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| Ohio Inmate Accused in Deaths of Three Texas Girls |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/27/2003 |
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An Ohio prison inmate serving a life sentence for killing a child is also accused in the strangulations of three girls from the Dallas area more than 15 years ago. Collin County District Attorney John Roach and Plano police would not say what evidence they have to link David Eliot Penton, 45, to the deaths of Christi Lynn Meeks, 5, Christie Diane Proctor, 9, and Roxann Hope Reyes, 4. They said they did not want to jeopardize the investigation. Roach said he was confident grand jurors will return indictments in each of the slayings. 'And if they do that, we intend to seek the death penalty,' he told The Dallas Morning News in Wednesday's editions. Penton is serving a life sentence in the death of a 9-year-old Ohio girl. He was questioned by area police in 1988 because the three Texas girls had died in a manner similar to that of the Ohio girl. Penton, a former soldier at Fort Hood, pleaded guilty in 1985 to manslaughter in the death of his 1-month-old son. He appealed his sentence and fled after posting bond. Christi Meeks disappeared while playing outside her mother's apartment in January 1985. The abduction came while Penton was awaiting trial in the death of his son. Meeks' body was found less than three months later in Lake Texoma. Christie Proctor disappeared while walking to a friend's house. Her body was found more than two years later in 1988 in a field in Plano. Roxann Reyes was kidnapped while playing outside her apartment in November 1987. Her body was found six months later in Murphy, east of Plano. Investigators at the time said the three girls were sexually assaulted and strangled. The slaying of Christi Meeks brought national attention to the plight of missing and abducted children. Relatives established the Christi Meeks Foundation for Missing Children, which helped get the girl's picture on billboards, milk cartons and fliers. Family members of the girls say the charges against Penton give rise to feelings of both hope and sadness. 'Thank you, Lord,' said Linda Meeks, Christi's mother. 'It's been a long time coming, a long 18 years. I'm shocked, nervous, scared all rolled into one.' Meeks, who lives in Mesquite, said she suffered an emotional breakdown in the months after her daughter's body was found, but never gave up hope. 'I just thought, 'If he doesn't get his day here on earth, he'll get it on judgment day when he leaves this earth,'' she said. |
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