4.Amy Shearer — Direct
215 linesAMY SHEARER, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: If you'll have a seat over there, please, ma'am. If you'll state your name and spell your last for the record.
AMY SHEARER: Amy Shearer, S-H-E-A-R-E-R.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. MAYES:
SUZANNE MAYES: And Ms. Shearer, I'm just going to pull this microphone a little bit closer to you. Ms. Shearer, where are you currently employed?
AMY SHEARER: Saxe Gotha Elementary School.
SUZANNE MAYES: And what is your job description there?
AMY SHEARER: Currently, I am a parent liaison.
SUZANNE MAYES: And, Your Honor, I'm not sure if the microphone is on.
THE COURT: It should be.
AMY SHEARER: Louder, is that better?
SUZANNE MAYES: And your current job responsibilities?
AMY SHEARER: I work with families, parents and students, to help get them resources and stuff if they need to work at home on their education.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. Tell us a little bit about your educational background that led you to become a teacher.
AMY SHEARER: I don't have any. I just took a paraprofessional test to become an instructional assistant.
SUZANNE MAYES: And when you say instructional assistant, tell us how your role assist the teachers in the classroom.
AMY SHEARER: I would help with the teacher, with students. I would do a lot of the communication and homework folders.
SUZANNE MAYES: Are you in the classroom with the teacher throughout the day?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: At Saxe Gotha, what roles have you played in assisting teachers in the classroom?
AMY SHEARER: Like how many classes? I was originally started in the kindergarten class with another teacher and then I moved to a different position and came back with Mr. Stone as his assistant.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. And Mr. Stone is who we heard from just a few moments ago, having been a kindergarten teacher there at Saxe Gotha in the school year that we've been -- fall of 2013 through spring 2014?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Ms. Shearer, were you working as teacher's assistant in that kindergarten classroom throughout that whole school year?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Tell us, Ms. Shearer, how it is that you knew Nahtahn Jones.
AMY SHEARER: He was one of our students.
SUZANNE MAYES: Take your time. Ms. Shearer, that school year started in August, ran all the way through -- I think you saw the graduation photo a few moments ago, ran all the way through June?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am. I worked with him --
SUZANNE MAYES: Over --
AMY SHEARER: -- over the course of the year, especially in writing is where I worked a lot with him, and math. When they would be learning and they would have to sit on the carpet in front of the classroom, I was always on the carpet with the kids. I was always interacting.
SUZANNE MAYES: Is it possible for you to describe to us the relationship that you developed over the course of that kindergarten year with Nahtahn, that you called Tahn?
AMY SHEARER: He became one of my children like they all do. He was the sweetest, always had a smile. Everyday, I got a hug.
SUZANNE MAYES: What are some your favorite memories of Tahn?
AMY SHEARER: His smile. He had these little gray and black shoes. I remember them because my youngest son had the exact same pair. And his shoelaces were never, ever tied. Usually, after Christmas, teachers will stop tying them because of the germs. I just can't do it and I still can't do it and I will tie them. But by the end of the year, you couldn't even tie them.
SUZANNE MAYES: What do you mean when you say that by the end of the year, you couldn't tie his shoes?
AMY SHEARER: His shoelaces were never replaced and he wore the same shoes the whole school year.
SUZANNE MAYES: What did the shoelaces look like in the end of that school year?
AMY SHEARER: Ratty, they just hung out of the hole. I don't even remember if it was the top hole.
SUZANNE MAYES: Nothing there to tie?
AMY SHEARER: No.
SUZANNE MAYES: About Nahtahn, there's been testimony about some bruising. Who was the first person to see that bruising on Nahtahn Jones?
AMY SHEARER: Me.
SUZANNE MAYES: Can you tell us what you remember?
AMY SHEARER: My desk work area was in the back of the room and every morning, they would come and they would turn in their homework folder. And he came and I'm almost positive it was just him that was in the room at the time. And he walked back and I noticed the bruising on his neck. So I had asked him what happened and he said that his dad had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall because he broke Eli's track. And I made him repeat it again because I couldn't believe that that's what he was telling me. I instantly just ran out of the room to go get one of our counselors.
SUZANNE MAYES: Did Nahtahn show you what happened?
AMY SHEARER: Yes.
SUZANNE MAYES: How did he show that to you?
AMY SHEARER: You want me to show you?
SUZANNE MAYES: Yes.
AMY SHEARER: He said his dad went like this and slammed him against the wall.
SUZANNE MAYES: You've seen some photographs prior to this trial, which are currently in evidence as defense exhibits. I show you what is 104 and 106. Do those photographs adequately depict what you could see with the naked eye?
AMY SHEARER: No.
SUZANNE MAYES: How is it -- describe to us what you saw with the naked eye?
AMY SHEARER: The one mark over here was more bruised like the blackish-purple. The three or four over here were -- I don't know the technical term. They looked like blood vessels popped, like the red, the red spots and you could tell that they were fingerprints.
SUZANNE MAYES: What was your physical reaction to him showing you this and telling you what happened?
AMY SHEARER: I started shaking. I immediately wanted to cry, but I knew that I couldn't, that I had to stay strong.
SUZANNE MAYES: What did you do next?
AMY SHEARER: Went to one of our guidance counselors and told them what he had said.
SUZANNE MAYES: That day, that very same day, there's been testimony about what is in Defense Exhibit 15, which is a DSS report, DSS safety plan. I'm going to show you that Defendant's 15, the allegations set forth here. Ms. Shearer, who made that report to DSS?
AMY SHEARER: I did.
SUZANNE MAYES: And the allegations that Nahtahn was choked, is that what you reported to DSS?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Were you there with Nahtahn when the DSS worker came to the school?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: The same allegations that are in writing, did you verbally make that DSS case worker aware of those allegations?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am, I did.
SUZANNE MAYES: Also, that day, the parent, the parent, being Timothy Jones, being notified of the DSS report, what, if any, change did you see in Nahtahn the next day?
AMY SHEARER: He was withdrawn.
SUZANNE MAYES: You observed that yourself?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Do you recall the DSS worker coming back to the school that next day?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, I knew they came to pull him to talk to her.
SUZANNE MAYES: What, if anything, did you personally observe about that set of circumstances?
AMY SHEARER: When Nahtahn went, he didn't want to go. He just wanted to stay in the classroom.
SUZANNE MAYES: And did you press further to find out why?
AMY SHEARER: I did.
SUZANNE MAYES: Did he tell you why?
AMY SHEARER: He did.
SUZANNE MAYES: Did he indicate that there had been any instructions given to him at home?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Now, that would have been May 5th, 2014, the end of the current school year, with graduation just about a month away. What, if anything, did you observe as the teacher's assistant about the cooperation level between Timothy Jones and your classroom?
AMY SHEARER: There was none. No communication whatsoever.
SUZANNE MAYES: Is it normal for you to send papers home for the children to have signed by a parent?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Were any parent signatures on Nahtahn's paperwork after that DSS report was made?
AMY SHEARER: No, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: What, if anything, else do you recall about the paperwork Nahtahn returned to the school?
AMY SHEARER: Maybe some of his homework was done, probably not a lot.
SUZANNE MAYES: Now, what kind of notebook or workbook are they given to take home?
AMY SHEARER: They'll get two. They'll get one that they take home daily and that has their behavior calender in it or chart and their homework. And then there's a weekly one that goes home every Tuesday.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. I'm going to ask you a little bit about that. Who normally fills out the behavior chart?
AMY SHEARER: I do.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. And tell us a little bit about that, how you indicate to a parent how a child's behaving in the classroom.
AMY SHEARER: Usually, I would put a smiley face in it if they had a good day. If they had an okay day, maybe they were talking a lot or weren't following directions, we had to redirect them a couple of times, they'd get a little smiley face. And if it was something more serious, we would write in there what exactly happened.
SUZANNE MAYES: How, if at all, did you change your tactics regarding Nahtahn after that DSS report was made?
AMY SHEARER: I always sent him home with a smiley face.
SUZANNE MAYES: Do you remember his workbook being returned one day after that DSS report?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: What was its condition?
AMY SHEARER: It was ripped in half.
SUZANNE MAYES: That workbook, is it something that a child can rip in half?
AMY SHEARER: No, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Did you ask him what happened to the workbook?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: And he told you?
AMY SHEARER: Yes.
SUZANNE MAYES: Did that increase your concerns?
AMY SHEARER: Yes.
SUZANNE MAYES: Graduation, you're there with the kids on K5 graduation day?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Were you there with Nahtahn?
AMY SHEARER: I was.
SUZANNE MAYES: What do you remember about that day?
AMY SHEARER: He was so excited.
SUZANNE MAYES: We saw this earlier, it's in evidence, it's State's Exhibit 339. Whose handwriting on there along with Nahtahn?
AMY SHEARER: It's Nahtahn's and mine.
SUZANNE MAYES: How often did he talk with you about Woody?
AMY SHEARER: All the time. All the time.
SUZANNE MAYES: What are some of your favorite memories of Nahtahn?
AMY SHEARER: His smile. He always wore this I Love New York shirt and he had said to me on numerous occasions that he wanted to go to New York.
SUZANNE MAYES: I show you a photograph that's already in evidence, State's 311. Do you recognize that tee-shirt?
AMY SHEARER: I do.
SUZANNE MAYES: How often did you see Nahtahn wear that?
AMY SHEARER: Probably once a week.
SUZANNE MAYES: What did he say about wanting to go to New York?
AMY SHEARER: He just wanted to go. He was excited to go to New York.
SUZANNE MAYES: I'm going to show you what is State's 280 and 281 for identification. Do you recognize it?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Class pictures of Nahtahn, 280 and 281 for evidence.
BOYD YOUNG: No objection.
THE COURT: 280 and 281 in without objection. (WHEREUPON, State's Exhibit numbers 280 and 281 were admitted into evidence.)
SUZANNE MAYES: Mr. Stone's class picture. So it was a small class?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, it was.
SUZANNE MAYES: You had a chance to develop personal relationships with the students?
AMY SHEARER: Yes.
SUZANNE MAYES: And then State's 280. Is that the Nahtahn you remember?
AMY SHEARER: Yep, and he always -- always had that smile.
SUZANNE MAYES: The leadership notebook, State's 278, already in evidence, what role do you play in helping the kids work through these?
AMY SHEARER: There's some data in there that we collect in kindergarten. A lot of times, they can't do it by themselves, so I would assist in helping them.
SUZANNE MAYES: I'm going to ask you to step down if you can and tell us a little bit about Nahtahn's notebook. I'm going to start with the tab that's called mission.
AMY SHEARER: This is what his mission statement was and he would draw a picture.
COURT REPORTER: Oh, I can't hear her.
AMY SHEARER: Oh, I'm sorry.
SUZANNE MAYES: I'm going to move around and that way, you can look at the Court Reporter and keep your voice up.
AMY SHEARER: This is his mission statement and you could always tell it was Nahtahn's drawings because he always had the head and then just two long legs. And his mission statement was I want to share with my friends. Then he made another mission statement that he wanted to count to 100 and there's his picture. You can tell this was later because he could write better and his drawings were getting a little better.
SUZANNE MAYES: And who keeps up with all the goals and the calendar events for the children?
AMY SHEARER: We would do it together.
SUZANNE MAYES: This is taking us through words?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, they're sight words that kindergartener's need to be able to memorize to help with their reading. So we would test every, like, first nine weeks, second nine weeks, third nine weeks and four nine weeks and we would color it in by how and when they learned those words.
SUZANNE MAYES: And how does Nahtahn progress over that K5 year?
AMY SHEARER: He passed. He was very, very bright.
SUZANNE MAYES: Leadership roles. These are things that he does in the classroom?
AMY SHEARER: Yes.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. Tell us about this. What's listed here?
AMY SHEARER: There's tons here. Messenger, library monitor, line leader, just all the things that all the kids liked to do.
SUZANNE MAYES: And what do you remember about his role that's listed here?
AMY SHEARER: He had the greeter. So anytime, we would have a visitor to the classroom, he would meet them at the door and give them a handshake and walk them to our classroom.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. And here, we see some more leadership roles. Tell us about what you remember about Nahtahn having each of these roles, Ms. Shearer.
AMY SHEARER: Water counter was very popular, especially after we were outside at recess. They would come in and they would stand at the water fountain and count to five, so that's how long the kids had before we had to move to the next one. He also did the weather man where they would go to the window in the classroom and look out and tell us what the weather looked like, whether it was sunny, rainy.
SUZANNE MAYES: So you have a window in the classroom?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am, we had two windows.
SUZANNE MAYES: And his job is to go and determine the weather?
AMY SHEARER: Correct.
SUZANNE MAYES: How did he embrace that role?
AMY SHEARER: Loved it. He would get so excited.
SUZANNE MAYES: And then I see one more. Whose handwriting is that?
AMY SHEARER: That would be mine. He was a library helper, so when it was our library day, he would take all the books down to the library and return them at the beginning of the day, so when it was our time to go, we knew who could and could not check out books.
SUZANNE MAYES: And then celebrations. Nahtahn has a lot of these?
AMY SHEARER: He does.
SUZANNE MAYES: All right. Move down just a little bit away from the Court Reporter and have you tell us about all these different awards and celebrations that Nahtahn received in that K5 year.
AMY SHEARER: How we did it was we just made a spreadsheet list and sent home the originals, but he -- obviously, he got awesome artist for art. Computer lab leader, which was a lot, there's quite a bit on there, so he did a very good job in computer. Lead home challenge. That year for our seven habits, we would send home a paper that they would do, that they would have to discuss something that they did or felt about the seven habits. And he had done it that month, so he got that. And then he got a good note from our music teacher.
SUZANNE MAYES: And he has five individual computer awards throughout the course of that K5 year?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: Ms. Shearer, you may return.
(Witness returns to the witness stand.)
SUZANNE MAYES: How would you describe the change in Nahtahn that you saw from the beginning of the school year on towards the end of that school year, Ms. Shearer?
AMY SHEARER: He became a little bit more quiet. He still smiled. I don't really know that it was a genuine smile. I'd say probably about the middle of the year till the end of the year, he -- I don't want to say withdrawn, things would upset him more easily.
SUZANNE MAYES: And then by May 6th, 2014, the day after that report, what did you observe about his face, his eyes? How did he appear to you that day?
AMY SHEARER: Tired.
SUZANNE MAYES: Ms. Shearer, did Nahtahn ever give you anything?
AMY SHEARER: He did.
SUZANNE MAYES: Tell us about that.
AMY SHEARER: It was a Monday morning, he came in so excited because he had made me a necklace at church.
SUZANNE MAYES: I show you State's 285 and ask you whether or not you recognize what's depicted here?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: If no objection, Your Honor, this would be State's 285.
THE COURT: No objection?
BOYD YOUNG: No objection.
THE COURT: Admitted without objection. (WHEREUPON, State's Exhibit number 285 was admitted into evidence.)
SUZANNE MAYES: Were you aware that Nahtahn didn't have a mom in his home?
AMY SHEARER: Yes, ma'am.
SUZANNE MAYES: How, if at all, did that affect your relationship with him?
AMY SHEARER: I loved him just a little bit harder.
SUZANNE MAYES: Where is that necklace today, Ms. Shearer?
AMY SHEARER: Right here.
SUZANNE MAYES: Is it possible for you to describe the impact of Nahtahn's murder on you personally?
AMY SHEARER: After it happened, it was months before I didn't wake up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare. And to this day, I feel guilty.
SUZANNE MAYES: When you say you feel guilty, what do you mean by that?
AMY SHEARER: That I saw the bruises and I made a report and he's not here today.
SUZANNE MAYES: Thank you, Ms. Shearer.
BOYD YOUNG: No questions.
THE COURT: You may step down.
RICK HUBBARD: Your Honor, I have three separate items I'd like to enter into evidence, without objection, I believe. One are the birth certificates of the children. They're currently marked as State's ID 344, 345, 346, 347, 348.
THE COURT: Without objection?
BOYD YOUNG: Without objection.
THE COURT: Without objection, they're in. (WHEREUPON, State's Exhibit numbers 344 through 348 were admitted into evidence.)
RICK HUBBARD: Your Honor, I would also like to enter into evidence State's 343, which is for ID at this point, but it's the five indictments on this case for murder. I believe without objection.
BOYD YOUNG: Without objection.
THE COURT: Without objection, 343, all five indictments inclusive, correct?
RICK HUBBARD: Yes, sir. These indictments are 2015-GS-32-188, pertaining to Merah Gracie Jones; 189 as to Elias Jones; 190 as to Abigail Jones; 191 as to Gabriel Jones; 195 as to Nahtahn Jones. And finally, I'd like to enter into evidence State's ID 342, which is the guilty verdict on this case for all five children on each and every indictment. I believe without objection.
BOYD YOUNG: Without objection.
THE COURT: 342 is the verdict form from the first phase?
RICK HUBBARD: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Without objection. (WHEREUPON, State's Exhibit numbers 342 and 343 were admitted into evidence.)