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Mother to Get Custody of Children in Georgia Kidnapping Case

Aired January 09, 2004 - 15:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: More details to tell you about on the day after that quadruple killing and then abduction of three young children in Georgia, which ended with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the alleged perpetrator of all that. He is in the hospital. And there are now issues of who will have custody of the surviving children.
CNN's Martin Savidge is in Calhoun, Georgia, with more on that -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that decision has been made. And it seems like a no-brainer, but the court has ruled that the children and their custody should be handed directly back to their mother. That would be Melissa Peeler.

Now, let me explain why, in the legal realm, it is not so cut and dried to have a simple family reunion. Last night, when the children were taken back from their father, from the man who was holding them, here's the problem you had in the eyes of the legal system here in the state of Georgia. Their father is now in custody. And their mother was out of state, desperately trying to get back to Georgia.

So, in a sense, there was no one to look after the welfare of the children. The state steps in with emergency powers and takes over that duty. Then, the decision has to be made, all right, what is the appropriate home now that the children should be returned to? They check into things such as the background of the parents. They check into things such as the home that they were living in.

And keep in mind, the home that they were living in is now a crime scene and they cannot return back to at the moment. So, here's what had to be worked out. Where was the family going to live? Where was the mother and children going to live? An appropriate relative has stepped forward and said that they will take them in. So, in the eyes of the court, the best thing is, return the children to the mother. And that's what's taken place.

The children will already go over to this new relative's home and the mother will probably be with them shortly. It's anticipated that, over the next 60 days, they'll evaluate the children for psychiatric care.

Miles, that's it in a nutshell.

O'BRIEN: And one more point here. As far as the suspect, 31- year-old Jerry William Jones, authorities at the hospital are saying he is likely to survive. Is that correct? SAVIDGE: That's right, yes. He suffered a facial wound, apparently. They say it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Whether he was trying to kill himself, you can leave that up to your own supposition. But, if that was his intent, he failed.

And he is going to survive. And, in the words of the sheriff here, he's going to be brought back to this particular jail. And the sheriff is very pleased about that -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Martin Savidge, in Calhoun, Georgia, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired January 9, 2004 - 15:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: More details to tell you about on the day after that quadruple killing and then abduction of three young children in Georgia, which ended with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the alleged perpetrator of all that. He is in the hospital. And there are now issues of who will have custody of the surviving children.
CNN's Martin Savidge is in Calhoun, Georgia, with more on that -- Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that decision has been made. And it seems like a no-brainer, but the court has ruled that the children and their custody should be handed directly back to their mother. That would be Melissa Peeler.

Now, let me explain why, in the legal realm, it is not so cut and dried to have a simple family reunion. Last night, when the children were taken back from their father, from the man who was holding them, here's the problem you had in the eyes of the legal system here in the state of Georgia. Their father is now in custody. And their mother was out of state, desperately trying to get back to Georgia.

So, in a sense, there was no one to look after the welfare of the children. The state steps in with emergency powers and takes over that duty. Then, the decision has to be made, all right, what is the appropriate home now that the children should be returned to? They check into things such as the background of the parents. They check into things such as the home that they were living in.

And keep in mind, the home that they were living in is now a crime scene and they cannot return back to at the moment. So, here's what had to be worked out. Where was the family going to live? Where was the mother and children going to live? An appropriate relative has stepped forward and said that they will take them in. So, in the eyes of the court, the best thing is, return the children to the mother. And that's what's taken place.

The children will already go over to this new relative's home and the mother will probably be with them shortly. It's anticipated that, over the next 60 days, they'll evaluate the children for psychiatric care.

Miles, that's it in a nutshell.

O'BRIEN: And one more point here. As far as the suspect, 31- year-old Jerry William Jones, authorities at the hospital are saying he is likely to survive. Is that correct? SAVIDGE: That's right, yes. He suffered a facial wound, apparently. They say it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Whether he was trying to kill himself, you can leave that up to your own supposition. But, if that was his intent, he failed.

And he is going to survive. And, in the words of the sheriff here, he's going to be brought back to this particular jail. And the sheriff is very pleased about that -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Martin Savidge, in Calhoun, Georgia, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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