|
Brian Hardin, formerly of West Plains and now living in Arkansas, was in Howell County Circuit Court recently in a civil case in which he asked for sole custody of his two daughters. If that is not granted, he asks for a decrease in the $380 per month in child support payments he pays his ex-wife for three children because the third child died in May of 2006.
That child was 18-month-old Jaycee Hardin, the center of a current criminal court case in which Joseph Frye, 24, West Plains, is charged with second-degree murder. Frye was among several witnesses at the custody hearing held March 12 and 13 in West Plains. His wife, Melody Frye, is mother to the three Hardin children. She also is the mother of a child fathered by Frye and born shortly after the death of Jaycee. As part of the court testimony in March, Melody Frye testified she is pregnant again and that Frye is the father of the child.
This Quill staff writer attended those proceedings.
Brian Hardin is claiming Joseph Frye is not abiding by a court order that prohibits him from being around the Hardin children, and that the man has thwarted his visitation rights on some occasions. Hardin also claims he has a steady job and a stable home in which his two daughters, ages 5 and 8, could live, and that his mother lives in that same household, so could help with rearing the children.
Melody Frye is opposing the move, testifying she has a job, lives with her mother (Kathy Geery) in West Plains, that the children are not allowed in Joseph Frye’s presence and that the child custody payments should remain as they are.
The three Hardin children were living with Melody and Joseph Frye at the time of Jaycee’s death. Lawmen went to the West Plains home after a call from Joseph Frye. Lawmen testified in Frye’s preliminary hearing in 2006 that the child was dead when they got to the home, the mother was at work and Joseph Frye was the only adult in the home.
No date is set for Joseph Frye’s trial, but Assistant Mo. Attorney General Elizabeth Bock, the prosecutor assigned to the case, was at the mid-March court hearing in the civil case and taking notes.
According to Casenet, on March 11 of this year, per a phone conversation, former 42nd Circuit Judge John Max Price requested Joseph Frye’s attorney, Jacob Garrett of West Plains, and Bock provide available dates for trial and advise the court of the number of days needed for the trial.
At the mid-March hearing, Joseph Frye testified that he lives with Melody’s father, David Moore, and with friends. Frye said there have been occasions where he has been at Kathy Geery’s home when the Hardin children are there, but has not been in the same room with them. He said this only happens when Melody needs their vehicle.
Joseph Frye testified that he is not employed and is not providing money to support his and Melody’s daughter.
In the civil suit, Judge Thomas Frawley of St. Louis made an interim order, adding it was not to be construed as to how he would ultimately rule.
He ordered that “Joe Frye shall not enter upon the property of Kathleen Geery at any time’’ and shall have no contact with the two other Hardin children. The judge also ruled Brian Hardin’s visitations will begin after school on Fridays, the two children to be picked up at Richards School by Brian, his mother or father.
Frawley added that “any trips outside West Plains, excluding trips to their father’s home in Elizabeth, Ark., by (the children) with mother or father are to be reported to the guardian ad litem, attorney Melissa Stewart of West Plains, with a time and date of departure, destination and time and date of return.”
Brian Hardin’s attorney is Steve Privette of Willow Springs. Melody Frye’s attorney is Dale Engelbrecht of West Plains.
|
Judge it!
Poll:
Who will you vote for?
88°F
Most Popular
