On February 14, 2014 Mitchell Frantz a six person jury found Mitchell Frantz guilty of Battery and Bodily Injury (A Misdemeanor) after injuring his elderly neighbor. On January 26, 2013 an elderly citizen of Elkhart County believed she heard a domestic violence occurring in a next-door apartment. When the concerned neighbor went next door to help out a potential victim in need, she became a victim herself.
Jose Alejandro, 21, of Elkhart, lost his familiar smile on May 24, 2013, as Elkhart Circuit Court Judge Terry Shewmaker committed him to the Indiana Department of Correction for the next 100 years. During the State’s sentencing argument highlighting the extensive amount of aggravating factors in the case, Alejandro looked directly at the prosecutor with the same smile he had previously displayed to the jury and several of the witnesses during the trial. Alejandro addressed the court, arguing he had potential to be better in the future, notwithstanding his violent character.
Luis A. Bailey claimed he could not give an answer as to why he brutally beat and murdered Norma Hopper on December 21, 2012, stating merely that “…the Devil has a very sweet voice….” Bailey, now 18, of Elkhart, explained that he was looking for money and the victim’s car keys when he broke into Ms. Hopper’s home on Michael Drive, Elkhart, in the early morning hours of December 21, 2012. Once inside, Bailey unplugged the phone, and beat Ms. Hopper in her bed with a fencepost he had brought in with him. Afterward, Bailey, while searching for items of value, heard Ms.
On May 29, 2012, and June 6, 2012, Hervey Clanton delivered cocaine in broad daylight within 1000 feet of a family housing complex. On June 13, 2012, a search warrant was served at the LaCasa Estates Housing Complex where Clanton was staying with his three young children and their mother.
