MAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN SLAYING OF EX-GIRLFRIEND
Police reports detail at least a dozen incidents involving the couple.
Not guilty pleas for murder, felonious assault and illegally discharging a firearm were entered on a Dayton man’s behalf during a video arraignment in Dayton Municipal Court on Friday — the day that what would have been the 18th birthday for the teenager shot and killed this week.
Trendell L. Goodwin, 28, is accused of shooting LaShonda Childs, his ex-girlfriend, on Tuesday. Childs died early Wednesday of a gunshot wound to the head, according the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
A judge set Goodwin’s bond at $1 million and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Oct. 12. He will be appointed a public defender.
The hearing came about 51/2 months after Childs wrote a letter to a municipal court judge to help get Goodwin out of the Montgomery County Jail.
In between a January assault that led to a court case against Goodwin and her posting “domestic violence is real” on her Facebook page two weeks ago, Childs told Judge Daniel Gehres that she loved Goodwin, who served 19 days of a 180-day sentence for assault against Childs.
“He’s really not a bad guy,” Childs wrote in an April 23, 2018 letter obtained by this news organization. “We went through a
rough patch in a life together, which resulted in a huge mess. I am willing and ready to patch our relationship and friendship back up.
“I could honestly say I love and miss him dearly. I wouldn’t want to see him in jail, it’s not for him; a genuinely kind hearted, family oriented man.”
Artemis Center executive director Jane Keiffer said, in general, it’s common for women to renounce earlier statements about their partners in abusive relationships.
“I think victims recant because of fear,” said Keiffer, who heads Dayton’s domestic violence resource center. “Our batterers are saying to us this case better get dropped or more violence is going to occur.”
Keiffer said batterers can be financial breadwinners or babysitters or transportation and that victims fear losing resources.
“We recant because we love our abusers and we trust that they’re going to change,” Keiffer said. “It’s really common that victims will go to a judge and say, ‘No, it was all a misunderstanding’ and I’m going to say more likely because it is fear because they’re afraid that the violence is going to continue to escalate.”
On April 24, 2018 — a day after Childs’ letter was dated — a court docket entry in Goodwin’s misdemeanor assault case, Goodwin was released.
Later in the letter, Childs wrote: “We both are just good people with short tempers. Hopefully we can put this in our past and start over.”
Goodwin’s father said the case is a tragedy for all, especially because of Childs’ death.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said this week. “It’s too late to say I wish things could have been different.”
A Dayton Municipal Court document obtained Thursday said Goodwin fired “multiple rounds from a firearm into the passenger compartment of a 2006 Chevy Impala” during the Tuesday incident. The driver got Childs to a hospital.
At least a dozen domestic violence-related police reports between Childs and Goodwin go back at least a year.
“There’s two sides to every story,” said Goodwin’s father.
A Dayton police report from Oct. 11, 2017, indicates Childs said Goodwin became upset because he thought someone else was texting with her and threw her phone against a wall and then into the street and tossed her purse in a sewer.
A Christmas Eve 2017 report shows Childs told Dayton police that Goodwin again accused her of texting another man, dumped a drink on her and attempted to drag her out of a vehicle by her feet.
There also were Dayton police reports involving disputes between them in January, February and March 2018.
About a month after the April 2018 letter, Childs’ mother reported to police that Goodwin threatened to kill the teen. On July 18, LaShonda Childs was accused of pepper-spraying Goodwin’s sister in the face after she asked where her brother was. That case was ongoing in Montgomery County Juvenile Court when Childs died.
On Sept. 10, Gehres ordered an additional year of probation for Goodwin and continued an April decision for a criminal protection order that mandated Goodwin stay 500 feet away from Childs.
On Sept. 13, Goodwin caused “burn injuries” to Childs during a robbery attempt at Childs’ North Upland Avenue residence, according to an affidavit and statement of facts written by a Dayton police detective. Goodwin allegedly lit Childs’ wig on fire and threw it at her and took her cellphone.
A Sept. 15 Dayton police report said Childs and her mother indicated shots had been fired into their home. A Sept. 25 report said Childs “was threatened by another.”
On Sept. 21, Childs’ Facebook post said, in part: “If you see the signs don’t ignore it y’all. Domestic violence is real not just in movies.”
On Sept. 25, Goodwin’s attorney asked for a motion to terminate or transfer his client’s probation to Atlanta. Attorney J. Joseph Hyde wrote that Goodwin “has received threats from certain members of the Dayton community” and “would like to move out of state in order to ensure his safety.”
Goodwin’s father asked for people to reserve judgment until the case is complete.
“He’s not an angel, but he’s not a devil. He’s not public enemy No. 1,” his father said. “I believe that anyone that commits a crime should be punished in one capacity or another. If it’s proven that he did it, he deserves to be punished.”