Three teens charged over murder of Melbourne baseball player Chris Lane
Three teens charged over murder of Melbourne baseball player Chris Lane
Carmel Malouney, AAP
Herald Sun
August 21, 2013
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James Edwards, 15, one of two teens charged with first-degree murder. Source: Supplied
- James Edwards, Chancey Luna charged with first-degree murder
- Michael Jones charged as an accessory to the killing
AN Oklahoma court has been told how one of the boys accused of murdering Melbourne baseballer Chris Lane danced and laughed as he was being taken into a police station to be charged.
VIDEO: http://video.heraldsun.com.au/240175...eath-senseless
James Edwards, 15, was treating the murder as a joke, District Attorney Jason Hicks told a hearing in the town of Duncan on Tuesday (Wednesday morning AEST).
Mr Hicks told the court that Edwards has previously been in contact with police, and that he "an attitude of total disregard for law enforcement" when he was being charged over Lane's death.
"He thinks it's funny, and it's all a joke," Mr Hicks said.
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Chancey Luna, 16, was also charged with first-degree murder.
"I believe he is a threat to the community."Mr Hicks said outside court that Edwards was also "cold and callous" at the police station.
Edwards and Chancey Luna, 16, were charged with first degree murder and face life in prison if convicted.
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Michael Jones, 17, was charged as an accessory to the killing.
Mr Hicks said that Luna had refused to cooperate with police.
They were both refused bail.
Michael Jones, 17, was charged with using a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a weapon and accessory after the fact of murder in the first degree.
Bail for Jones, who is assisting prosecutors and police, was set at $US1 million ($A1.1 million).
The three will be tried as adults.
They were dressed in orange prison jumpsuits and had their legs shackled during the brief appearance in Stephens County Courthouse.
The court was told that the three boys spotted Lane, 22, jogging along a road in Duncan on Friday.
They got into a car driven by Jones, drove behind Lane and then Luna shot him with .22 calibre revolver in the back, the court was told.
"The information we have was this was the person who pulled the trigger," the prosecutor said of Luna.
Edwards and Luna did not show any emotion, but Jones broke down in tears after Mr Hicks said he was looking at a "very, very lengthy prison sentence".
"I didn't pull the trigger," Jones said.
Chris Lane RIP: Facebook tribute page
Seated in the front row of the courtroom were the parents and relatives of Sarah Harper, Lane's 23-year-old American girlfriend.
Cindy Harper told the Herald Sun her daughter was at home "trying to relax".
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Chris Lane. Picture: Essendon Baseball Club Source: AP
Outside court, Mr Hicks said the three accused were "thugs".
"I'm appalled by the behavior of these three children," he said.
"I'm going to do all I can to ensure these three thugs are held responsible for what they did to Christopher Lane.
"This is not supposed to happen in this community. This is not Duncan, Oklahoma."
Asked if she had a message for the Lane family outside court, Luna's mother, Jennifer, told the Herald Sun: "I feel sorry for them, my heart goes out to them, it really does, but that's my baby too.
"My boy was a baby too."
Luna said there were no guns at her house, and her son was at home playing X-Box with her soon-to-be stepson when she came home from work last Friday after finishing at 3pm.
It comes a day after Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said he had secured the confession of Jones who had summoned investigators to his jail cell and claimed they were bored "so they decided to kill somebody".
Chief Ford said the teens had no motive other than to ''make a name for themselves''.
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Jennifer Luna, the mother of Chancey Luna, leaves court. Photo: Andrew Quilty. Source: HeraldSun
Lane was staying with Ms Harper in Duncan before going back to Oklahoma's East Central University where he majored in finance and was the catcher on the team's baseball team.
Ms Harper yesterday revealed her heartbreak at losing her "best friend", and parents of the accused protested their innocence.
She also told the Herald Sun that she didn't know what punishment would be appropriate of the three teenagers.
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The father and sister of murder suspect James Edwards with Jennifer Luna, right, outside court. Picture: AP Source: AP
Lane, who grew up in Oak Park in Melbourne's north, had only been back in the US for three days after an eight-week break in Australia with Ms Harper.
"I don't want them to have any future that Chris wasn't able to have as well," Ms Harper said of the accused teenagers yesterday.
"It's been pretty rough. It's been hard knowing he was taken so close to home, let alone taken in the way he was. To be pointed out like that …"
Ms Harper said she and Lane had joked about America's soft gun laws before he was shot.
"He wasn't a fan of guns," she said.
She fondly described Lane as a smart, kind and curious guy who would "do anything for anybody".
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Prosecutor Jason Hicks, right, talks to the media following the teenagers’ court appearance. Picture: AP Source: AP
Ms Harper, also a talented sportswoman, said she and Lane just "meshed together" within weeks of meeting at college in Oklahoma in August 2009.
"It was more of a personality (we had in common), not so much interests. He was intellectual, into world news, and I found that quite boring," she said.
"He really wanted to travel more. He loved the idea of seeing the world."
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Chris Lane and Sarah Harper. Picture: Facebook Source: Supplied
Ms Harper said she would come back to Australia to farewell Lane with his family.
"I'm probably going to go back and say goodbye with the people he loved the most," she said.
"It was a great time getting back there and seeing him in his element with all his favourite friends.
"It's going to be hard going back but it's something I need to do.
"Thank you to everyone who supported and loved Chris. I really appreciated it."
Shocked family and friends have been trying to make sense of the tragedy.
Peter Lane paid tribute to his son and said the family was still waiting on news from the US authorities regarding the repatriation of the body.
"There is not going to be any good come out of this. It was so senseless. There was nothing he did or could have done," Mr Lane said this week.
"It's happened. It's wrong and we just try and deal with it the best we can."
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Christopher Lane’s mother and sister. Source: News Limited
Flowers and a baseball have been placed on the home plate at Essendon Baseball Club with a message. "A wonderful young man taken too soon," it read. "Why?"
College friend Marshall Veal added Lane had "brought light to each of us''.
"Lanes would have done anything in the world for all of us and we would do the same, he was a best friend, teammate, and most of all a Brother. We love you Laney."
Local Bill Renfrow, who lives just metres from the intersection where Lane was shot, said Duncan locals had erected a flower memorial for him at the site of the attack.
"It's sad to us, more than anything. It's shocking. He was a visitor in our country," he said.
"This is a very quiet neighbourhood, there's never any trouble here."
Essendon Baseball Club's match against the University of Melbourne on Sunday will be turned into a tribute to Lane to raise money for the family.
- with Stephen Drill Andy Burns and AAP
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