Lantern Project: Since October 2013, Hope House has joined with other domestic violence programs around the state by implementing the Lantern Project. For our part in this statewide project, we added to the lamppost in front of Hope House a purple wreath. We will turn on the light for a week every time there is a death related to domestic violence in Wisconsin. We will post information online about the person(s) that was killed. If you drive by our building and see our lamppost on, please reflect on the deadly impact that domestic violence has on our communities. We know the list of stories we post here is incomplete. We strive to learn about and share these stories but know that there are some that we and the media miss. If you see a news story of a death in WI related to domestic violence and don't see it posted here, please feel free to let us know about it here. Thank you.

February 20th, 2018 Lyle Leith, Age 77, Wausau

Obituary
Article


WAUSAU - A man facing disorderly conduct charges reportedly threatened the 77-year-old Wausau man who was found dead earlier this week, telling the victim's daughter "You will all pay."
Lee A. Franck, 56, of Niagara in Florence County, appeared in court Thursday on two counts of disorderly conduct as a repeat domestic abuser. A judge set a $750,000 cash bond.
Lyle Leith was found dead in his garage along Kickbusch Street by his daughter on Tuesday morning. Police have been investigating the incident as a homicide but have not released a cause of death.
Wausau police announced Wednesday night that they searched a home in Florence County and arrested a man in the home on suspicion of felony domestic violence. They did not elaborate on his connection to Leith's death.
According to the criminal complaint:
Franck had been in a relationship with Leith's daughter, who is not named, and lived with her off and on in Wausau. Most recently, he lived with her from mid-January to Feb. 17.
On Feb. 17, Franck and the woman argued at home about their relationship and the care of her mother, who is bedridden with a terminal condition. Leith was also present and tried to de-escalate the situation, but Franck told him to leave and mind his own business. In defending her father, Leith, the woman asked Franck to leave. Franck told Leith and the woman, "You will all pay," and said God is the only one who could judge him.
Franck slowly gathered his belongings and took them to his car, then sat in the vehicle outside the woman's home until 11:30 p.m. before leaving. The woman believed he had been drinking and using prescription medications at the time.
The next day, the woman had several conversations with Franck via the mobile phone app FaceTime. Franck was screaming at her and said she and her family were killing her mother. Franck repeatedly threatened her, including comments that she was “f---ing with the wrong person” and that he would “hurt you to the point you can’t return from it.” He insulted her family and called Leith “worthless” and “useless,” accusing him of wanting his ex-wife dead. He said he hoped his former girlfriend and her family would die. He also said to the woman, “Maybe it will all come true for you.”
The woman also received disturbing text messages from Franck on Feb. 18, including one that states, in part, "You better be prepared before I come and kick your butt.” He also reiterated via text that she “f---ed with the wrong person.” The woman responded to Franck with a text message saying she was afraid of him.
The woman informed police that she would seek a restraining order against Franck with Leith's help.
Franck was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2008 and placed on three years of probation and ordered to undergo counseling, according to online Marathon County court records. In 2013, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $200 after he was accused of getting in a fight with his brother-in-law while armed with a knife.
He is scheduled to appear in court next for a review hearing on Feb. 28.

January 22nd, 2018 Unnamed Baby Girl, Age 2 months - Two Rivers
News article
Obituary pending
Matthew Brown-Edwards, 22, of Two Rivers, is being held in Manitowoc County Jail for allegedly abusing is girlfriend's infant daughter, who eventually died.
Two Rivers Police Department officials say the 8-week-old baby died at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. Autopsy results are not complete, but Two Rivers Assistant Police Chief Brian Kohlmeier said they believe child abuse led to the baby's death, but he did not share additional details on Monday.
Last week, police arrested Brown-Edwards on suspicion of abusing his girlfriend’s infant, who was found unconscious and not breathing. Kohlmeier said he was arrested on charges of physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm, failure to render aid and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the police department, officers were called to a home on the north side of Two Rivers at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday for the report of an infant who was unconscious and not breathing. The baby was taken by helicopter to Children’s Hospital.
Kohlmeier said police will work with the Manitowoc County District Attorney's office to determine if more charges will be filed once autopsy results are available. Police say they do not believe the abuse was caused by any kind of altercation.
The assistant chief said a bail of $150,000 was set at a recent hearing. Brown-Edwards is expected to make a court appearance at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.
 
 
January 22nd, 2018 Unnamed Baby Boy, Age 3 weeks, Green Bay
News article
Obituary pending
A 31-year-old Green Bay man was charged Thursday in Brown County Circuit Court with first-degree intentional homicide for the death of his 23-day-old son.
Authorities learned of the baby's death Monday when they were called to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. The baby had been in Jeremiah Thomas' care since 8 a.m. that day.
Assistant District Attorney Wendy W. Lemkuil said Thomas was his son's only caregiver on Monday. The baby is identified in court records as I.J.T.
Thomas at first denied involvement in the baby's death. He later told authorities several different ways he may hurt his son, "while ultimately confessing to accidentally killing his son,” Lemkuil said.
The three-week-old baby's injuries included two skull fractures, 10 of his 12 ribs were broken, and he had several other broken bones and bruises, Lemkuil said.
A cerebral edema, or a swelling of the brain, was the cause of death, Lemkuil said.
Dr. Agnieszka Rogalska of the Dane County Medical Examiner's office told authorities that she believed the injuries were "non-accidental," according to a criminal complaint.
Lemkuil said authorities are also investigating the death of another child in a house in Texas that Thomas lived in.
The complaint states Thomas initially told authorities he may have “accidentally smothered or suffocated” the boy when they were sleeping together. He told authorities he woke up and called 911.
While talking to law enforcement, Thomas later said he dropped the baby on two occasions. He also admitted to picking the boy up by his feet and spanking him after he urinated on Thomas, and to “squeezing” the baby too tight around the ribs when picking him up to massage the boy's left side in an effort to help the child’s constipation.
The baby’s mother told authorities the child was not constipated when Thomas picked him up, but did have gas. She told authorities she instructed Thomas how to care for the baby and Thomas assured her he had experience taking care of children.
Thomas told authorities he saw the baby was not breathing as he prepared to take him back to his mother’s house.
Thomas is being held in the Brown County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond. His next court appearance is at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 8.