Grandmother Charged With Murdering 'Wylie's Angel'

Grandmother Charged With Murdering 'Wylie's Angel'

Apr 23, 2010

Authorities arrested 63-year-old Darlene Phillips for killing 6-year-old Gerren Joseph Isgrigg, the child authorities spent more than a week identifying after being found dead near Lake Lavon.


Darlene Phillips


Wylie Police released this composite sketch of an unidentified boy whose body was found near Lavon Lake on April 15, 2010.

They announced the arrest hours after authorities revealed the child's identity. Phillips is Isgrigg's maternal grandmother and primary caretaker. She has been charged with murder and is currently being held in the Collin County Detention Facility with a $500,000 bond.

On April 15, a worker who was cutting the grass on the 1900 block of Skyview Drive near Lake Lavon discovered the body and alerted authorities. The medical examiner said there was no sign of trauma, but that the boy had significant medical needs and appeared to have had been fed through a feeding tube.

Investigators identified the child Friday from a tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The Wylie community became deeply involved in the investigation. Days after the discovery, police released a sketch of what the child may have looked like. That picture soon lined the windows of storefronts throughout the city. Community members soon began calling him 'Wylie's Angel.'

A Facebook page for the child garnered more than 43,000 members. Both North Texas Crime Stoppers and Schepp's Dairy announced a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the child's positive identification.

First Baptist Church of Wylie held and paid for memorial services for the child, after the congregation was deeply affected by the discovery.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/wylie.child.identified.2.1653586.html

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/woman-arrested-in-wylie%27s-angel-murder

COLLIN COUNTY - There is surprise and shock that Gerren's grandmother is accused of murder.

Flowers and stuffed animals that are more than a week old still stand at a makeshift memorial in Wylie. Today, however, a child the community dubbed Wylie's Angel has a name. It is Gerren Joseph Isgrigg. Wylie resident Diana Stives says to find that out, "I was happy and sad at the same time."

She and others are happy that the unknown, little boy dumped beside a pond off Lake Lavon more than a week ago has been identified. They are sad that his maternal grandmother and primary caretaker, 63-year old Darlene Phillips is under arrest and being charged with murder. Wylie resident Debra Thomasson says, "It's just devastating to me how anyone could do what they've done. As far as the grandmother, I don't know. I don't know. I'm just blown away."

Darlene Phillips' husband doesn't know either. He spoke with us tonight from The Colony hotel where he and his wife recently started living. Mr. Phillips said his wife loved Gerren and had taken wonderful, painstaking care of the boy for the three and a half years Gerren lived with them. Mr. Phillips says in a short phone conversation with his wife last night after her arrest, she told him she left Gerren at a place she thought he'd be found right away and when she did that, he was alive and fine. Wylie resident Marilyn Lawley says, "I am a grandmother, too and I just can't imagine anything that horrific happening to anyone's family."

The president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says two anonymous tips led to Gerren's identity. Ernie Allen says the information was very specific. From that, authorities found Darlene Phillips, who was arrested yesterday in The Colony. She is being held in Collin County Detention Facility on $500,000 bond.

Meanwhile, the community waits for the body of a child they never knew to be released, so he can have the burial he deserves.

Copyright © 2010, KDAF-TV

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-wylie-angel-gerren-joseph-isgrigg-story,0,2882948.story

Hard, broken life of 'Wylie's Angel' emerges after grandmother's arrest

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Exactly how Gerren Isgrigg's frail body ended up near a Collin County pond on April 15 is still a mystery. But a clearer picture is emerging of the fractured family life that followed the 6-year-old to his death.

His maternal grandmother and primary caretaker sits in the Collin County Jail facing a murder charge. His maternal grandfather thought the boy, who was blind and deaf, had been left with a social worker. And Gerren's paternal family believed he was living with his mother, who got sole custody of the boy after a 2006 divorce.

"We're still in shock and disbelief," said Linda Isgrigg, Gerren's paternal grandmother in Arizona. "All they would have had to do was bring him here. ... I could have been there every day to see that he was taken care of."

Gerren's severe medical problems began shortly after his birth in September 2003. He required around-the-clock care and a special diet provided through a feeding tube. He couldn't do anything for himself.

"All he could do was lay there," Isgrigg said.

Police have said the actions of his maternal grandmother, Darlene Phillips, led to Gerren's death, but they declined to elaborate. Phillips, 63, is being held on $500,000 bail.

"Little Gerren was not taken care of well, and it ended up to his murder," Wylie Detective Venece Perepiczka said in announcing the arrest late Friday.

The investigation is ongoing, she said, as the task force that has been working nonstop since Gerren was found tries to determine what happened.

From weeks to years

Patrick Phillips said he and his wife were asked by their daughter, Nyki Phillips, to take Gerren for a couple of weeks. Those weeks turned into years.

"My wife doted on that boy," Patrick Phillips said from the motel in The Colony where he and his wife had been living recently. "They're making her out to be a murderer. It's heart-wrenching."

Nyki Phillips, who police say lives in Oklahoma, couldn't be reached for comment.

Patrick Phillips said he doesn't know what happened to Gerren. He told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) that his wife said she left Gerren with a social worker.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said her agency had no contact with the family.

Records show Darlene Phillips was once a caregiver for an assisted living center in Arizona that may have been owned by relatives. It was unclear whether she had any medical training.

Tip leads to DNA test

Gerren's body was discovered at the edge of a parking lot just after 9 a.m. by a mowing crew on federal land. Small for his age, he measured 39 inches tall and just 28 pounds. He remained unidentified for more than a week as investigators with the Wylie Police Department and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force searched for clues to his past.

A computer-enhanced image of Gerren was plastered on the news and on fliers all over the community south of Lavon Lake. A Facebook page dubbed "Wylie's Angel" took the little boy's story global in hopes that someone would recognize him.

A tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's hotline gave police the break they needed to track down his family. Investigators contacted Gerren's father in California early Friday. Jerry Isgrigg provided a DNA sample that confirmed Gerren's identity.

Linda Isgrigg said her son was making regular child support payments to his ex-wife and thought Gerren was still living with her. He was the couple's only child together. She believed the marriage ended over Gerren's medical problems.

Her son saw Gerren when he could, she said, but it was infrequent because he was in the military.

A staff sergeant in the Marines, Jerry Isgrigg recently returned from a brief tour in Korea, Linda Isgrigg said. He served in the Persian Gulf War, left the military for about a decade, then re-enlisted and served in the Iraq war. He is stationed at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Father's concerns

Jerry Isgrigg was at his parents' home in Arizona on Saturday and making plans to come to Texas, his mother said. He declined to comment.

Linda Isgrigg said she didn't know when her son last saw Gerren, but she knew that it had been awhile.

"He was always concerned" about Gerren's well-being, she said.

Isgrigg said that at one point Gerren was staying at the Truman Smith Children's Care Center in Gladewater, Texas, but she wasn't sure for how long. Officials at the nursing home declined to comment, citing health care privacy laws.

"I called one day to check to see how he was, and they said that he wasn't there," Isgrigg said. "I said let me talk to the nurse, and they said that he wasn't there anymore, that she [his mother] came and got him."

Isgrigg said she last saw Gerren about two years ago.

"I don't understand why didn't they just contact somebody and say, 'I can't handle this. Will you please take him?' Or call his dad," Linda Isgrigg said. "These children do not have a voice."

Staff writer Jon Nielsen contributed to this report.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-bodyfound_25met.ART.State.Edition2.4d3797b.html

Woman charged in 'Wylie's Angel' case accused of abandoning boy where he wouldn't be found

Monday, April 26, 2010

Gerren Isgrigg lay in the viney overgrowth near a Collin County pond for three days before his body was found by a mowing crew April 15.

A probable cause affidavit; http://media2.myfoxdfw.com/PDF/WylieAngelArrest.pdf

obtained today states that Gerren was not visible from the roadway or a park area nearby.

Darlene Phillips, Gerren's grandmother and primary caretaker, faces a murder charge. She told investigators she left Gerren at the park on April 12 with a note that read: "I'm 6, I have seizures, I need medication and a feeding tube."

No note was found with Gerren. Nor did investigators find any medical supplies, papers or feeding tubes.

Phillips told investigators she removed the feeding tube before leaving Gerren in the brush.

Phillips told authorities she thought she was being punished by the boy's mother for having to care for the child, who had severe medical problems and the mental capacity of a 2-month-old, the affidavit states.

Wylie police and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force worked around the clock for eight days to determine the boy's identity. They teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, whose forensic artists created an image of the boy that was distributed to news media and on fliers around town in hopes of identifying the boy. A Facebook page dubbed "Wylie's Angel" grew to more than 44,000 members who spread the story around the globe.

A tip to the center's hotline on Wednesday gave investigators the break they needed to identify Gerren. His parents were contacted Friday.

Gerren's father, Jerry Isgrigg, has said he thought his son was still with his ex-wife.

Nyki Phillips, who got custody after the couple's 2006 divorce, told investigators Gerren was being cared for by his grandmother.

Darlene Phillips declined an interview from the Collin County jail, where she is being held on $500,000 bail.

Her husband, Patrick, told investigators that his wife said she had given Gerren to a social worker, so he didn't question the boy's absence.

The affidavit states Phillips "intentionally or knowingly caused the death of [Gerren] by intentionally leaving the child in a place where the child was unlikely to be located," and because of his health issues, "he was unable to care for himself and died."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/stories/042710dnmetbodyfound.286639a20.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-bodyfound_25met.ART.State.Edition2.4d3797b.html

Hard, broken life of 'Wylie's Angel' emerges after grandmother's arrest

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 25, 2010
By VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
/ The Dallas Morning News
Jon Nielsen contributed to this report.

Exactly how Gerren Isgrigg's frail body ended up near a Collin County pond on April 15 is still a mystery. But a clearer picture is emerging of the fractured family life that followed the 6-year-old to his death.

His maternal grandmother and primary caretaker sits in the Collin County Jail facing a murder charge. His maternal grandfather thought the boy, who was blind and deaf, had been left with a social worker. And Gerren's paternal family believed he was living with his mother, who got sole custody of the boy after a 2006 divorce.

"We're still in shock and disbelief," said Linda Isgrigg, Gerren's paternal grandmother in Arizona. "All they would have had to do was bring him here. ... I could have been there every day to see that he was taken care of."

Gerren's severe medical problems began shortly after his birth in September 2003. He required around-the-clock care and a special diet provided through a feeding tube. He couldn't do anything for himself.

"All he could do was lay there," Isgrigg said.

Police have said the actions of his maternal grandmother, Darlene Phillips, led to Gerren's death, but they declined to elaborate. Phillips, 63, is being held on $500,000 bail.

"Little Gerren was not taken care of well, and it ended up to his murder," Wylie Detective Venece Perepiczka said in announcing the arrest late Friday.

The investigation is ongoing, she said, as the task force that has been working nonstop since Gerren was found tries to determine what happened.


From weeks to years

Patrick Phillips said he and his wife were asked by their daughter, Nyki Phillips, to take Gerren for a couple of weeks. Those weeks turned into years.

"My wife doted on that boy," Patrick Phillips said from the motel in The Colony where he and his wife had been living recently. "They're making her out to be a murderer. It's heart-wrenching."

Nyki Phillips, who police say lives in Oklahoma, couldn't be reached for comment.

Patrick Phillips said he doesn't know what happened to Gerren. He told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) that his wife said she left Gerren with a social worker.

Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said her agency had no contact with the family.

Records show Darlene Phillips was once a caregiver for an assisted living center in Arizona that may have been owned by relatives. It was unclear whether she had any medical training.


Tip leads to DNA test

Gerren's body was discovered at the edge of a parking lot just after 9 a.m. by a mowing crew on federal land. Small for his age, he measured 39 inches tall and just 28 pounds. He remained unidentified for more than a week as investigators with the Wylie Police Department and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force searched for clues to his past.

A computer-enhanced image of Gerren was plastered on the news and on fliers all over the community south of Lavon Lake. A Facebook page dubbed "Wylie's Angel" took the little boy's story global in hopes that someone would recognize him.

A tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's hotline gave police the break they needed to track down his family. Investigators contacted Gerren's father in California early Friday. Jerry Isgrigg provided a DNA sample that confirmed Gerren's identity.

Linda Isgrigg said her son was making regular child support payments to his ex-wife and thought Gerren was still living with her. He was the couple's only child together. She believed the marriage ended over Gerren's medical problems.

Her son saw Gerren when he could, she said, but it was infrequent because he was in the military.

A staff sergeant in the Marines, Jerry Isgrigg recently returned from a brief tour in Korea, Linda Isgrigg said. He served in the Persian Gulf War, left the military for about a decade, then re-enlisted and served in the Iraq war. He is stationed at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, Calif.


Father's concerns

Jerry Isgrigg was at his parents' home in Arizona on Saturday and making plans to come to Texas, his mother said. He declined to comment.

Linda Isgrigg said she didn't know when her son last saw Gerren, but she knew that it had been awhile.

"He was always concerned" about Gerren's well-being, she said.

Isgrigg said that at one point Gerren was staying at the Truman Smith Children's Care Center in Gladewater, Texas, but she wasn't sure for how long. Officials at the nursing home declined to comment, citing health care privacy laws.

"I called one day to check to see how he was, and they said that he wasn't there," Isgrigg said. "I said let me talk to the nurse, and they said that he wasn't there anymore, that she [his mother] came and got him."

Isgrigg said she last saw Gerren about two years ago.

"I don't understand why didn't they just contact somebody and say, 'I can't handle this. Will you please take him?' Or call his dad," Linda Isgrigg said. "These children do not have a voice."


Staff writer Jon Nielsen contributed to this report.


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