Saturday, December 01, 2007
‘I didn’t kill anybody”
By: Joe McAdory
Staff Writer / Opelika-Auburn News
WETUMPKA - The confines of an Elmore County jail cell are lonely.
Behind bars miles from home, Rosemary Latrice Newsome sits and thinks - about her life, her four little children and the events of the morning of Aug. 14.
Newsome, 28, indicted Wednesday for the shooting death of James Heard of Beauregard, awaits trial and the possibility of life in prison.
In a pair of exclusive interviews with the Opelika-Auburn News at the jail, Newsome not only pleaded her innocence - but also pointed a finger at the person she claims is responsible for the murder.
“The person that committed this crime is still out there,“ she claimed. “I am - and will always feel - responsible for Mr. Heard’s death. I am responsible in only one way. I did not pull the trigger to the gun that took Mr. Heard’s life. But I allowed and trusted this person into my house the night before, and left him there with Mr. Heard that morning.
“I had no reason to kill him.“
Newsome claims a juvenile, who she refused to name, spent the evening of Aug. 13 at the home she shared with Heard, whom she considered her common-law husband. Newsome said the juvenile had a gun.
“I’ve seen him with a gun plenty of times,“ said Newsome, who claimed the youth came over late that evening to “do some laundry and make copies of CDs off of the computer.
“I don’t know anything about guns. I’ve never shot a gun a day in my life. He’s walking free when he should be in jail. If this juvenile tells the truth, I can go home to my kids.“
But Newsome said it was this teen’s testimony to police that led to her arrest.
“He lied on me,“ she said. “I expect him to talk to his mother or his aunt and do what is right because my life is at stake here. I want him to picture his momma sitting in jail, away from him like my kids are doing me.“
By: Joe McAdory
Staff Writer / Opelika-Auburn News
WETUMPKA - The confines of an Elmore County jail cell are lonely.
Behind bars miles from home, Rosemary Latrice Newsome sits and thinks - about her life, her four little children and the events of the morning of Aug. 14.
Newsome, 28, indicted Wednesday for the shooting death of James Heard of Beauregard, awaits trial and the possibility of life in prison.
In a pair of exclusive interviews with the Opelika-Auburn News at the jail, Newsome not only pleaded her innocence - but also pointed a finger at the person she claims is responsible for the murder.
“The person that committed this crime is still out there,“ she claimed. “I am - and will always feel - responsible for Mr. Heard’s death. I am responsible in only one way. I did not pull the trigger to the gun that took Mr. Heard’s life. But I allowed and trusted this person into my house the night before, and left him there with Mr. Heard that morning.
“I had no reason to kill him.“
Newsome claims a juvenile, who she refused to name, spent the evening of Aug. 13 at the home she shared with Heard, whom she considered her common-law husband. Newsome said the juvenile had a gun.
“I’ve seen him with a gun plenty of times,“ said Newsome, who claimed the youth came over late that evening to “do some laundry and make copies of CDs off of the computer.
“I don’t know anything about guns. I’ve never shot a gun a day in my life. He’s walking free when he should be in jail. If this juvenile tells the truth, I can go home to my kids.“
But Newsome said it was this teen’s testimony to police that led to her arrest.
“He lied on me,“ she said. “I expect him to talk to his mother or his aunt and do what is right because my life is at stake here. I want him to picture his momma sitting in jail, away from him like my kids are doing me.“
‘Usual’ morning routine
Heard, 57, left his job as a dock worker at the Opelika-Auburn News on Aug. 14 shortly after 5 a.m. and arrived to his residence on Alabama Highway 51 in Beauregard at approximately 5:30 a.m.
“I got the kids (four ages 6, 7, 8 and 12) up as usual,“ Newsome said. “Everyone was doing their usual routine. Mr. Heard came in at 5:30 a.m. I had just finished my daughter’s hair. (Heard) came in and we greeted him and he went to his room, sat on the bed and watched the news.“
Newsome said “the juvenile,“ who had spent the night, “Put clothes in the washer, took a little black bag and went outside on the porch. I knew he was doing drugs and getting high. I figured he was going out to smoke whatever he was smoking.
“We waited for 6:25 to roll around (when the children’s school bus arrived). Everyone grabbed their book bags. The kids gave (Heard) kisses and hugs. I gave him a kiss and a hug. (The juvenile) was in the back, laying in my son’s bed. Mr. Heard said he would grab a nap and then go to a job fair.
“Me and the kids went out of the house. I closed the door behind me.“
Newsome said she planned to visit the house she and Heard previously occupied, then head to an auto dealer. She said she never made it to the home on Airport Road in Opelika before her cell phone caught her attention.
“I had a missed call and a text from (the juvenile),“ she said. “The text asked where I was at. I called him back and he said he needed me to take him to Wal-Mart to get money for his mother. I asked, ‘Why didn’t you go with me when I left?‘ So I turned around at the new Kroger and went back out (to the trailer).
“The phone rang again. He said to pick him up at his aunt’s house (not far from the Heard residence). I said, ‘OK.‘ I never made it back home that morning. I pulled into his aunt’s house. He got in the truck. He had a black and white bandana in his hand. He had on black shorts, black shoes and a white tank. I left and headed back up 51.
“I took him over to Pleasant Circle (in Opelika), one of his hangout spots. I knew he was real nervous and different. He told me that he and his girlfriend got into an argument that morning. I asked him if he wanted to be dropped off at his girlfriend’s, but he said ‘no.‘ But he wanted to get a T-shirt from his girlfriend.
“He said he just wanted a T-shirt to put over his white tank. But he still wasn’t acting like himself.“
Opposing views
In a statement to Opelika police, a juvenile said he received a call from Newsome late on Aug. 13 asking, where he’d be the following morning. In the statement, the juvenile told police he was picked up by Newsome early that morning and the two arrived at the Heard trailer at 7:10 a.m.
“We got to the trailer and she unlocked the front door,“ said the statement read by Opelika Police Sgt. Ben Bugg at the Nov. 14 preliminary hearing. The witness said he needed to use the bathroom, and proceeded there.
“I was in there for three or four minutes, then I heard gunshots,“ the juvenile said in the statement. “I got to the door and Rosemary was running out of the bedroom. She told me she killed (Heard).“
The story raised Newsome’s eyebrows.
“I would never have picked up a juvenile to take him back to my house just to commit murder,“ she said. “It doesn’t make sense. For me to leave my home, go all the way to Opelika to pick this supposed witness up, take him all the way back to my house and kill James in front of him … Ray Charles could see that. This juvenile has made me out to be a cold-blooded killer.
“The juvenile was already in my house. He was not picked up by me. The juvenile spent the night.“
Brian Heard, son of the victim, said the family was growing tired of the case.
“We’re trying to put it to rest,“ he said. “It’s just someone trying to pretend she’s innocent. I can’t tell you if I’m convinced or not because it’s an ongoing story. It’s hard to make a judgment call. It’s pretty overwhelming … the evidence against her (Newsome). I feel like justice is doing what it is supposed to do. Maybe it will all come out. I feel like she’s throwing water against the wind. Why didn’t she come forward the day of?“
Neither Opelika police investigators nor Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett could comment about the ongoing case.
Gruesome discovery
Lee County dispatch received a 911 call from Newsome at approximately 10 a.m. Newsome said she found the lifeless body of Heard, covered in blood.
“I am and will always be scarred for life after finding Mr. Heard dead in our home,“ she said. “No matter where I go, that picture will always be part of my memory.“
Heard suffered multiple gunshot wounds, with officials saying he was shot to death lying in bed.
“After finding Mr. Heard, I didn’t know what happened to him,“ Newsome said. “All I could think of was who and why. More so, how? There was no forced entry and nothing was taken from the house. I wasn’t focused and this juvenile didn’t even cross my mind. All I know is that my door was cracked and that’s when the killer left my house in a hurry.
“I called a couple of people to tell them what had happened, which the only choice of words I could use was that I found him dead,“ Newsome said. “This juvenile crossed my mind also. I kept saying, ‘I have to talk to this person to find out what happened. After calling this juvenile, I asked him ‘What happened when I left you in my house this morning?‘ The juvenile started off by sounding as if he was about to cry, ‘Rosemary, I didn’t mean it.‘ I asked this juvenile what did he do, and he told me word for word what he did …
“Mr. Heard was asleep. There was nothing taken from the house. Stuff was taken off of Mr. Heard and Mr. Heard’s car. I can’t say what. He took it off of him.
“I told him he had to turn himself in. The juvenile was crying and asked me did I know what they did to little boys like him in prison. I told him I would give him some time, which was the biggest mistake I made.
“I lied to the detectives on account of this juvenile.“
But deception became par for the course.
“I lied so much during the course of this investigation that they (police) won’t believe me,“ Newsome said. “They won’t do anything. They won’t go arrest him. If I hadn’t lied, I wouldn’t be in jail. If I had just told the truth …
“The person that committed this crime is still out there. I lied to police, but murder? I didn’t kill anybody.“
Shortly after the killing, the Opelika-Auburn News learned that despite Newsome’s claims as Heard’s common-law wife, she had been married to Opelika minister, Jeffrey Gray, since April. Newsome explained the marriage was an act to win a custody hearing to get her children back.
“Jeffrey Gray—he is irrelevant to this whole situation,“ she said. “Judge (Richard) Lane granted custody, and marriage didn’t even come up. I wanted to get an annulment.“
Gray declined comment two days after Heard’s death.
After nearly two weeks of investigation, Newsome was arrested Aug. 31 by Opelika Police and charged with murder. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office turned the investigation over to the municipal police Aug. 14. Newsome has a pending lawsuit, filed in 2002, against the county and the sheriff’s office.
Bitter feelings
Newsome said she cared for (the juvenile), and those feelings made her vulnerable.
“If he needed me, I was there for him,“ she said. “If he needed a place to stay, I opened up my home. I’ve known him since he was a kid. Why would he turn around and lie on me? The police made it easy for him to lie on me. I know they scared him.
“This juvenile has interrupted my life as well as my kids’. He took everything from me. Mr. Heard’s life was snatched from him and my freedom was snatched from me on account of him. I don’t even think he realized all the damage he caused. I pray that he goes and tells his mother, his aunt or anybody that he had lied on me so I can go home to my kids.
“A word of advice to this juvenile … you stepped up to be the supposed star witness to this crime for the detectives. I want to see you get your shine on when you step on the witness stand. He doesn’t realize everything will come out in the wash. He doesn’t know anything about forensics tests, records and reports that will be presented in court. I just hope he has enough sense to do what is right before then.
“This juvenile has taken my kindness for weakness after everything I done for him before Mr. Heard’s death. Even after Mr. Heard’s death, I was the one who took the blame. I even took death threats and all the heat from this whole situation. I lied for him. I found myself telling one lie to cover up another lie. All because he thought he was ready to step into a big man’s shoes, and later finding out that they were too big. He wasn’t ready to be the man he set out to be that morning.
“He killed Mr. Heard.“