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Thread: Christopher Wayne Madison Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 AL Slaying of 11-Year-Old Amberly Barnett

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    Christopher Wayne Madison Sentenced to LWOP in 2019 AL Slaying of 11-Year-Old Amberly Barnett



    Amberly Barnett





    Suspect charged with capital murder in strangling death of 11-year-old Amberly Barnett

    By Ashley Remkus
    AL.com

    A suspect has been charged in the strangling death of 11-year-old Alabama girl Amberly Barnett, authorities said today.

    Christopher Madison, 33, is held in the DeKalb County jail without bail on a capital murder charge, according to the sheriff’s office.

    DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said an initial autopsy report shows Barnett was strangled.

    Barnett’s body was found about 200 yards behind Madison’s home early Saturday, Welden said. Barnett had been reported missing late Friday in the Mount Vernon community of DeKalb County, where she was living with her aunt on County Road 822.

    Mount Vernon is about 25 miles northeast of Gadsden.

    Welden announced Madison’s arrest during a press briefing at the sheriff’s office in Fort Payne on Monday afternoon. the sheriff read a brief statement but didn’t take questions from reporters.

    “Due to the ongoing investigation, and in order not to jeopardize that investigation, I am not at liberty to disclose any additional information concerning this case,” Welden said.

    “My heart is still shattered,” the sheriff added. “Our main focus is justice for a sweet angel that gained her wings.”

    Madison was initially arrested Saturday evening on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance, records show. He was accused of having methamphetamine and a syringe, court records show. The capital murder charge was added Monday.

    In Alabama, capital murder is punishable by the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Amberly’s mother, Jonie Barnett, wrote a Facebook post in memory of her daughter on Sunday evening.

    “You were the jewel in our hearts,” the mother wrote, “you were loved in every way, now you're gone, you're truly missed each and every day... You always brought the sunshine and you brightened up our world, spreading happiness and kindness since you were a little girl.”

    As of Monday, a GoFundMe account already raised about $7,000 for Barnett’s family. The online account was created by alumni of Cedartown High School in Georgia. Jonie Barnett was a member of the class of 2009.

    https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/susp...y-barnett.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Family members speak out about 11-year-old murdered in DeKalb County

    By Stephen McLamb
    WAFF News

    COLLINSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - Family members of 11-year-old Amberly Alexis Barnett are speaking out.

    Amberly was staying with her aunt and the aunt’s next-door neighbor, 33-year-old Christopher Wayne Madison. Madison is charged with killing the little girl.

    “That was my best friend and you can just imagine what that little girl went through,” said Amberly’s aunt, KC Barnett.

    Amberly Barnett's family is heartbroken.

    She stayed with Barnett and Jesse Crane.

    Crane’s sister lived next door with Madison.

    Jesse Crane says the family left Amberly at the house when they went for a quick trip to Walmart Friday night.

    “Kid wanted to stay because like I said, she got Chinese, she wanted Chinese food, she got it. She wanted to stay home. It was cool,” said Crane.

    Crane says 45 minutes later when they got back Amberly was gone but Madison was home.

    Police were called and it didn't take long for family members to question why Madison was searching the same spot.

    “He says, ‘Well, I’m going to go back up there and search one more time,’ and he went back up there in the same spot and kept saying nothing’s up here and that’s where they found her body,” said John Wayne Barnett.

    Crane says cadaver dogs found Amberly's body about two hundred yards behind Madison's home Saturday morning.

    Family members say they have one big question.

    “All we want to know is why? How can you do this to a little child?” said Barnett.

    They don't know whether they will ever get an answer but the hope now is they can get they can get justice for Amberly.

    “I hope he just has to sit there in jail and rot,” said Barnett.

    Madison is currently charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14. He remains in the DeKalb County jail without bond.

    http://www.waff.com/2019/03/06/famil...dekalb-county/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Suspect pretended to search for slain 11-year-old Amberly Barnett, testimony reveals

    By Ashley Remkus
    AL.com

    Christopher Madison, the Alabama man accused of strangling to death 11-year-old Amberly Barnett, pretended to help search for the girl after she was reported missing, court testimony revealed.

    On the night Barnett was reported missing, Madison claimed he had searched a wooded area behind his DeKalb County home without finding any sign of the missing girl, an investigator testified. But hours later, on the morning of March 2, the DeKalb County sheriff’s office found Barnett's body lying in the woods with a blue rope around her neck.

    Madison, 33, is charged with capital murder in Barnett’s slaying. He appeared in DeKalb County District Court for a preliminary hearing on Monday afternoon. Judge Steven Whitmire ruled prosecutors have probable cause for the capital murder case.

    Barnett is from Georgia, but she had been living with her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend in the Mount Vernon community of DeKalb County since this past summer. Madison lived with his girlfriend in the mobile home next door on County Road 822. Madison’s girlfriend and the boyfriend of Barnett’s aunt are siblings.

    On the evening of March 1, Barnett stayed home alone while her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend went shopping, Investigator Davis testified. When the family returned, Barnett was missing. The sheriff’s office was called to the scene around 7:30 p.m.

    Madison claimed he saw a dark Dodge Durango pull into the driveway at Barnett’s home. But Davis testified that neighbors never saw the vehicle and other evidence contradicted Madison’s story about the SUV.

    When authorities were searching for Barnett, Madison claimed he already checked the woods behind his home without finding the girl, Davis testified. It was dark outside, and sheriff’s deputies didn’t find Barnett’s body during searches that night. Around 6:30 the next morning, authorities found her body.

    On a tree in the woods, investigators found a long blonde hair, Davis testified. Nearby, in what appeared to be a path where the body was dragged, authorities found a sock that was believed to be Barnett’s, Davis testified. The girl was wearing only one sock when they found her dead.

    Inside Madison’s home, Davis testified, investigators found a bloodied pair of his jeans in the dryer. There was blood in the bathroom sink and on the walls, mattress, bed frame and a sheet of paper in a bedroom.

    Authorities haven’t said why they believe Madison killed Barnett. Madison had an “interest in bondage,” Davis testified, citing Madison’s girlfriend and children. Inside Madison’s home, investigators found a clamp and a bolt in the floor that allegedly had been used previously as part of his “interest in bondage.” Davis didn’t provide further details about the bondage. Investigators and DeKalb County Chief Deputy District Attorney Bob Johnston left the courtroom without granting interviews to members of the news media.

    When police showed Madison’s girlfriend a picture of the blue rope that was found around Barnett’s neck, the woman said the rope had been inside their home the day before, according to Davis’ testimony. Another piece of blue rope was found wrapped around a knife in the backyard of Madison’s home, Davis testified. In interviews with investigators, Madison admitted the knife was his.

    Authorities said they don’t yet have the results of forensic testing to be performed on the blood and other evidence found at the scene. That evidence also includes a black hair that was found on Barnett’s body, Davis testified.

    Defense attorneys Brian White, of Decatur, and Jake Watson, of Huntsville, declined to comment.

    Alabama court records don’t show a criminal record for Madison, who previously lived in Georgia. A search of court records in Cobb County, Georgia didn’t reveal a criminal history.

    However, a woman in DeKalb County, Alabama last year sought a protection from abuse order against Madison. In court records, the woman alleged that Madison had hit her in the head with a hammer, punched her in the face, smacked her head on the floor and strangled her to the point she passed out. A judge dismissed the petition when the woman and Madison failed to show up for a court hearing.

    If convicted of capital murder, Madison faces either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Updated at 5:07 p.m. with new information throughout.

    Updated at 7:15 p.m. to correct the dates of Barnett’s disappearance and the day her body was found.

    https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/alab...y-barnett.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Grand jury presentation could be months away in capital murder case against Alabama man accused of killing 11-year-old girl

    Attorneys in the case await forensic evidence analysis

    By Ben Benton
    Chattanooga Times Free Press

    It could be months before a capital murder charge against an Alabama man accused of killing an 11-year-old girl last month is presented to a grand jury.

    Christopher Wayne Madison, 33, is jailed in the death of Amberly Alexis Barnett, a next-door neighbor who went missing from her aunt's house where she lived on March 1. Her body was found the next day in an area behind Madison's home in DeKalb County.

    That day, Madison was booked on capital murder charges, jail records show. He also was charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

    Evidence, including blood and hair, were collected from Madison's home and the scene where the body was found in the woods.

    But it could take some time to process some of that evidence, said Bob Johnston, chief deputy district attorney in Ninth Judicial Circuit Attorney General Mike O'Dell's office.

    He wasn't sure when the next grand jury meets but said the case would not be ready by then. There's no timeline on the forensic work, he said. DeKalb County court officials said a date for the grand jury's next session has not been set.

    "It'll be a few grand juries from now, I would think, before we're ready," Johnston said.

    Meanwhile, the circuit court judge has adopted the case so some preliminary motions can begin taking place, said Johnston, who will assist O'Dell. O'Dell will lead the prosecution if the grand jury hands up an indictment and the case goes to trial.

    Madison is represented by Decatur attorney Brian White and Huntsville attorney Jake Watson. Neither could be reached for comment.

    Before the discovery of the body, the girl's mother, Jonie Barnett, posted on Facebook that there were suspicious circumstances in her daughter's disappearance.

    "SOMEONE GOT MY DAUGHTER FROM MY SISTERS HOME IN Collinsville/sandrock ALABAMA!" the post reads. "Her phone was left behind and my baby takes it everywhere. Nothing in her phone indicated she was planning to leave! My sis had went to the store while her brother in law who was outside working on the house next door/same land and driveway. Amberly is the type to not do anything that she will get in trouble for. She is so scared of anyone being mad at her or getting in trouble. She would not have ran away or make plans to go off somewhere. A Green SUV was seen leaving the driveway!"

    Case details were revealed in a March 18 preliminary hearing before DeKalb County Judge Steve Whitmire, including state testimony that Madison himself initially joined in the search and had told police of a dark-colored SUV he said he saw at the home, the Times-Journal in Fort Payne reported.

    DeKalb County Sheriff's Office chief investigator David Davis testified that on March 1 the girl's aunt and her aunt's boyfriend went to Walmart in nearby Centre around 6 p.m. CST, leaving Barnett and her younger brother with their grandfather, who lived on the same street, the newspaper reported.

    The girl's aunt and her boyfriend returned to discover her missing and checked with neighbors who said they hadn't seen her. Madison reportedly searched the tree line behind the property multiple times and told searchers "it was good" and there was no more need to search there.

    Tracking dogs led Davis and Sheriff Nick Weldon to a trail leading into the trees marked with a shovel stuck in the ground, the paper reported. A pine tree along the trail appeared to be disturbed and had strands of long, blonde hair stuck to it. Beyond the tree, investigators saw a dragging pattern on the ground, a sock and then a machete, the paper reported. The girl's body was found about 40 feet further along the trail, one sock missing amid "evidence of foul play," Davis testified.

    She was found with a blue rope wrapped around her neck and her face was reported as red and discolored. A dark hair was also found on her stomach, according to testimony. The preliminary autopsy report stated the girl died by strangulation, according to preliminary autopsy findings.

    Other testimony regarding case evidence included blood found in the bathroom and two bedrooms of Madison's home, hair suspected of belonging to the girl found in the bathroom sink, an account from Madison's wife regarding Madison's interest in bondage and how unusual it was for him to have washed clothes or cleaned the bathroom.

    Davis testified under defense questioning that Barnett had been staying at her aunt's home since the summer of 2018, the paper reported. Davis also said no fingerprints were found.

    https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...ital-m/492533/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutors will seek death penalty for 11-year-old girl’s murder in DeKalb County

    By WAFF 48 News Staff

    DEKALB COUNTY, AL (WAFF) - There’s been a new development in the case of a DeKalb County man accused of abducting and killing an 11-year-old girl.

    Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against Christopher Madison.

    Madison is charged with capital murder in the death of Amberly Barnett. She was found strangled in the wooded area behind Madison’s home in Collinsville last month. She had been reported missing before her body was found.

    Chief Investigator David Davis testified at Madison’s preliminary hearing in March that during a search of Madison’s home they found blood and hair in multiple locations along with other key pieces of evidence.

    https://www.waff.com/2019/04/21/pros...dekalb-county/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Alabama death penalty case in 11-year-old girl's brutal 2019 slaying remains stalled

    It's been almost 2 years since 11-year-old Amberly Alexis Barnett was found strangled to death in the woods near her DeKalb County, Alabama, home in March 2019 and the man facing the death penalty in her slaying is still no closer to trial or even a grand jury presentation.

    Christopher Wayne Madison, now 35, was charged in Amberly's death the day after her body was found behind his house, next door to the girl's aunt at whose home she had been staying when she disappeared.

    Analysis of forensic evidence in the case was pending throughout 2019, and when the coronavirus struck in 2020 the case stalled completely, according to the Ninth Circuit District Attorney's Office in Fort Payne.


    Those forensic reports are still pending from the FBI and the case can't move forward until it can be presented to the grand jury, according to chief deputy district attorney Bob Johnston. Johnston said in April 2019 that forensic analysis and processing could take an extended amount of time, and the presentation to the grand jury could be delayed for months.


    The case didn't make it to the grand jury by the end of 2019.


    In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic closed or greatly limited operations at crime labs that perform that kind of analysis and the case has remained stalled, Johnston said Thursday.


    Decatur, Alabama-attorney Brian White, one of Madison's 2 lawyers in the death penalty case, declined to comment Friday on the delay. White's co-counsel on the case is Huntsville, Alabama, attorney Robert Tuten, White said. The previous co-counsel in the case, Jake Watson, since took a federal job and withdrew from the case, White said.


    A contact for the Barnett family could not be found to comment on the case.


    Amberly disappeared March 1, 2019, authorities said at the time.


    Just after dawn on March 2, 2019, the girl's body was found by DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden, a couple of police K-9 handlers and others who were searching the area where she was last seen, department spokesman Tyler Pruett said of the discovery. Pruett also helped in the search.


    Welden spotted a shovel standing straight up at the back of the yard at Madison's residence and Pruett followed the sheriff along a foot trail that led to the back of Madison's yard. The officers fanned out about 100 yards as they searched.


    "After proceeding about 150 yards up the trail, I noticed Sheriff Welden begin to run as if he had seen something. I began to run to catch up," Pruett said in 2019. "Before reaching his location, the sheriff asked me to 'hang on a minute,' so that he could make sure it wasn't a 'doll or something' he had found."


    Welden got close enough to confirm it was the missing girl, and to see a blue rope around her neck. Pruett said Madison was then held at his home to make sure he didn't try to leave. He was charged later the same day.


    Case details were revealed in a March 18, 2019, preliminary hearing before DeKalb County Judge Steve Whitmire to bind the case over to the grand jury, including state testimony that Madison himself initially joined in the search and had told police of a dark-colored SUV he said he saw at the home, according to 2019 reports in the Times-Journal newspaper in Fort Payne.


    David Davis, chief investigator for the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, testified that on March 1, 2019, the girl's aunt and her aunt's boyfriend went to Walmart in nearby Centre around 6 p.m. CST, leaving Barnett and her younger brother with their grandfather, who lived on the same street, the newspaper reported.


    When Amberly's aunt and her boyfriend returned, Amberly was missing and they checked with neighbors who said they hadn't seen her. Madison reportedly searched the tree line behind the property multiple times and told searchers "it was good" and there was no more need to search there, according to testimony.


    Near Madison's home, Davis and Welden spotted the trail that led to the girl's body. According to preliminary hearing testimony, a pine tree along the trail appeared to be disturbed and had strands of long, blonde hair stuck to it. Beyond the tree, investigators saw a dragging pattern on the ground, a sock and then a machete.


    Amberly's body was found another 40 feet down the trail, one sock missing amid "evidence of foul play," Davis testified.


    Amberly's face was reported as red and discolored, and a dark hair was found on her stomach, according to testimony. The preliminary autopsy report said she died by strangulation.


    Other testimony on case evidence included blood found in the bathroom and two bedrooms of Madison's home, hair suspected of belonging to the girl found in the bathroom sink, an account from Madison's wife regarding Madison's interest in bondage and how unusual it was for him to have washed clothes or cleaned the bathroom.


    Davis testified under defense questioning that Amberly had been staying at her aunt's home since the summer of 2018, the paper reported. Davis also said no fingerprints were found. Evidence, including blood and hair, were collected from Madison's home and the scene where the body was found.


    This week, officials said there's no timeline on when court will resume normal operations.


    (Source: Times Dispatch)
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Alabama man pleads guilty to capital murder in 2019 slaying of 11-year-old girl

    - By William Thornton, AL.com | March 24, 2022 -

    Christopher Wayne Madison today pleaded guilty to capital murder in the 2019 strangling death of 11-year-old Amberly Barnett.

    Madison, 36, of Cedar Bluff, entered the plea in DeKalb County District Court today, a little more than three years after the girl’s death.

    He was sentenced to life without parole, according to court documents. Prosecutors had initially sought the death penalty.

    A trial had been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Barnett disappeared March 1, 2019, Madison was charged in Barnett’s death the day after her body was found behind his house.

    He was living at the time next door to the girl’s aunt, at whose home Barnett had been staying when she disappeared.

    Madison claimed he saw a dark Dodge Durango pull into the driveway at Barnett’s home.

    But neighbors said they never saw the vehicle, and other evidence contradicted Madison’s story about the SUV.

    On the night Barnett was reported missing, Madison claimed he had searched a wooded area behind his home without finding any sign of the missing girl, an investigator testified in 2019.

    Hours later, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office found Barnett’s strangled body at first light, lying in the woods with a blue rope around her neck.

    Inside Madison’s home, investigators found a bloodied pair of his jeans in the dryer. There was blood in the bathroom sink and on the walls, mattress, bed frame and a sheet of paper in a bedroom.

    https://www.al.com/news/2022/03/alab...-old-girl.html
    https://archive.ph/PQ0kL

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