Some individuals of Fannin County are upset with what they see as injustices and are making a trip from Fannin County to Austin.
“It’s mainly just a ride to make people aware of what’s going on in Fannin County.” said Jerry Harris, the father of Jennifer Harris-Holman, of Bonham who was found dead back in 2002, floating in the Red River east of Denison. Thirteen years later, no arrests have been made. “There’s never been a break in the case and there have been numerous mistakes in that case from the beginning. Then there’s a case of Jack Morris, who went missing six or seven years ago. Mrs. Brewer went missing and never a trace of her.”
Teresa Morris said that while it started with the injustices in Fannin County, they have teamed with a group that benefits kids.
“We’re headed to the state representatives office.” said Morris. “If you look at the Texas penal codes, there’s four of them that state that a parent can discipline a child. One of them even stipulates that a state agency cannot step in unless it is unreasonable. Fannin County posted an article that listed spanking is abuse. There are people in Fannin County that have been prosecuted for spanking their kids. And that’s just not right.”
The group is staying in Van Alstyne tonight and hope to arrive in Austin next Monday.
On August 7, 2015, Matthew Shane Harmon, 34, of Denison, was sentenced to five years in prison for Theft Over $1,500 Less Than $20,000. Harmon pled guilty to the offense and was sentenced by 59th District Court Judge Rayburn Nall in accordance with a plea agreement reached with the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office.
On December 3, 2014, the Denison Police Department was contacted by a local business who reported that a man identifying himself as Matt Harmon had entered the establishment and asked for monetary donations to support a Denison youth basketball team. The business gave a donation, but became suspicious about the legitimacy of the solicitation and contacted police. Denison Detective John Watt contacted the check cashing business where the business’ check had been cashed and obtained a listing of all of the checks that Mathew Harmon had cashed at the business. Upon discovering that Harmon had cashed at least 29 other donation checks from area businesses, Watt began following up with these businesses to determine the circumstances of their donations.
Multiple businesses reported to detectives a variety of stories of having donated to a man named Matthew Harmon. Harmon told all of the businesses that he was raising money for youth sports teams – sometimes it was girls basketball teams and sometimes it was a girls’ softball team. Harmon would tell businesses how the teams were at risk of not being able to go “to state,” and would promise t-shirts and pictures of the children that the businesses were helping with their donations. Police found records of Harmon cashing more than $3,700 from small donation checks.
Detectives interviewed Harmon, who after initially claiming his efforts were legitimate fundraising, ultimately admitted the crime to the police and stated that his motive for the theft was to support his drug habit.
“It never ceases to amaze me how many ways people can come up with to cheat,” said Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown. “This not only hurt these businesses, it also hurts those good kids and coaches who are trying to legitimately raise money for their teams.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Britton Brooks. “This was some good police work – a very proactive investigation,” said Brooks. “Where it would have been easy to just file a minor case on the first theft case he discovered, Detective Watt worked hard to track all of these donations down to their source and put together a larger case where we could make sure it was treated as the serious theft it was.”
Harmon was represented by Sherman attorney Joey Fritts.
Memorial graveside services for Brandi Caraway age 42 of Van Alstyne will be held at 7:00 pmTuesday at the Van Alstyne Cemetery. She passed away on Saturday, August 1, 2015. Brandi was born November 30, 1972 in Sherman, Texas to Jimmy and Jan Countiss May. She is survived by her mother Jan May of McKinney and a son Brodie Seth Caraway of Van Alstyne. She was preceded in death by her father Jimmy May. In lieu of flowers the family ask that you make a donation to the First Christian Church, 264 S. Waco Street, Van Alstyne, Texas. 75495. Services are under the direction of Scoggins Funeral Home & Crematory, 637 W. Van Alstyne Parkway, Van Alstyne, Texas. 903-482-5225. You may sign the online guest book at www.scogginsfuneralhome.com
August 4 – Officers Brandon Ozuna and Jordan Clark arrested a 27-year-old Durant man and a 24-year-old Denison woman for possessing nearly a quarter of an ounce of methamphetamine. The arrest was the result of a traffic stop on US Hwy 75 that led to a Bells PD canine alert on the suspects’ vehicle. The driver was arrested by Officer Clark this past May for possessing methamphetamine. Both were booked into the Grayson County Jail for PCS PG 1 > 4 grams.
August 6 – At Approximately 5:15 pm, Howe Police Officer Jamie Morris responded to a BELO (Be on the lookout) for suspects involved in a theft from Sam’s Club in Sherman. She located the suspect’s vehicle driving south on US 75 and stopped them. A stolen flatscreen tv was found in their vehicle. Sherman PD responded and took custody of the suspects.
August 5 – Officer Robert Todd arrested a 33-year-old late Wednesday evening for Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon in the 700 block of W Haning Street. Officer Todd was responding to report of a fight in progress and that one of the involved men had a pistol. Officer Todd stopped the suspect as he was driving away from the location of the disturbance and located a loaded pistol in plain view inside the suspect’s vehicle. The incident is still under investigation and additional charges may be filed. Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and Van Alstyne Police Department assisted in the arrest.
A grass fire at Young Street and Collins Freeway took place and Howe Police Officers Jamie Morris and Sgt Michael Hill perform firefighting duty until the Howe Fire Department arrived. Van Alstyne Fire Department also assisted in the grass fire.
