History of the Brooks Case
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del.icio.usJune 22, 2006: Pair face charges of capital murder
BY HURST LAVIANA
The Wichita Eagle
Two Wichita men were charged Wednesday with capital murder in the strangul ation death of 14-year-old Chelsea Brooks.
The men also were charged with aggravated kidnapping in an alleged murder plot that ended with the burial of Chelsea's body near a Butler County wheat field.
Elgin "Ray-Ray" Robinson Jr., 20, also was charged with two counts of rape for allegedly having sex with Chelsea before her 14th birthday.
Robinson was charged with a misdemeanor count of violating a protecti on-from-abuse order obtained by Chelsea's mother that accused him of being the father of Chelsea's unborn child.
The second suspect, Theodore G. Burnett, 49, was discharged from prison in November after serving time for drug and property crimes.
District Judge Greg Waller set bond for each defendant at $1 million and ordered each to return to court July 6 for a preliminary hearing.
A third suspect, Everett Gentry, 17, was charged Tuesday in juvenile court with kidnapping and capital murder. He is being held without bond. Because he is a juvenile, Gentry will not face the death penalty if convicted.
Details of Chelsea's death have not been made public, but the criminal charges said the "intentional and premeditated killing was done pursuant to a contract or agreement to kill Chelsea Brooks." The charges also said the crimes occurred in both Sedgwick and Butler counties.
Chelsea, who was nine months pregnant, was reported missing June 9 after telling friends at Skate South, on MacArthur near Hydraulic in Wichita, that she was going to see her baby's father. Butler County authorities found her body six days later, partially buried near a wheat field northeast of Andover.
Under Kansas law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty only under a handful of circumstances, one of which is a premeditated killing "pursuant to a contract or agreement." If convicted of such a crime, a defendant can be sentenced to death only if a jury decides that aggravating circumstances in the case outweigh mitigating factors.
District Attorney Nola Foulston said after the brief court hearing that her office would review all possible aggravating and mitigating factors before deciding whether to seek the death penalty.
Waller ordered Robinson and Burnett to have no contact with witnesses in the case or with each other.
When asked about the possibility of filing charges in the death of Chelsea' s unborn baby, Foulston said, "I can only say that we follow what the law is."
The law makes it a felony to cause injuries that result in a miscarriage, but there are no provisions for causing the death of a fetus if a miscarriage does not occur.
Foulston said she could not discuss why her office did not pursue criminal charges against Robinson when the protection-from-abuse order accusing him of having sex with Chelsea was issued in February.
"I am not going to comment on what could have been or might have been filed," she said. "I wish I could tell you more, but the law is limiting about what can be said about this case."
In February, Chelsea's mother, Terri Brooks, obtained a protective order against Robinson, banning him from having contact with her daughter. In the document, she accused Robinson of impregnating her daughter and trying to manipulate the girl to keep secret that he was the father. It is illegal for an adult to have sex with a 14-year-old.
In the paperwork, Terri Brooks cited two Wichita Police Department case numbers.
On Monday, The Eagle requested records on those cases under the state open records act. Wednesday afternoon, the city released part of the records, with the names and other identifying information about the victim and suspect whited out. City spokesman Van Williams said that information was removed in accordance with state law and city policy.
The first case report, dated July 27, 2005, apparently from a parent, alleged that a daughter who was a minor had sexual relations with a suspect during the past two years. The victim was located at the suspect's residence, and detectives with the Exploited and Missing Children Unit had been notified, the report said. The case was classified as a rape of a child 13 or younger.
The second case number Terri Brooks cited was for a police report dated Jan. 30; that report said a juvenile reported having consensual sex with a suspect and becoming pregnant. The case was classified as a statutory rape.