Ronald Adkins first lost
his son in a fatal shooting last fall in Tallassee, and then had to deal with
the headache of someone stealing items from the makeshift memorial in memory of
his 21-year old son, Christian.
It came to a head Thursday in an Elmore County courtroom after investigators arrested Harvey Vines on
third degree theft.
Vines acted as
his own attorney and denied allegations in court that he stole anything from the
temporary memorial Adkins had set up in his son's memory.
Adkins told WSFA 12 News
he suspected Vines from day one.
"In addition to
dealing with the loss of a son, you got someone who was malicious and not very
nice," Adkins said.
A brief history. Christian Adkins died
after he was allegedly shot by his father-in-law, 57-year old Michael Foster, in October 2012.
A few weeks later, Adkins built the memorial at the
entrance of his Natchez Trace neighborhood 18 miles from downtown Wetumpka, but
started noticing a few things such as flowers, a stand, a spotlight
and a plaque disappearing from the vigil.
The case against Vines
was largely circumstantial until a neighbor testified in court he actually saw
Vines take the items. From the bench Judge Glenn Goggans convicted Vines of
third degree theft; 90 days in the county jail but that sentence was suspended,
ordered to pay slightly more than $157 in restitution and two years on
probation.
"No comment!,'
Vines yelled as he was asked for his side of the story. Vines did say he plans to appeal. He has 14 days to do so.
Ronald Adkins, meantime,
has no plans to rebuild the memorial at the entrance of his neighborhood.
That's because he's already built one in his backyard.
Copyright 2013 WSFA 12 News.
All rights reserved.
Harvey Vines (red shirt) convicted of third degree theft from Adkins' memorial to his son.
Ronald Adkins says he was positive of who was stealing from his son's memorial from the beginning.
Murder victim Christian Kyle Adkins
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