Deerwood, Minnesota Family Got More Than They Bargained For When Buying A North Minneapolis "Church Van" On Craigslist...

Stock photo from my personal photos, (curse you, Steele County!) blog post by
John Hoff

READ THIS ARTICLE FROM THE BRAINERD DISPATCH, click here.

Yes, Brainerd.

You know. Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox.

A family up there from the little down of Deerwood bought a "church van" off Craigslist and it turned out the van was involved in the murder of Rayjon Gomez. My favorite part of the article is how the family buying the van got a tour of the church and everything. Now the police are saying, you know, it sure LOOKS like somebody (at the church) was really trying to GET RID OF THAT VAN.

I'd heard before this was a "church van" but I never did find out what specific North Minneapolis church was involved. Heaven knows I've got it narrowed down to exactly three, however, only one of which has a pastor who was a character witness for Larry "Maximum" Maxwell.

If anybody out there can kick some information my way that definitively answers the question of "Which church was this with the Gomez murder van," well, you know the deal.

Tell Johnny. Tell.

Whisper in Johnny's ear so Johnny can tell EVERYBODY. 

Prosecutor Continues To "Play Cards Close To The Chest" With Rayjon Gomez Murder Case...

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

As this blogger reported with the indictment of Donquarius Copeland and with the indictment of Derrick Deangelo Catchings, the Hennepin County prosecutor is "playing his cards close to his chest" with indictments instead of criminal complaints. Issuing forth from closed grand jury proceedings, the indictments reveal little but bare allegations and the fact witnesses exist designated by letter. This blogger suspects evidence may be thin and witnesses are scared...well, rhymes with witless.

Scared witless.

(Today I was at the U of M law school giving a talk on the Johnny Northside case and the experience has inspired me to clean up my post-Afghan deployment potty mouth)

Here is the indictment that names Kemen (rhymes with "semen?") Lavatos Taylor, but if you click here to read it you won't learn much. The indictment is nearly a carbon copy of the indictment of Donquarius Copeland. Just switch the names.

No criticism is intended of the prosecutor by this observation. If this is how the game must be played, well, this is why prosectuors earn the big bucks. I just wish the unsolved murder of Annshalike Hamilton could get this kind of resolution. 

Derrick Deangelo Catchings, Charged In Murder Of Rayjon Gomez, Also Alleged To Be Involved In Spring Lake Park Motel Shooting...

Mug shot, therefore public domain, blog post by John Hoff

Derrick Deangelo Catchings, age 16, has been certified to stand trial as an adult in the murder of 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez. This blog previously reported on the grand jury indictment, which contained some nuggets of information but not the name of the accused. But with Catchings now certified to stand trial as an adult, his name has been released to media, including Johnny Northside Dot Com. The mainstream media have already barfed up the press release for the consumption of the public. It is up to this blog to dig deeper.

Off With Their Heads

The timing of this announcement by the Hennepin County Prosecutor shows exquisite political instincts. Shock and outrage is at an all-time-high immediately following the murder of Nizzel George, age 5, innocently sleeping on his grandmother's "big green couch."

So certifying 16-year-old Derrick D. Catchings (who was 15 at the time of the Gomez murder) to stand trial in the killing of a 13-year-old wannabe gang member might not have been a popular move prior to June 26. But the death of Nizzel George changes the political climate.

Charge them! the voting demographic cries. Get the gun-toting baby killers off the streets FOREVER, even if they are little more than children themselves. This blog agrees with these sentiments, but it would be more cost-effective to applaud social workers removing children from dysfunctional homes rather than prosecutors cleaning up legal details after children are dead and buried.

A Sibling Crime Spree By Catchings And Brother Henderson (Allegedly)

Within a short time after Catchings' name was released, my ever-vigilant reader base began digging up info and posting it in comments. Turns out Catchings and his (reported) brother, Pierre Tyshaun Henderson, were involved (reportedly) in a vicious and violent incident in a hotel room in Spring Lake Park, click here.

The incident happened in August of 2011 and resulted in...

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Old Juvenile Charges Unearthed For Donquarius Copeland, Accused Of Murdering Rayjon Gomez, Age 13...

Copeland is in the rear, image is FB photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

MNCIS online court data can be a little flukey. Sometimes charges don't show up when you search the name of a defendant, but if you know the defendant's lawyer, and search THAT way, information about other charges pops up. Go figure.

Searching under "Bobby Joe Champion," who has acted in the past as an attorney for Donquarius Copeland, I sadly failed to turn up any info about the murder charges. This tells me Champion might not be Copeland's attorney for those charges. What I did turn up were some interesting old juvenile charges where Champion was Copeland's court appointed attorney...

Rayjon Gomez's Mother, Carmen Rochelle Gomez, Passes Through Hennepin County Jail, Hardly For The First Time Nor, I Suspect, The Last...

FB photo, used under First Amendment comment and criticism, blog post by John Hoff

Carmen Rochelle Gomez, DOB 9/19/1956, the mother of tragic young murder victim Rayjon Gomez, pictured above, passed through the Hennepin County jail recently.

The Hennepin County Jail Roster shows a "hold" for another county (Ramsey) and a $500 bond posted. Carmen was jailed on 5/25, released the next day. Interestingly, Carmen's birthday on the roster is "9/20/56." This is one day off from the birthday shown repeatedly on court records, which is 9/19/56 like that of her identical twin sister.

Carmen's long criminal record was previously discussed on this blog, click here.

It has been consistently alleged by commenters to this blog that Rayjon didn't spend his whole life being raised by his biological mother.

Carmen's adress on the jail roster was 3341 Oliver Ave. N., an address this blog previously linked to a Deshaunta Dmar Gomez, who has also passed through the jail.

Copy Of Grand Jury Indictment In Rayjon Gomez Murder Shows A Prosecutor Playing Cards Close To Chest...

Photo, blog post by John Hoff

Criminal complaint documents are usually a cornucopia of (alleged) criminal information: names, dates, places, makes and models of cars right down to the license plate, even colorful nicknames and aliases. A grand jury indictment is different. It's a bare bones document showing a "grand jury" of random citizens believes there is enough evidence for a criminal indictment of Donquarius Copeland in the murder of 13-year-old Rayjon Gomez.

One prosecutor famously said he could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.

That doesn't mean Donquarius Copeland is innocent, no more than it means he's guilty. The courts will decide whether Copeland killed Rayjon Gomez...