Aarone's father arrested in death of girl

Officials under court order not to say reason for bust

Chris Barge And Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 17, 2007 at midnight

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AURORA - Aurora police took a big step Wednesday in the investigation into the disappearance of Aarone Thompson, arresting her father in connection with her death.

But in a twist consistent with the mysteries swirling around the high-profile case, authorities said they were under a court order not to say why they arrested Aaron Thompson, who is scheduled to appear in court today.

"I am hopeful the charges against Mr. Thompson will be revealed in court sometime soon, or in the days ahead," Police Chief Daniel Oates said in a hastily called news conference lasting less than a minute in front of police headquarters.

Otherwise, Oates was silent on what led to the arrest and whether the grand jury that was assembled 16 months ago had handed up an indictment.

However, Aarone's mother, Lynette Thompson, didn't hold back in reacting to news of the arrest.

"My baby, she's buried like road kill somewhere," Lynette Thompson said by phone from Detroit Wednesday night. "If he got the least decency, the least love for that baby girl, he should tell where she's at."

She said she wants to attend any trial, but that would not be the final word.

"Wait till (Aaron Thompson) go see the Lord, then he'll really be judged," she said.

Aaron Thompson reported his 6-year-old daughter missing on Nov. 14, 2005. But within days, Aurora police called off the search and said the child had been murdered up to 18 months earlier. Thompson and his live-in girlfriend, Shely Lowe, were named as persons of interest, but Lowe died last year and Aarone's body has never been found.

If police had found a body, they weren't revealing that Wednesday.

Thompson was arrested in Aurora at 12:36 p.m.

Officer Rodney Richey, a supervisor at the Aurora city jail, said that Thompson was booked there at 2:35 p.m. in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Richey said he had been told the arrest warrant mentioned a felony charge of "cruelty towards a child resulting in death."

"There's no such thing as cruelty to a child," said veteran defense lawyer and media legal analyst Scott Robinson.

Robinson speculated that the charge on which Thompson is being held more likely is child abuse resulting in a death, a felony.

He said that charge would be more likely than first-degree murder, given that Aarone's body has not been recovered.

"A first-degree murder charge is handicapped if they don't have the little girl's body," Robinson said. "It's not impossible, but without proof that the child has died the prosecutor will have a much more difficult case."

If the body were to be found after the case went to trial, prosecutors would be unable to file a first-degree murder charge because of double jeopardy.

"Once the case goes to trial, that's it," Robinson said.

Thompson's attorney, David Lane, said he had not been informed of the charges against his client and was headed to the jail Wednesday night to speak with him.

Lane said he would be in Arapahoe County District Court with Thompson this morning.

"Aaron Thompson has consistently maintained his innocence," Lane said. "I have no reason to believe he has suddenly taken some other position on that."

Lane said the case may "open up" with more information today but added, "I'll be very interested to see what evidence the district attorney thinks they have in this case."

Everyone close to the case has apparently been threatened with contempt of court if they say anything about the charges.

"At this time, the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office cannot discuss the Aarone Thompson grand jury case due to a court order," DA's spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh said.

Aaron Thompson spoke with police early on but then drew back.

He also has spoken, sometimes extensively, with the media to declare his innocence.

Lowe told the Rocky Mountain News on Dec. 1, 2005, that she and Thompson had "done nothing" and were "trying to find our little girl."

Lowe died of heart problems in May 2006, shortly after a grand jury began hearing testimony.

A key witness in that investigation is Eric Williams, who once had a live-in relationship with Lowe and fathered two of her children.

The 40-year-old, who has a criminal history spanning nine years, gave the Rocky a jailhouse interview in March.

He said Lowe told him in January 2004 that Aarone died in a bathtub.

"Shely was crying and hysterical," he said. "She swore she did not do anything to the child. The kid just stopped breathing on her own."

After the search for Aarone became a murder investigation, the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services placed seven children remaining in the home in foster care. The couple subsequently gave birth to another daughter, also taken into protective custody.

During a closed-door dependency and neglect trial in Arapahoe County in April 2006, a jury deciding who should get custody of the children found that Thompson "was responsible for serious bodily injury or (Aarone's) death."

The state Court of Appeals was asked to review the decision to take custody of the remaining children away from Thompson and Lowe. The ruling, released in February, upheld the verdict.

According to the appellate court's ruling, "the record contains sufficient competent evidence" that Aarone "went missing long before reported by the parents, that the parents were not forthcoming about the circumstances of her disappearance, that the parents did not want the children to talk to police, and that the child was probably deceased."

bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059. News staff writer John Ensslin contributed to this report.

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