Amber Alert Girl Charged In Brutal Slay

Florida Cops Say 15-year-old Morgan Leppert And Her Convict Boyfriend Killed A 66-year-old Man And Stole His Truck

(AP)  North Florida authorities charged a 15-year-old girl, who was the subject of an Amber Alert, and her boyfriend with fatally beating, stabbing and suffocating an older man.

Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly said Tuesday at a news conference that a first-degree murder warrant had been issued for Morgan Amanda Leppert, who is in custody with her boyfriend in El Paso, Texas, charging her with the slaying of 66-year-old James Stewart.

State Attorney John Tanner said it will be up to a grand jury whether to charge Leppert as a juvenile or adult.

Her boyfriend, Toby Lowry, 22, will be extradited on charges of grand theft auto for stealing Stewart's pickup and interference of custody. Lowry will be charged with first-degree murder when he returns to Florida, authorities said.

Authorities did not know if Leppert or Lowry had lawyers.

The couple was picked up in El Paso Saturday evening when a motorist spotted them after seeing the Amber Alert and called police.

The 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup that authorities say they stole from Stewart was found nearby. He was found dead Thursday in his home in Melrose, about 20 miles east of Gainesville. Police also believe they took money from Stewart.

Stewart was beaten with two metal rods, stabbed several times and suffocated with a plastic bag over his head.

Putnam County investigators had been searching for Leppert since she was reported missing on April 22. The case was elevated to an Amber Alert when deputies made a connection between her disappearance and Lowry.

Officials said Lowry has a lengthy criminal history and was released from prison last summer after serving a 20-month sentence for burglary and criminal mischief.

Putnam County investigators interviewed Leppert and Lowry in Texas on Sunday.

[redbarron73]

They were just playing a video game & suddenly, bam, they''re in jail......

[bdrlnt4rl]

i hope this boy age 22 gets charged with statatory rape as well for hanging around a 15 year old girl who has no real concept of right from wrong, it is a proven fact that the brain is still developing at this age and it is still child like. pbs.org search teen age brain development.

[bdrlnt4rl]

and you are right in what you say, but the perception, just like depth development, is not all the way matured. i think she should be held accountable and spend many years in prison, there is no excuse for her actions, and he should get the death penalty.

[pfd572]

At 15 she should be held accountable, but not as a fully matured adult. It is a scientific fact that impulse control, self-esteem and confidence, and empathy are not fully developed in a teen. Also, teens are easily manipulated and most prefer being followers, they don''t think beyond the moment or think about consequences and form ''hero'' attachments. Jail time, with counseling and therapy, and the chance to mature are called for.

[pfd572]

No more death sentences while we are releasing death row inmates who have been proven innocent. 129 death row inmates vindicated and released in the most recent cases. How many innocent have been executed? No one knows. Life imprisonment in a federal maximum security facility is no vacation. And it gives time for science and evidence gathering techniques to catch up.

[dylanxxv]

At 15 she should be held accountable, but not as a fully matured adult. It is a scientific fact that impulse control, self-esteem and confidence, and empathy are not fully developed in a teen. Also, teens are easily manipulated and most prefer being followers, they don''''t think beyond the moment or think about consequences and form ''''hero'''' attachments. Jail time, with counseling and therapy, and the chance to mature are called for.

Posted by pfd572 at 10:36 PM : May 06, 2008

Execute her half way then...

[jjarden]

There is only ONE Punishment for these two monsters...a Public Beheading with the a Rusty Axe on the town common...BUT of course, it will never happen, because there is NO "Justice" System in this country...it is a JOKE.

[prinzowhales]

M...A...L...MAL...tres mal...

[swwils]

This is a sick,sick world! I just don''t understand todays youth at all.Not all of them,but a big majority are nuts.Just some of the way they act here in my home town I can''t fathom,it is un- realistic the things that they do ,and act like it is normal.Freaks me out ,and I am an X green Beret 12 years military,its a mind game.

[pfd572]

diatreme: Here we go with the name calling to support a weak premise, from another ignorant, bloated, ''from my cold head hands'' right-wing, conspiracy theory conservative. Personality is SEPARATE from impulse control, etc. What a great idea, calling for the execution of a 15-year old before you even have most of the facts. I love how all of you ''law and order'' types ignore the law and the Constitution when it suits you.

[torch1000us1]

pfd572 stated:No more death sentences while we are releasing death row inmates who have been proven innocent. 129 death row inmates vindicated and released in the most recent cases. How many innocent have been executed? No one knows. Life imprisonment in a federal maximum security facility is no vacation. And it gives time for science and evidence gathering techniques to catch up.

While I believe that no innocent person should be executed, I would like to point out that most of the people you are referring to have been proven innocent by DNA evidence and were old cases. The same DNA we use today puts the killers on death row.

[nonayabiness]

A 15 year old knows murder is wrong, unless there is a history of previously documented mental illness or retardation or such. Assuming they have evidence she participated, in this case, she should be jailed until the age of 18 in a juvenile facility and then, eligible for the death penalty at age 18.

I used to be against the death penalty, but with DNA evidence being so reliable these days, perhaps the death penalty has to be enforced and threatened more in order to supress these unnecessary criminal acts.

Besides, in today''s economy, it is not (and has never been) in the taxpayer''s interest to feed, clothe, bathe and educate a killer for 30 plus years. Give em the axe, an eye for an eye. I bet the crime rate would go down. And that is the goal.

[ranger1948]

Everyone knows how reliable reportersd report the news. I think it is sensible to wait till all the facts are presented to a grand jury then appropriate action be taken. If guilty i have no problem with the execution sentence, even for the 15 year old.

[ranger1948]

The 22 year old will face kidnapping and statutory rape charges as well as the murder charge, and also grand theft as well as federal statues since he crossed from one state to another.

[pfd572]

torch1000: That is a critical misunderstanding. DNA isn''t collected from every crime scene, in fact its a very small percentage. Investigators have to find fluids, hair or other DNA source and that isn''t left at every crime scene or the scene is too messed up to obtain uncontaminated and separate samples. Plus, you have to have the DNA sequence from the perpetrator, not everyone''s DNA is on file and available to every jurisdiction. Prosecutors are having trouble with juries because they are expecting DNA evidence, too. When it isn''t presented they are ''hanging'' more and more juries. DNA isn''t the end all and be all of criminal investigation or prosecution. So, again, abolish the death penalty until we have a fully no mistake system.

[pfd572]

What you have in most cases is eye witness or finger print testimonies. Both are subjective and neither is a science. Eye witness testimony is extremely flawed and finger print evidence isn''t even standard. It depends on a person interpreting the matches. Some jurisdictions require a 13-point match, some as little as a 4-point match (do you know how many people would have a 4-point match to a single finger print...hundreds, if not thousands) and some don''t have any standard at all. So, its better to err on the side of caution, use life imprisonment, not the death penalty and hope science catches up.

[pfd572]

Nonaya: besides the lack of DNA evidence (check the facts, I was an emergency responder and I assure you the CSI shows are fiction, some of the equipments, tests and especially the speed of performing tests are fiction) it is cheaper to sentence someone to life imprisonment than the death penalty. Not only fewer appeals, but the cost of a death penalty case and the appeals far exceeds the costs of housing a prisoner for 30 years.

[pfd572]

diatreme: you are a narrow minded, stubborn, ignorant fool. As I said, personality is separate from the physical development of the brain. A child with a great personality will still have problems with impulse control until the brain has fully developed. Can you grasp that simple science? And your boring mantra about bleeding hearts isn''t effective. Its about facts, knowledge and understanding truth. But if my knowledge, education and empathy make be a bleeding heart, okay. At least I know what I''M talking about. Wonder what your position would be if it was someone you care about that was only 14 or 15? Gloating and wishing someone dead, for any reason, with the investigative capabilities, flaws, inconsistent defense and justice system corruption makes you just as sadistic and

[leesa429]

It costs more to jail someone for life then it does to just kill them; as a productive member of society, I do not want to foot the bill so convicted murderers can have the comforts%u2019 my dollar affords to them. Every system has its flaws; maybe people should run with a better circle of friends or live better life styles as to not be "wrongly" accused of something. Most people who were wrongly sentenced had sketchy pasts.

[keithle1]

A 15-year-old girl with a 22-year-old boyfriend... Isn''t that illegal? Where are Mom & Dad? Drunk or in jail? Way to screw up your life, girl. Didn''t take you long. Guess you like bad boys. Well isn''t that special.

Why kill him? Just steal his car & money. Better than a first-degree murder warrant. Most criminals are not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[hippychicky-2009]

diatreme:

I agree with you partially in the fact that it is hard to rehabilitate criminals. But especially her age has to be taken into consideration. And it will be, she is still a minor. The really sad part about this story is why weren''t her parents more involved. Where were they, when their daughter was dating a 22 yr old man???
They are partially to blame. At 15 3/4 of the decisions that are made are unthought out. And thats why you have parents.

[keithle1]

Stupid people are breeding. Make them stop. This is the kind of thing that their idiot offspring get up to. Baby mamas & baby papas. No one has heard of birth control. Condoms cost $100 and no one knows how to put them on.

"I done got pregnant again, Momma. I think it''s Virgil this time. Of course it could be Shorty. Or Tyrone. Waaaaahhhhh!"

[pfd572]

Leesa: wrong. It costs taxpayers a great deal more to prosecute a death penalty case then it does to incarcerate someone for life. Death penalty court cases are 10 times more expensive, courts are much more careful and prone to allow taxpayer monies to pay for investigations, testing, experts, etc. when they may be taking someone''s life. Lawyers are more expensive, whether private or a public defender. Death penalty cases require a higher standard for lawyers and that costs money. Appeals, automatic and numerous, are extremely expensive. Separate, more secure cell blocks for housing death row inmates, who stay in these cells for decades sometimes. The list goes on and is very expensive. So if its a dollars and cents argument, you lose.

[pfd572]

FYI...the parents were made aware and did tell her she could no longer see this ''older'' man. Its one of the reasons the police think they ran off together.

[pfd572]

leesa: so a persons sketchy past excuses their being convicted of a crime they didn''t commit? It justifies sentencing them to death when they are innocent? There are very few ''fool proof'' or ''slam dunk'' convictions. When the evidence is circumstantial, relies on eye-witness testimony or finger print analysis and no DNA or other scientific evidence the risk is too great that someone maybe be convicted of a crime they did not commit. Regardless of what is written for tv drama, DNA evidence is VERY RARE. Anyone of you is at risk for a wrongful conviction. Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time or knowing the wronger people/person is all it takes.

[rhs648]

torch1000: That is a critical misunderstanding. DNA isn''''t collected from every crime scene, in fact its a very small percentage. Investigators have to find fluids, hair or other DNA source and that isn''''t left at every crime scene or the scene is too messed up to obtain uncontaminated and separate samples. Plus, you have to have the DNA sequence from the perpetrator, not everyone''''s DNA is on file and available to every jurisdiction. Prosecutors are having trouble with juries because they are expecting DNA evidence, too. When it isn''''t presented they are ''''hanging'''' more and more juries. DNA isn''''t the end all and be all of criminal investigation or prosecution. So, again, abolish the death penalty until we have a fully no mistake system.

Posted by pfd572

Those who wrote the death penalty laws never envisioned DNA or a fully mistake free system. In fact, most early death sentences were carried out almost immediately. Lawyers with appeal after appeal and courts willing to hear these appeals have led to our current system. To demand a fully mistake free system is equivalent to no death sentence. The founding fathers and those who wrote the death penalty laws did not expect perfection. Why should the rest of us expect perfection?

[cam79901]

Just a few quick questions, I have heard through several reports different stories on where Leppert%u2019s cell phone was found, one the mother brought it in and that%u2019s how authorities originally went to Stewarts home, then it was found smashed in Stewarts yard, and also back at lowery%u2019s home, although they had not been staying at his home but in the woods behind Stewarts house. So does any one actually know where the cell phone was found or how many cell phones%u2019 Leppert had? Also how have the authorities been able to question Leppert, she is a minor? And why has she not been aloud to speak with her family? Is a confession being pulled out of a young scared girl? No record, never been held by authorities, scared to admit anything just so she can go home?

[cam79901]

Just a few quick questions, I have heard through several reports different stories on where Leppert%u2019s cell phone was found, one the mother brought it in and that%u2019s how authorities originally went to Stewarts home, then it was found smashed in Stewarts yard, and also back at lowery%u2019s home, although they had not been staying at his home but in the woods behind Stewarts house. So does any one actually know where the cell phone was found or how many cell phones%u2019 Leppert had? Also how have the authorities been able to question Leppert, she is a minor? And why has she not been aloud to speak with her family? Is a confession being pulled out of a young scared girl? No record, never been held by authorities, scared to admit anything just so she can go home?

[cam79901]

Just a few quick questions, I have heard through several reports different stories on where Leppert%u2019s cell phone was found, one the mother brought it in and that%u2019s how authorities originally went to Stewarts home, then it was found smashed in Stewarts yard, and also back at lowery%u2019s home, although they had not been staying at his home but in the woods behind Stewarts house. So does any one actually know where the cell phone was found or how many cell phones%u2019 Leppert had? Also how have the authorities been able to question Leppert, she is a minor? And why has she not been aloud to speak with her family? Is a confession being pulled out of a young scared girl? No record, never been held by authorities, scared to admit anything just so she can go home?

[ranger1948]

pfd572
So if they are underage by your statements we should give them a free pass and send them home ?

[pfd572]

ranger: what part of my comments led you to make that ridiculous statement? I never said or insinuated that she shouldn''t be held accountable for any crimes she may have committed. What I said is that punishment should not only fit the crime, but fit the age, influencing circumstances and any other mitigating factors. You don''t know any more of the facts then I do, yet you are ready to condemn and end the life of a child of only 14 years old. Shame on you.

[pfd572]

rhs: What a illogical argument. If the system can''t guarantee that we would not be executing an innocent person then we should not be executing anyone. Our Founding Fathers were flawed human beings, not omnipotent beings. Just because they saw fit to allow capitol punishment doesn''t mean we have to continue the wrong. They also condoned slavery, but we finally ended that barbaric practice. No one is immune from being caught up in the nightmare of being falsely accused, even you. What kind of person or society says its okay to execute an innocent person (it is naive and ignorant to believe that has never happened), as long as we get the guilty, too. The death penalty is also applied in a wide and diverse methodology. Why do we cry when an ''innocent'' person is the victim of a violent crime, but rejoice and condone the death of an ''innocent'' person by the hands of the Judicial System?

[pfd572]

Plus, you comment that in the past there was no knowledge or vision for DNA evidence actually blows your theory. Had they known, they would most likely have been inclined to require a greater burden of proof in death penalty cases. They were mostly men of great foresight and risked their lives for a more equal system. The fact that we now do have DNA and will most likely have even greater scientific knowledge to assist law enforcement actually supports the call to abolish the death penalty until science ''catches up''.