this was done more so to get a reaction out of me, and to see if I would step up to the plate and enter into a committed relationship with her.
Around the 27th of August, I was on a boat with several women I know, and one of Nailahs co-workers, Tiffany. Tiffany would later speak to Nailah about seeing me on the boat with another young lady. Tiffany informed me that once she told Nailah about seeing me on the boat, that Nailah began to ask who I was with and if I was dating the person I was on the boat with. Tiffany stated to me that she told Nailah, youre dating a new guy, Reginald is dating; dont worry about what hes doing. However, I received a telephone call early on the morning of August 29th. It was from Nailah and she wanted to know how long I had been in this serious relationship with Tiffanys friend. I didnt like the way she was questioning me, so I hung up the phone. She called back and left a nasty voicemail (which I turned over to the police when I went to speak with them) calling me out of my name and stating I was wrong for not talking to her about my new situation. I did not return her call, or contact her by any means. However, approximately one week later on the 6th of September, I received an email from Nailah where I had been b.c.cd. The email subject line Your boy, was sent to Dana McClellan, and Tiffany (Nailahs co-worker, and the young lady from the boat) it read This is so funny and it contained a link to the 2001 escape from the federal building which I was involved in. A few moments later I received another email from Nailah with the same information, but this one read, So scary.such a loser. I immediately called Tiffany, who said she had not received the email yet. I knew exactly what Nailah was doing. I figured she was upset when she heard that I was in a serious relationship that quickly, and she got more upset when I wouldnt take her calls that morning. So she sent the federal escape article to Tiffany, whom she figured would tell the new girl I was serious with and I would be embarrassed. The article was not something she had just found out about, we had discussed it previously. I even sent the article to her last year when she first learned of my past arrest. Thinking her motivation was to embarrass me, I sat down with one of my friends and composed, what is now an email I truly regret sending. I sent her that very mean email dated September 6th where I state amongst other mean things,
.you MADD that I won't accept you calls or
Come f**k you when you call me at night, but talking shit and sending
around articles about shit I did years ago does not embarrass me, it only
makes you look bitter and desperate. As I told you before stop calling,
me testing me, stop trying figure out my moves or who I'm f***king,
just know that I don't wanna f**k with you! However if you want to keep up
this kiddie shit and keep my name in your mouth, I'll join you, and
start passing around copy's of the tape that show my d*** in your mouth.
Up to you, cause as I've said before there is
nothing you can say!
Or do that will hurt, embarrass, or stop me from doing me. Just get over
it, I don't want your goofy ass! Have good day young lady.
After sending Nailah this email she replied with the following..
Date:
Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:14:21 -0700 (PDT)
From:
"Nailah Franklin"
Subject:
FYI
To:
"Reginald"
HTML Attachment [ Scan and Save to Computer ]
I have filed a police report, I will be gettina an order of protection tomorrow. You will not threaten me with those videos, I will have you locked up for taking them from my house. If you come anywhere near me you will be back in jail, I promise. You are crazy, you disrespect women, you are a bully, you are a extremely hateful, but you are not going to bully me. You are messing with the wrong chick this time. I will have you locked up where you belong for good!
Nailah
Nailah Franklin
The only issue of a threat came up in the emails dated (9/6) & (9/10), about me releasing a video of us together; I have never threatened the life of Nailah.
This was one of last exchanges that I had with Nailah Franklin. Of course in hind sight I truly regret that those last interactions were like that. I had no Idea Nailah would later come up missing and ultimately become a victim of a violent crime. My email was a harsh way of saying, move on with your life, and stop worrying about me. We all have had difficult break-ups (if thats the right word to use) I am sure that the reaction that people have when they read the email, is due to the fact that she is no longer with us. And no one should talk bad about a deceased person, especially when that person was a victim of crime. The email was a mean thing to send, and I know I could have found a better way to relay my feelings instead of being mean-spirited. However, being mean-spirited in that email does not make me a murderer, nor does it mean that I am talking about Nailah now in a negative way or trying to dirty up her image in order to remove the spotlight of all the publics gossip off of me. I believe the truth and the facts of the situation will do that, not me talking about Nailah. Because, no matter what issues caused our interaction to cease, this was still a young lady who made me smile and with whom I had a wonderful time, when we were in agreement about our interaction and the direction of our relationship. I have had the difficult time of grieving for her, feeling sorrow for the fact that, the last interactions we had were nasty emails, and also trying to protect myself and family from the hateful gossip that is being spread about me. Lastly, I will take a few moments to address some of the misconceptions that have circulated about me.
1. Nailah never did any Real Estate transactions for me or through my company, and I did not owe her any money from a deal gone bad.
2. We were NOT boyfriend & girlfriend
3. She was not about to expose me for some illegal activity. I dont engage in any illegal practices.
4. She did not ruin a relationship with the mother of my Daughter, by telling her we had been involved, that relationship was already over.
5. I am not a DRUG DEALER! I have never been arrested on any illicit drug charges.
6. I have an order of protection from May 2007 for grabbing a cell phone out of my daughters mother hand. No physical abuse occurred only the grabbing of the phone. (read the reports from Dupage County)
7. The second order of protection came from September 2007, when I kicked on the front door of the house my daughter lives in and demanded to see my daughter, again no physical abuse was involved.
Trust me when I say, I am not making excuses for my actions
I just want people to be informed that the orders of protections
Did not come from violence toward any women
I am not sure why Nailahs sisters refused to acknowledge the fact that they know of me. I had lunch with Marina & Nailah over the summer, and Leiha called me the day after Nailahs disappearance.
The emails that were released over the internet were not done at my request, and I did not have any prior knowledge about them being leaked. I sent those emails along with several voice messages that were left by Nailah, to a handful of my friends, to explain the situation to them, and most importantly to safeguard them from possible deletion; due to my previous contact with law enforcement. As it has already been reported, I had an encounter with the Chicago F.B.I. in the summer of 2001, where I escaped their custody after being arrested on a warrant. Once I learned of their involvement in this investigation, my thoughts immediately centered on the anger they had toward me from that escape, which caused them a great deal of embarrassment, and I believe resulted in several agents being disciplined.
As for my arrest this past Friday on charges of verbal assault of a gas station security guard, that incident happened as follows; While sitting in the BP food mart with a female friend of mine I noticed the security guard motioning and pointing in my direction to several gas station attendants and customers. My friend then over heard him state to one of them that I was the person in the news who was responsible for the murder of Nailah Franklin. Two Chicago Police officers walked into the BP, and the security guard repeated this same statement to them. When I left the BPs food mart and returned to my car the officers circled around my car twice, and as I pulled out I was followed, then pulled over. The reason I was given for the stop was due to them not being able to see my license plate sticker. I called 911 and ask that a supervisor be sent to the scene, because I felt like I was being hararassed. When the supervisor arrived and I explain the issue, I was told you know we have our eye on you, you got to expect this to happen. I was placed in handcuffs and driven to the station, were I was given a traffic ticket and released. While there in the station, the officer responded to my complaints about being harassed by saying the security guard told them about me, and that they were not harassing me. When I later went into the gas station for gas, (which is a block away from my house) I recorded my entrance on my cell phone video recorder, I saw the security guard and asked why he would continue to spread such rumors about me. I told him if he did not witness anything first hand, then he should shut his mouth. I left, and two days later I was arrested by my home while talking on the phone. I tried to show the police the video I have of the entire situation, but they refused to look at it or listen to what really happened. (I still have that recording in my possession) I was charged with verbal assault, a misdemeanor. I was told it normally takes 1-4 hours to be processed out of the police station for a misdemeanor offense; I was placed in a cold room with no food for more then 26 hours, before I was released. My lawyer was even made to wait almost three hours to see me.
In closing, this horrible tragedy has been extremely trying on my spirit and emotional strength. I have lost several business related deals, had casual acquaintances look at me with an eye of suspicion, and even experienced the complete break down of interaction with the mothers of my daughters. I humbly ask that the hateful energy that has been expressed toward me cease! I was not involved in this senseless crime, and continue to be affected by the gossip based convictions I am receiving. I pray the Medias momentum in my direction; will not stop the law enforcement agencies investigating this crime from effectively looking at all possible leads and persons of interest. I ask all those who have rushed to judge me on gossip, to take moment and remember the gentleman from Atlanta, Richard Jewel. Mr. Jewel was thought to be the 1996 Olympic bomber, his life was destroyed by the Medias rush to judge and all the frenzy that comes with the power of reporting on emotionally charged stories. Later it was learned that he in fact had nothing to do with the bombing, (another man was charged and confessed to the bombing) and ironic as it may have sounded to those who reported his involvement in that crime; he(Mr. Jewel) was actually assisting people and trying to get them away from the blast site. Never the less, when the truth did finally surface, Mr. Jewels life had be turned upside down and inside out, and he stated years later that he had never recovered from that awful period in his life.
My sincere prayers will continue to go out to the family, and friends of Nailah. I know this must be a difficult period for them. As a young man who was raised in a home with five sisters and a single mother, I do not even wish to imagine how my life would have been affected if something like this had happened to one of them. As the father of three beautiful daughters, this situation makes me want to hug them a little tighter, and protect them even more, from the world in which we live. May God bless and comfort all who have been affected by this terrible loss of a woman whose life was just beginning.
Reginald Potts, Jr.
October 10, 2007
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