"I can get you without me even having to touch you. I can get somebody else to get you."
Those chilling words were allegedly told to 29-year-old Charlene Gaither by her boyfriend, 30-year-old James Hawkins (AKA James Thomas), according to a recent request (PDF) for an Order of Protection filed in Memphis, TN.
On Valentine's Day, Charlene's body--minus her head, hands, and feet--was found in DeSoto County, Mississippi, near the Coldwater River Bridge. According to police, they used DNA tests to positively identify the remains.
When police questioned Hawkins, he denied killing Charlene but allegedly admitted to dismembering her body. The case took an even darker twist yesterday, when police revealed that Charlene and Hawkins’ young daughter had allegedly witnessed the murder and was forced to help dispose of her mother’s remains.
"<Redacted> Thomas, the 12-year-old daughter of James Hawkins, admitted to witnessing her father kill her mother, Charlene Gaither, inside their home on Feb. 9, 2008, and being forced to assist him in disposing of her body," reads the Affidavit of Complaint (PDF), filed in a Tennessee court Monday.
Hawkins, dressed in a yellow inmate jumpsuit, made a brief court appearance yesterday in General Sessions Criminal Court. The judge overseeing the proceedings gave him until March 4 to hire an attorney. Charges against Hawkins include first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and filing a false report. His bonds total $2 million.
According to WREG.com, Hawkins has a lengthy criminal record and was recently released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for robberies and assaults.
"He was in jail 10 years. When he got out I guess she thought they could re-kindle that. I guess ‘cause she thought she still cared for him. Plus she did it for the kids. I guess she didn't know what she was bringing in the house," Charlene's stepmother, a woman who does not wish to be identified, said in an interview with the website.
Police say the couple’s daughter is in the protective custody of the Department of Children’s Services.
Hawkins will make another court appearance in two weeks. As of this writing police have yet to find Charlene's missing body parts.
