Fact Check

Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd

Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd are wanted by the police for beating an autistic woman named Ashley Hamilton?

Published April 8, 2013

Claim:

Claim:   Jesse Shedd is wanted by the police for beating an autistic woman named Ashley Hamilton.


TRUE


Example:   [Collected via Facebook, April 2013]


WANTED BY THE LAW - TABITHA ADKINS AND JESSE SHEDD

If you know the whereabouts of these criminals, please report this to your local police immediately, or post a comment on this blog or on Facebook.

I see too many posts on Facebook about monsters who abuse and kill the innocent.

We must not be silent. Silence implies consent. If you can stop a monster, you have to do your part - or you become an "accomplice after the fact" and share the guilt for the crime.



We need everyone help to find these two there names are Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd. They brutally beat this sweet little girl, Ashley who is autistic and handicapped and uses a wheelchair. Please everyone report this so they can be brought to justice.


 

Origins:   According to information posted on the Facebook site Justice for Ashley Hamilton, an autistic young woman by that name was "severely beaten by her caregivers" on 3 April 2013 (just three days before her 22nd birthday). Atlanta television station WIXI reported on the case, noting that:


The Rabun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the possibility that a wheelchair-bound woman was assaulted.

The victim, 21-year-old Ashley Hamilton, suffered extensive injuries to her head and face. Police found her at Raco's Sports Bar in Clayton on Apr. 3.

Rabun County Sheriff Frank Andrews said investigators think Hamilton was left in the care of family friends while her mother was out of town. The victim suffers from disabilities and must use a wheelchair.

Andrews said Hamilton may have sustained her injuries on Apr. 2. A home health professional said she told the victim's mother, Kelly Hamilton, to take the young woman to the hospital, but Ashley Hamilton did not receive medical attention until police and EMS found her at the sports bar.

No arrests have been made, but Andrews said the sheriff's office has several persons of interest. They are trying to determine when and how Hamilton was injured.

"We must be diligent in our efforts to find as much tangible evidence as possible since our victim is not in a position to tell us what happened to her," Andrews said in a statement. "It is in the interest of justice to see that no stone is left unturned."


 

Atlanta television station WAGA has also reported that police were investigating the case:


Authorities are investigating after a 22-year-old autistic woman was brutally attacked in Rabun County.

Kelly Hamilton says she was out of town when she learned about injuries to her daughter Ashley's feet and face.

"Her mouth was busted and her tooth was knocked out," Hamilton said.

Family members say the autistic woman is developmentally on par with a 2-year-old child. They don't know who is responsible and say they remain stunned anyone could or would harm the helpless woman.

"The night I got home, there was no swelling or any bruising on her eye that had shown up. The doctors said that it would take 24 hours for

bruising to develop," Kelly Hamilton said.

After family members reported the attack, doctors treated Ashley Hamilton for those bruises. She spent a birthday in the hospital.

Authorities are investigating the beating. Authorities say while Kelly Hamilton was out of town, Ashley stayed with family friends.

Family members say they hope that investigation leads to an arrest for an attack on a woman who can't fight back.

"She's a beautiful little girl who can't defend herself and she's brutally beaten up here and I just want justice for her," said Kelly Hamilton.

Rabun County authorities say that they are gathering details in the case.


 

The Clayton Tribune posted on their Facebook page on 5 April 2013 that:


In regard to the widely circulated photo on our Facebook page and beyond of an alleged beaten girl, we confirmed [yesterday] with the Rabun County Sheriffs Department that there is an open investigation. There are currently no other official updates, but we will provide news updates as we have them.

 

On 17 April 2013, WAGA reported that seven people, including Ashley's mother and Jesse Shedd, were facing charges in connection with the case:


Seven people are facing charges in connection to the alleged beating of an autistic woman. Now, the victim's mother and other family members responsible for her care have been arrested.

Kelly Hamilton says the charges of disabled person abuse against her are unfounded. Hamilton says she was out of town when a family friend severely beat her 22-year-old daughter, Ashley.

Authorities also charged Richard Foss, Hamilton's fiancé, with reckless conduct.

"They're saying the reason for the charges are because we didn't immediately call the night we got home to see her in that condition, but that condition wasn't visible until the next day," said Hamilton. "They said 24 hours later the bruises would show after a beating to her head."

"Besides the cut on her lip and a broken tooth, those were the only visible signs the night we arrived," Foss said.

Authorities have also charged five other people in the case. Deputies say one family friend who cared for Ashley, 28-year-old Jesse Terrell Shedd, faces charges of battery and disabled person abuse for actually hitting the severely autistic woman.

"During that two hour timeframe, we don't know to what extent the abuse occurred, but the facts and circumstances led us to believe he did inflict substantial visible bodily injury on Ashley Hamilton," said Rabun County Sheriff's Office chief investigator Gerald Johnson.


 

Last updated:   17 April 2013


Sources:




    Carver, Darryl.   "Autistic Woman Attacked in Rabun County."

    WAGA-TV [Atlanta].   8 April 2013.

    Carver, Darryl.   "Mom, Six Others Charged in Attack on Autistic Woman."

    WAGA-TV [Atlanta].   17 April 2013.

    Sawicki, Beth.   "Disabled Woman in Wheelchair Possibly Assaulted."

    WIXI-TV [Atlanta].   8 April 2013.


David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.