CAMDEN PIERCE HUGHES - Aged 6 years (of Texas) - found deceased in South Berwick, Maine (USA)

Foster's Daily Democrat

24 May 2011

Body of Camden Pierce Hughes, found in South Berwick, returned to Texas for burial

A family friend says the body of a boy left along a dirt road in South Berwick, Maine is back in Texas for a funeral to be held this weekend.

Shirley Miller, a long-time friend in Texas, told the Associated Press Tuesday that the body of 6-year-old Camden Hughes is back on Texas soil. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Camden's body was released Friday by the Maine medical examiner.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110524/GJNEWS_01/110529778

Daily Mail

24 May 2011

'He would have forgiven her': Ex-boyfriend speaks out on the mom who killed six-year-old and dumped him on road as a weekend funeral is planned

A mother who has allegedly admitted killing her son after the dead boy’s body was found on a dirt road still has the support of her ex-boyfriend.
Julianne McCrery of Irving, Texas is accused of killing six-year-old Camden Pierce Hughes and dumping his lifeless body in southern Maine, where police discovered him earlier this month.

But as family members prepare funeral arrangements, Robert Miller insisted today the boy he once helped raise 'would have forgiven' his mother for ending his life.

Mr Miller told the Boston Herald: 'He would tell her, "It’s OK, Mommy." He loved her just as much as she loved him.'

It is thought the boy died from suffocation.

A telephone tip led authorities to the woman at a highway rest stop in Chelmsford, Massachusetts after she allegedly told a female trooper: ‘I killed my son. I want to kill myself’.

She was taken to hospital for a medical evaluation and is being held without bail.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1390553/He-forgiven-Ex-boyfriend-speaks-mom-killed-year-old-dumped-road-weekend-funeral-planned.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Foster's Daily Democrat

25 May 2011

Probable cause hearing Thursday for mother in death of boy found in South Berwick



Julianne McCrery, the 42-year-old mother of Camden Pierce Hughes, who was found dead in South Berwick, Maine, on May 14, is scheduled for a probable cause hearing at Hampton District Court at 1 p.m. Thursday.

McCrery is facing two second-degree murder charges relating to the asphyxiation death of the 6-year-old.

The first charge alleges McCrery knowingly caused the death of her son. The second alleges she recklessly caused the death of her son "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life."

What allegedly led up to the killing of the boy is still not known. The case file has been sealed by the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, which has taken over the murder investigation because authorities believe the child was killed in a Hampton motel room.

McCrery, of Irving, Texas, who has a criminal record involving drug sales and prostitution, is represented by public defender Monica Kieser.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110525/GJNEWS_01/705259960/-1/FOSNEWS

Sea coast online

26 May 2011

Woman who found boy's body to speak at Texas funeral‎

The woman who discovered the body of a boy who went unidentified for days before police announced the arrest of his mother on murder charges will participate in the child's funeral Saturday in Texas.

Linda Gove, who discovered the deceased boy under a hemlock tree off Dennett Road, and her husband, Manley Gove, have established the "Every Child Deserves Love" fund in memory of Camden Pierce Hughes, who was 6 years old when he died.

The discovery of Hughes' body on May 14 and the search for his identity attracted national attention. The investigation led to his mother, Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, being charged with killing him via asphyxiation in Hampton, N.H., before crossing state lines to dump his body.

Ever since Gove discovered Hughes' blanket-covered body, she has been a part of the boy's story. She spoke at a vigil held at the First Parish Federated Church in South Berwick on May 18, the day authorities apprehended McCrery and determined Hughes' identity.

"Every child deserves the right to be loved, and he is now loved in the arms of God almighty," she said that night.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110526-NEWS-105260417

WGME

26 May 2011

Mother accused of killing son waives hearing

The Texas woman who police say killed her 6-year-old son and left his body in Maine has waived a court appearance scheduled for Friday afternoon.
42-year-old Julianne McCrery is charged with second-degree murder. She's accused of killing Camden Pierce Hughes nearly two weeks ago in Hampton,

New Hampshire, then dumping his body in South Berwick. Prosecutors were prepared to outline their case against McCrery presenting her and the judge with the evidence they've gathered. There's no word on when McCrery’s next court appearance will be.

http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_7979.shtml

Boston Herald

27 May 2011

Slain boy’s brother: Mom ‘forgiven’

When Ian McCrery went to Maine last week with his grandfather to retrieve his little brother’s body, he visited the woman who found Camden Pierce Hughes — lifeless, swaddled in his green “security blanket” and abandoned in the woods near her home.

“I wanted some answers,” McCrery recalled yesterday of his quest to learn as much he could about his brother’s death, allegedly at the hands of their mother, Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas. “I hadn’t talked to my mother since the whole thing happened. Any answers I could get — so I contacted them.”

Tomorrow, that woman, Linda Gove, will stand at the altar of the First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, where she will help Pastor Bill Skaar officiate the funeral service for 6-year-old Camden.

“She’s just a real kind, loving woman. She was a part in finding my brother. We met (Gove and her husband, Manley), talked to them, and they offered their service,” said McCrery, 23, who is taking leave from his Norfolk, Va., naval base to attend the funeral. “They’re just amazing people.”

Skaar said Linda Gove will assist him in “a very simple, meaningful service for the family” that will include gospel songs and a video tribute to Camden. The boy, a gifted student and devoted churchgoer, loved to play guitar and root for the New England Patriots [team stats] and the Dallas Cowboys, relatives recall.

..... In fact, the boy was “the greatest thing that ever happened in my life,” said Ian McCrery, who will be among the pallbearers. “I loved him more than anything.”

His brother’s service will be the first funeral McCreary has ever attended, and he said he hoped to “send him off in a good way. . . . I think the whole world will get to see it.”

Perhaps even his mom, he said, expressing hope the service could ease her deeply troubled soul.

“I love her. We’ve been trying to contact her as best we can, but it seems extremely hard. I’m in her corner. What she did was horrible. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s my mom. I have to come to terms. I have forgiven her. I think it would put her a little bit at ease. She was in her own personal hell. I’m with her.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0527slain_boys_bro_mom_forgiven/

WGME 13

Sunday, May 29 2011, 05:44 PM EDT

Brother of Camden Hughes speaks at funeral

Funeral services were held Saturday in Irving, Texas for Camden Pierce Hughes, the 6-year-old boy whose body was found earlier this month along a dirt road in South Berwick.

Hughes' grandmother, Lurae McCrery, delivered her grandson's eulogy, describing the child's death as a double loss.

Her daughter and Hughes' mother, 42-year-old Julianne McCrery, is behind bars in New Hampshire, charged with killing Hughes.

The older brother of Hughes, Ian McCrery, shared his thoughts during Saturday's service, saying he's torn over what happened. "As for my mother, I love her and I support her," McCrery said. "I'm in her corner. As much as I possibly can be. What she did was awful, but she's still my mother."

The couple who found Hughes' body near their home, Robert and Linda Gove, traveled to Irving, Texas for the funeral. Linda Gove is a minister and helped officiate the ceremony.

http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_8006.shtml

Associated Press

May 28, 2011

By ANGELA K. BROWN

Woman: Daughter charged in boy's death needs help

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) — A woman charged with killing her 6-year-old son did not do it out of malice but "something snapped" and she needs help, the boy's grandmother told mourners at his funeral Saturday.

As more than 100 people gathered to remember Camden Pierce Hughes, the curly haired, blue-eyed boy who loved reading and playing the guitar, his grandmother said the family's world fell apart when he was found dead under his favorite blanket along a dirt road in Maine two weeks ago.

But she cautioned against judging her now-jailed daughter, Julianne McCrery, and said the family was suffering a "double loss."

"How do we forgive ... (her) for committing this unspeakable act? I don't know," LuRae McCrery of Curtis, Neb., said during the hourlong service at Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. "... I know in my heart that Juli didn't do this out of malice or anger. She was a good mother. ... She did the best she could with what she had. On that fateful day something snapped, and I pray that she gets all the help she needs."

Julianne McCrery, 42, of the Dallas suburb of Irving, is being held without bail on second-degree murder charges in New Hampshire. She is accused of killing her son in Hampton, N.H., on May 14 and dumping his body near the state line about 20 miles away in South Berwick, Maine. Preliminary autopsy findings show he died of asphyxiation.

A lawyer who represented her at a brief hearing in Massachusetts, where she was detained following a police tip a few days after Camden's body was found, said he thinks she may have traveled hundreds of miles from home with the idea of taking her son's life and committing suicide.

Although Camden last attended kindergarten May 6, he had not been reported missing because his mother continued calling to say he was sick, school officials said. Camden wasn't identified until four days after his body was discovered, when a family friend in Irving called authorities in Maine after seeing a computer-generated photo distributed nationwide.

LuRae McCrery was not listed in the funeral service program as a speaker and it's unclear if she was speaking on behalf of the entire family. Camden's older brother, Ian McCrery, also has expressed support for their mother.

Linda Gove, a missionary worker who found Camden's body, spoke at Saturday's service but did not mention anything about that day. She talked about Camden's life and said that while relatives and friends may have unanswered questions, God "desires to take that hurt and that pain away."

White roses and lilies adorned Camden's small white coffin, which was surrounded by several other floral arrangements. Nearby, a large school picture showed a grinning Camden, his blond curls cropped short and his cheeks flushed.

Camden was in his school's gifted program and he loved music, drawing and sports, the Rev. Bill Skaar said. He was a happy little boy and was especially close to his brother, who told crying mourners that Camden would not want them to be sad.

"He's in a better spot right now," Ian McCrery said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlQmR4--Yw-F_eEuPIj2uaAe9EjA?docId=1f31a819c36d42dfa1b4c7fac7031e60

Boston Globe

29 June 2011

Family speaks to mourners at Texas boy’s funeral

More than 100 people gathered yesterday to remember Camden Pierce Hughes, the 6-year-old boy whose body was found wrapped in a blanket along a dirt road in Maine two weeks ago.

His mother, who has been charged in the killing, did not do it out of malice but “something snapped’’ and she needs help, her mother told the mourners.

The family’s world fell apart when Camden was found dead, said LuRae McCrery, but she cautioned against judging her jailed daughter, Julianne McCrery.

“How do we forgive … [her] for committing this unspeakable act? I don’t know,’’ LuRae McCrery of Curtis, Neb., said during the hourlong service at Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. “I know in my heart that Juli didn’t do this out of malice or anger. She was a good mother… . She did the best she could with what she had. On that fateful day something snapped, and I pray that she gets all the help she needs.’’

Julianne McCrery, 42, of the Dallas suburb of Irving, is being held without bail on second-degree murder charges in New Hampshire. She is accused of killing her son in Hampton, N.H., on May 14 and dumping his body near the state line about 20 miles away in South Berwick, Maine. Preliminary autopsy findings show he died of asphyxiation.

http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-29/news/29601535_1_mourners-unanswered-questions-body

Sea coast online

18 August 2011

Judge denies requests to unseal murder suspect's court...
‎
A Rockingham County Superior Court judge has denied media requests to unseal court records pertaining to murder charges against Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas.

McCrery is charged with two alternate theory counts of second-degree murder, alleging she killed her son, Camden Pierce Hughes, 6, in Hampton on May 14, then dumped him on a South Berwick, Maine road.

The order written by Judge Tina Nadeau, dated Aug. 15, states that all sealed records pertaining to the case shall remain sealed until and if McCrery is indicted. The case involves a joint investigation by state police from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, as well as police agencies in Texas and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the judge wrote.

“The secrecy of the investigation is necessary to ensure that witnesses’ memories are not tainted and law enforcement investigatory techniques are not revealed,” Nadeau wrote.

The judge ruled that the release of limited information to date has ensured the public is “not completely devoid of information regarding this case” and the public has only been prevented from viewing information that would taint the investigation.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110818-NEWS-110819778

WGME

23 September 2011

Texas woman not indicted yet for son's death‎

The Texas mother accused of killing her son and dumping his body in South Berwick has not yet been indicted by a grand jury.
Julianne McCrery is being held without bail on second degree murder charges. For days, police worked to identity the body of her son, six year old Camden Pierce Hughes after his body was discovered on a rural road by neighbors. New Hampshire law says McCrery should have been indicted within 90 days after this case returned to superior court. The prosecutors had no comment about why it hasn't happened.

http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_9377.shtml

FOX 4 News

28 September 2011

Texas Mom to Plead Guilty to Killing Son in New Hampshire‎

A Texas woman accused of killing her 6-year-old son in New Hampshire and disposing of his body in rural Maine will plead guilty to killing him, court officials said.

Forty-two-year-old Julianne McCrery will plead guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her son, Camden Hughes.

Her lawyers did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press. McCrery pleaded not guilty in May and has since waived all other court appearances.

A Rockingham Superior Court clerk confirmed McCrery has filed a notice of intent to plead guilty and will be sentenced to 45 years to life in prison. No date has been set for her to formally enter her plea.

The discovery of Camden's body under a blanket on a dirt road in South Berwick, Maine, on May 14 launched a nationwide effort to identify him. Even as that effort was under way, McCrery called his Irving, Texas, elementary school daily to report him absent.

A medical examiner says Camden died of asphyxiation. The mother and son had stayed in a New Hampshire motel the weekend before his body was discovered.

Texas public records show that McCrery was arrested at least twice on prostitution charges and once for possession with intent to distribute drugs. In 2009, she was sentenced to one year in prison for a misdemeanor conviction of prostitution. In 2004, she was sentenced to three years of probation for a felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/092811-Texas-Mom-to-Plead-Guilty-to-Killing-Son-in-New-Hampshire

Foster's Daily Democrat

28 September 2011

McCrery pleads guilty but sentencing announcement pushed back
‎
Julianne McCrery's hearing addressing her guilty plea to a second-degree murder of her son will likely take place in November, according to the New Hampshire attorney general's office.

According to Susan Morrill, of the Attorney General's Office, they are waiting for a confirmation from the Rockingham Superior Court addressing the date and time of her court hearing.

Sentencing for McCrery, according to Collins, will likely occur in January, allowing the presence of her family members.

On Friday, Sept. 23, McCrery plead guilty to a charge of second-degree murder of her 6-year-old son Camden Pierce Hughes in May of this year. The boy was found strangled to death off of a rural road in South Berwick, Maine. The charge carries a penalty of 45 years to life in prison.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110929/GJNEWS_01/110929398/-1/fosnews

Foster's Daily Democrat

30 September 2011

McCrery hearing on guilty plea in young son's death expected in Nov.
‎
Julianne McCrery's hearing on her guilty plea to second-degree murder of her son will likely not take place until November.

Susan Morrell of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office, said they are waiting for a confirmation from the Rockingham Superior Court as to exactly what day and time the hearing will occur.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110930/GJNEWS_01/709309922/-1/FOSNEWS

Foster's Daily Democrat

4 October 2011

Court dates set for mother accused of killing child‎

The exact dates and times for Julianne McCrery's plea and sentencing hearing have been set, according to an official with the Rockingham Superior Court.

McCrery's plea hearing will be held on Nov. 4 while her sentencing hearing will be on Jan. 13. Both of them will occur at 9 a.m. at Rockingham Superior Court in Brentwood, N.H.

On Sept. 23, McCrery pleaded guilty to second degree murder of her 6-year-old son Camden Pierce Hughes. According to an autopsy, Camden was murdered by asphyxiation. His body was found off a rural road in South Berwick, Maine.

According to Senior Assistant Attorney General and one prosecutor of McCrery's case, Susan Morrell, the plea hearing will ensure that McCrery has made this decision willfully and knowingly, and that she is aware of all of her rights that she is waiving with her guilty plea, including the right to a jury trial and the right to call witnesses.

The hearing is also an opportunity for judge and counsel to ensure that McCrery is pleading guilty to a valid criminal charge and there are no possible avenues within the case that have not been explored that could prove her guilty plea invalid.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111004/GJNEWS_01/710049956