Re: LAURYN DICKENS 9 months - Memphis, Tennessee (USA) - 07/09/10

**Twiglet** Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:34 pm

Associated Content

27 September 2010

Still Missing 10-Month-Old Lauryn Dickens' Mother Arrested, Believed Connected to Disappearance

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5835438/still_missing_10monthold_lauryn_dickens.html?cat=9

**Twiglet** Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:57 am

WMC-TV

1 October 2010

With baby still missing, Memphis mother appears in court‎

http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13254703

**smokie** Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:33 am

This is a sad story shes just a baby. I cant find no update.

Empathy Tue Oct 26, 2010 2:53 pm

I have some 'insights' about this case on my blogger link here. I dont know if its helpful or not $don\'tknow$ but the link is in the psychic forum.

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 18, 2010 10:10 am

Memphis Commercial Appeal

17 November 2010

Mother of missing Memphis baby bound over on neglect, false reporting‎

A young mother suspected of killing her baby daughter was bound over to a grand jury today on charges of aggravated child neglect and endangerment and filing a false offense report.

Shakara Dickens, 19, of Raleigh was arrested in September after police said her account of turning baby Lauryn over to an unknown woman proved to be false.

She remains in jail on a $2 million bond.

Dickens said the baby’s biological father had sent the woman to pick up the child on Sept. 7 after the mother told him she could no longer care for the girl, according to court papers. She reported the baby missing eight days later.

The father, Benjamin Norfleet, also 19, who was incarcerated on unrelated charges, testified in a preliminary hearing today that he never sent anyone to pick up the child.

Also, police said jail phone records support his testimony that Dickens had blocked his calls from jail to her phone.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/nov/17/mother-missing-memphis-baby-bound-over-neglect-fal/

**Tezza** Thu Nov 18, 2010 8:40 pm

abc 24

Mother Charged In Connection With Baby Daughter's Disappearance

Reported by: Shelvia Dancy Email: ShelviaDancy@abc24.com

Story Published: 9/23 8:37 pm

http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Mother-Charged-In-Connection-With-Baby-Daughters/1uhjyqp-WUeOHqGfXNzhRw.cspx

**Twiglet** Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:07 pm

My Fox Memphis

17 November 2010

Mother Charged in 9-Year Old's Disappearance‎

Police still don't know what happened to little Lauryn Dickens but a Memphis judge is sure her mother had something to do with it. He sent the case to the grand jury Wednesday.

Shakara Dickens is charged with aggravated child neglect and endangerment as well as false reporting. Her daughter has been missing since September.

After hearing testimony from police and the child's father, the judge decided it was enough to move the case forward.

19-year old Shakara Dickens looked and listened to testimony about what happened the day that 9-month old Lauryn Dickens was reported missing.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/111710-mother-charged-in-9-year-old%E2%80%99s-disappearance

**smokie** Sun Dec 26, 2010 4:34 am

no update on Lauryn God bless you xxx

**Twiglet** Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:45 am

My Fox Memphis

24 January 2011

Mother Indicted for Missing Baby‎

A Memphis mother that reported her child missing last September has been indicted by a grand jury.

19-year old Shakara Dickens has already been charged with the murder of her baby girl Lauryn.

Dickens reported the disappearance of her daughter September 15th. She claimed Lauryn's father, Benjamin Norfleet, sent someone to pick up the child, but Norfleet denies that claim.

Lauryn's body still hasn't been found.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/crime/012411-mother-indicted-for-missing-baby

**Twiglet** Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:48 am

WREG

25 January 2011

Mother of Missing Baby Indicted for Murder‎

The Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County District Attorney's Office are remaining tight-lipped about the indictment of a Memphis mother accused of killing her 9-month-old daughter.

Twenty-year-old Shakara Dickens is accused of first degree murder, child endangerment, child abuse and false reporting after the disappearance of her daughter, Lauryn.

Memphis police say Dickens reported the baby missing in September, but that her story kept changing.

Police say Dickens told them she gave the baby to an unknown woman at the request of the baby's father, who was in jail at the time. T

hat man, Benjamin Norfleet, says he had not talked to Dickens in weeks.

Then, a cadaver dog hit on the Raleigh apartment where mother and baby lived, but the whereabouts of Lauryn remained a mystery.

Investigators won't say what, if any, new evidence propelled this case to warrant a first degree murder indictment, only that the District Attorney's office wants it handled as a homicide.

While they won't confirm whether the little girl's body was found, the lack of a body has not stopped the pursuit of a murder conviction before.

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-dickens-indicted-story,0,6086989.story

**Twiglet** Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:51 am

WRCB-TV

25 January 2011

Mother charged with murder of missing daughter‎

A mother in Memphis has been charged with the murder of her 11-month old daughter, who has been missing for more than four months.

Memphis police said Tuesday that a grand jury indicted Shakara Dickens on first-degree murder and false reporting charges in the disappearance of her daughter, Lauryn.

Dickens told police she gave Lauryn to a woman she didn't know on Sept. 7 at the direction of the baby's father, Benjamin Norfleet, who was in jail.

Police found the story was not true and arrested Dickens.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13907212

**Twiglet** Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:30 am

My Fox Memphis

28 January 2011

Advocacy Flag Raised for Lauryn Dickens‎

A little girl missing since September was remembered Friday by the Memphis Child Advocacy Center.

A flag was raised in honor of Lauryn Dickens. A grand jury indicted her mother on murder charges earlier this week.

Shakara Dickens reported the disappearance of her daughter September 15th, but investigators say that's eight days after little Lauryn actually went missing.

Lauryn's body still hasn't been found.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/012811-advocacy-flag-raised-for-lauryn-dickens

**Twiglet** Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:33 am

WREG

28 January 2011

Prosecutors Prepare Baby Death Case Without Child's Body‎
District Attorney will seek justice without body and cooperation

This week a grand jury indicted her mother on first degree murder charges.

Prosecutors will have to seek justice in the case with some key evidence missing. Lauryn's body has never been found.

"We learned this week that her mother, Lauryn's mother was indicted. We want to remember her as we do other children who have died at the hands of an adult," said Nancy Williams, Memphis Child Advocacy Center.

Her mother, Shakara Dickens, faces first degree murder charges even though Lauryn's body has never been found.

Dickens told police she gave the baby to a stranger under orders from the child's father. The child's father, who is in jail, says he had no conversations with Dickens during this time because she blocked his calls from prison.

A cadaver dog also sniffed out human remains that provided further evidence to the police that the child is no longer alive. A grand jury indicted Dickens this week.

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-shakara-dickens-prosecution-story,0,1747048.story

**Twiglet** Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:35 am

Memphis Commercial Appeal

29 January 2011

Advocacy Center flag marks baby girl's death‎

The 40 or so people gathered on the lawn of the Memphis Child Advocacy Center on Friday recited their part of a pledge during a flag-raising ceremony.

"We promise to protect children who are in our care.

"We promise to listen to children who say they have been hurt or molested.

"We promise to tell the authorities if we suspect child abuse."

The advocacy center raises the flag for one week each time a child in the area dies from abuse or neglect.

In this case, the red flag with cutouts resembling children's paper dolls rose for Lauryn Dickens, a 10-month-old girl who was last seen Sept. 6.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jan/29/advocacy-center-flag-marks-baby-girls-death/

**Twiglet** Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:12 am

My Fox Memphis

22 March 2011

Dickens Pleads Not Guilty in Child's Death‎

A Memphis mother charged with murdering her own child entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance Tuesday morning.

19-year old Shakara Dickens reported the disappearance of her daughter, 9-month old Lauryn, back in September. She claimed Lauryn's father sent someone to pick up the child, but he denies that claim.

Lauryn's body still hasn't been found. Dickens is due back in court next month.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/crime/032211-dickens-pleads-not-guilty-in-child's-death

**Twiglet** Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:16 am

WREG

22 March 2011

Exclusive: What Happened To Baby Lauryn?‎

FAST FACTS:

Tracey Dickens Speaks Only To News Channel 3

Opens Up About What Her Daughter Says Happened To 9-Month Old Lauryn Dickens

Dickens Believes Her Granddaughter Is Alive

It's been six long months since little Lauryn Dickens first disappeared. Her mother told Memphis Police she gave away the nine month old baby girl. Until now the rest of the Dickens family has been silent.

For the first time, Lauryn's grandmother opens up about what her daughter says happened to Lauryn and why she believes her granddaughter is alive.

The disappearance of nine month old Lauryn Dickens quickly grabbed the attention of the mid-south and even the nation. The beautiful baby girl vanished in September.

"When I saw Lauryn last she was 9 months old and she was a big girl. She was recognizing us and clinging to us and communicating with us," said her Grandmother Tracey Dickens.

Police say her daughter, Shakara, murdered her baby girl. She agreed to speak with us in the presence of her daughter's attorneys, Arthur Horne and Murray Wells, in her first public statements.

"The situation was so shocking. We didn't want to talk to the media. We didn't want to be on camera in all of our devastation and our grief," Dickens said.

Tracey says that grief is still being felt by her family.

"Our family has been enduring unimaginable pain. There's no greater torture than when an infant is missing. You just don't know what's going on or what she may be suffering."

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-lauryn-dickens-interview,0,3021852.story

**Twiglet** Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:06 pm

Memphis Commercial Appeal

1 August 2011

Trial set for Memphis mother accused of killing infant daughter ‎

A November trial date was set this morning for a mother charged with killing her baby daughter who has not been seen since last September....

..... The trial is set for Nov. 7 before Criminal Court Judge Bobby Carter.

Dickens, whose charges include first-degree murder, faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/01/trial-set-memphis-mother-accused-killing-infant-da/

**Twiglet** Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:30 am

DeSoto Appeal

2 August 2011

Trial date set for mother accused of killing baby

A November trial date was set Monday for a mother charged with killing her baby daughter, who has not been seen since last September.

Shakara Dickens, 20, told police she had turned over 10-month-old Lauryn to an unknown woman, but the report was false, authorities said.
‎
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/02/in-brief/

**pam supportfromireland** Sun Dec 18, 2011 1:59 pm

Trial was moved from 7 November 2010 to 3 December 2011, according to the court clerk records. There is no online updates since. If anyone can find anything, thank you.

**Twiglet** Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:55 am

The Commercial Appeal

20 March 2012

No body, but mom on trial in baby death
9-month-old girl vanished in 2010; no remains ever found

Testimony is set to begin today in the murder case of a young Raleigh mother accused of killing her 9-month-old daughter in 2010, though the baby's body has never been found.

Shakara Dickens, 21, was charged after police said she gave conflicting or misleading accounts of what became of her baby, Lauryn, including that she turned the child over to an unknown woman because she no longer could care for the girl.

Dickens, who has been in jail on $2 million bond, faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

The no-body murder trial will be the fourth such case in Shelby County since 1970. One ended with a guilty plea and two others with convictions by juries.

"No-body cases are always difficult cases to try, but there is a 90 percent conviction rate in cases that go to trial," said former federal prosecutor Thomas "Tad" DiBiase of Washington, D.C., who runs a website dedicated to such cases. "Cases involving infants are often easier to prosecute because no one is going to argue that the baby ran away on its own, as might be argued in an adult case."

Still, DiBiase added, "even seemingly strong cases of infant or toddler murders can go awry as evidenced by the Casey Anthony trial, albeit that was technically not a no-body case by the time of trial."

Anthony was charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in October 2008, two months before the child's remains were found near the family home in Orlando, Fla. Anthony was acquitted last year after a six-week capital murder trial that drew nationwide attention.

In the Memphis case, Dickens told police that the baby's biological father, who was in jail, sent an unknown woman to pick up the girl after Dickens told him she could no longer care for the child.

The father, however, said he never sent anyone to pick up the child, and records showed Dickens had blocked his calls from jail to her phone.

She reported the baby missing eight days later, on Sept. 15, 2010.

Authorities said no one besides the mother had seen the child since Sept. 6 and that Dickens gave conflicting accounts to family, friends and police.

A cadaver dog reacted to a Nissan Altima that Dickens had been driving and also to her apartment in the 4900 block of Yale, suggesting that a dead or decomposing body had been present.

On Monday, defense attorneys filed a motion seeking to block that evidence from the trial and contended there is little else to support a murder charge.

"There is no body, there is not a shred of blood evidence, not a shred of DNA evidence and no alleged murder weapon," attorneys Murray Wells and Arthur Horne said in the motion to suppress. "It appears that the state will largely base its homicide on a 'barking dog' ... ."

Prosecutors Jennifer Nichols and Reginald Henderson, however, also may present a talking inmate.

Last October, a female inmate wrote the judge and said Dickens stood up in chapel and said, "I did what I'm in jail for."

Jury selection began Monday in Criminal Court before Judge J. Robert "Bobby" Carter.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/mar/20/no-body-but-mom-on-trial-in-baby-death/

**Twiglet** Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:58 am

WMC TV

22 March 2012

Testimony contradicts Memphis mother's explanations in murder trial

Prosecutors spent another day disproving the different stories Shakara Dickens explained for the absence of her 9-month-old daughter, Lauryn Dickens.

Shakara Dickens sat through day three of the trial Thursday.

Lauryn Dickens went missing around Labor Day of 2010. The paternal grandparents said they were not babysitting at the time, contrary to one of Shakara Dickens' explanations.

Prosecutors said Lauryn Dickens was not put up for adoption through a local agency, especially not over Labor Day weekend like Shakara Dickens once claimed.

Tabitha Jordan, a friend of Shakara Dickens at the time, said she partied with friends at Level 2 five days after her daughter went missing. She described Shakara Dickens as "excited" while going out that weekend.

Thursday afternoon, jailhouse friend Lanette Lane testified that Shakara Dickens "confessed" during chapel one day. She said Shakara Dickens broke down during a jailhouse preacher's sermon one day.

"She was preaching about God forgives you of your sins and things like that," said Lane. "Shakara started crying and saying, 'God would not forgive me for what I've done.'"

Lane said Shakara Dickens admitted to doing "what I was in for." Afterward, Lane wrote a letter to a judge at 201 Poplar to explain what she witnessed.

"Shakara's baby, I'm not even sure of her name because she don't hardly talk about the baby, but it was seeing the picture of the baby that just really made me feel bad about it," said Lane.

Defense attorneys said Shakara Dickens has never admitted to killing her daughter, but prosecutors argued they found more evidence from behind bars.

In early 2011, investigators discovered a poem in Shakara Dickens' jail cell. They claimed it read like an admission.

"It's one thing you know about me that no one else knows, but I would never take my secrets to the head because when I die, it goes with me to the grave," said Sgt. Deborah Carson with the Memphis Police Department as she read from the poem.

Shakara Dickens decided not to testify.

The prosecution and defense rested Thursday. The judge plans to read the jury charge Thursday evening just before they end for the day.

The trial resumes at 9:00 a.m. Friday with closing arguments, after which the jury will deliberate.

http://www.wmctv.com/story/17232362/testimony-contradicts-mothers-explanations-in-murder-trial

**Twiglet** Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:03 am

My Fox Memphis

23 March 2012

After hours of deliberating, a jury has found Shakara Dickens guilty of Manslaughter and Second Degree Murder.

MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Nine-month-old Lauryn Dickens, the daughter of Shakara Dickens, vanished in 2010, but her body was never found.

Prosecutors argued that Dickens spun a web of lies after her daughter disappeared, waiting a full eight days to file a missing persons report.

Dickens' told police that a white woman in her 40s had come to pick up Lauryn at the father's behest. Shakara couldn't go any further in describing the woman and Lauryn's father denied the claim as well.

The main piece of evidence for the prosecution was a "hit" that police dogs picked up on when searching Dickens' apartment. Though the dogs caught a scent, they did not find any physical evidence.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/shakara-dickens-guilty-in-daughter's-death-rpt-20120323

**Twiglet** Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:11 am

Shakara Dickens has been found guilty of the Manslaughter and the Second Degree Murder of her 9 month old daughter Lauryn..

Lauryn is still listed as missing on Missing Kids Website as her body has not yet been found.

Second Degree Murder carries a sentence of 15-20 years in prison, but the judge could give a longer sentence if he sees fit.

Dickens, 21, who did not testify, could receive more than 50 years in prison when she is sentenced next month by Judge Bobby Carter.

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