The Pulpit Abusers

 

It's in all churches, but at least one religious body is keeping up with the numbers. According to a study conducted by the Southern Baptist Church, between 1998 and 2019, approximately 380 ministers committed the crime/sin of sexually abusing a child or underage member of their congregations. That figure reflects known abuse; unreported crimes usually never come to light.

What about here in the Shoals? Looking at only Lauderdale and Colbert Counties, you'll find some high profile crimes against local youth. Here are five that garnered national attention:

Charles Kyle Adcock was a youth minister at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals when he repeatedly raped a 14 year old girl. The now 38 year-old Adcock accepted a plea bargain and served 15 months. He is currently a registered sex offender residing in Conway, Arkansas.

Oliver Brazelle was a music minister at the First Methodist Church of Sheffield for many years. In 2015, Brazelle accepted a plea bargain in connection with the rape of a young teen boy at the minister's Lauderdale lake home. After serving only a matter of months, the disgraced minister was given compassionate leave and died at his home in 2016 at the age of 83.

Jeffrey Dale Eddie was a youth minister at Highland Park Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals. In 2014, "Brother Jeff" was charged with raping and sodomizing several young boys, as well as possession of child pornography. He accepted a plea agreement in which he was sentenced to 30 years. The now 49 year-old Eddie will not leave prison until February 2044.

Jeffery Dale Hunt is a former Florence minister arrested for producing child pornography in his North Florence home. His victims were the young daughters of women who had attended his church years before. The now 53 year-old Hunt accepted a plea deal and will not leave the Alabama prison system until May 2040.

John Thomas Martin was the pulpit minister at Lighthouse Baptist Church in 2019 when he suddenly confessed to his East Florence flock that he had been having sexual relations with a young boy in the congregation. At least three other youths then came forward to accuse the now 43 year-old Martin of sexually abusing them. As of publication, the outspoken anti-gay crusader is living in Elkmont, Alabama, awaiting trial in Lauderdale County.

Are there more? Almost certainly. While some may never be brought to justice, you can be certain that God knows.

From Crimsonsmommi to Murderess

 

From Huntsville crime writer Nick Ireland:

Online she called herself Crimsonsmommi. She loved her husband, her two kids, country living in Ardmore, and Crimson Tide football. As if you couldn't tell the latter from her avatar...well, that and the fact she named one of her daughters Crimson. The kid can always change it when she's older.

But before Ardmore, Tala Nicole Verley lived outside Huntsville, if you call working for a janitorial service living. She must have needed something to dull the pain of boredom and that something led to some free stays in Madison County's finest barred facility. Maybe that's why her loving hubby moved the family to Ardmore, Tennessee, in 2016.

Ever been to Ardmore? No? Then you've missed so very little. The funny thing about Ardmore is that it has a conjoined twin just across the state line in Alabama. Even stranger is that Ardmore, Tennessee, that bastion of provincial life, extends into two counties.

It was in the Giles County part of Ardmore that Tala lived with her husband of 11 years, James Eric Smith. We're calling him her husband since she called him that. He called her his wife. His obituary didn't even come close to mentioning Tala.

Yes, unfortunately Eric Smith is dead. Shot on the night of October 8, 2018, at the age of 28. Cops didn't have to go far to find who pulled the trigger. Tala was hysterical and her story meandering. It didn't help Tala's case when she showed up on social media announcing that she was trying to secure all electronic devices and wipe them clean. Say what? It took a few months, but the Giles County Sheriff arrested Tala in February 2019.

Detectives refused to say much about the case, only that they had one. Official charges were possession of meth, possession of a handgun used in a felony, evidence tampering, and second degree murder as they still call it in the Volunteer State. The Crimsonsmommi's bond was set at a cool quarter million, possibly because she was originally from Cali and had contacts there.

Tala managed to post bond and, due to COVID, keep her freedom for two years. They say all good things must end, as did Tala Nicole Verley's ability to stay out of jail. This week she was lucky enough to have her charges reduced to Negligent Homicide and found herself back in the Giles County nick.

Tala's now 29 and, if convicted looking at 5 years at least, maybe 20 if the judge doesn't take to her batting her baby browns at him. Let's hope they at least let her have a radio to listen to the Bama games.

Blake Baird: From Drug Addiction to Trafficking

William Blake Baird states in a restaurant review that he grew up in Leighton where he ate at and later worked for Whole Hog Barbecue. Public records suggest his family is from Nashville originally, but he certainly has ties to Leighton as well as to North Florence and Russellville. In short, the now 38 year old Baird has moved around during his four decades of life. Now he may finally be moving south for a long, long time.

Blake, as he is known to friends, has long been the victim of spinal problems. Most with such a marked disability would draw Social Security benefits; Blake told friends that he had a type of trust fund left to him by a well-off relative. Whatever the truth of the matter, Baird did not regularly work. Friends were also quick to say the Leighton man didn’t want a steady job, but often commented that a life of drugs was all he knew and something he would never give up...no matter what it cost him.

From an August 2020 Shoalanda Speaks blog:

Pictured above is 38 year-old William Blake Baird. He's one of those felons with a number of lesser convictions who always gets a second chance. What harm can it do to err on the side of mercy?

A few years ago, Baird and his girlfriend were living in the Leighton area where one of their hobbies was ingesting mind altering substances and then proceeding to shoot up the neighborhood. (Any time you read of Baird, drugs and guns are involved.) One day his neighbor across the street found both her house and vehicle riddled with bullet holes and called authorities.

Baird and his squeeze told deputies that they'd been hunting from their front lawn, but promised they hadn't hit anything at all. Colbert County officers then turned the case over to the game warden. What did the game warden do? He let Baird go with a stern talking to. That must have really taught him a thing or two, right?

Fast forward a year or so and Baird and his companion are living in Florence and have a party...complete with guns and alcohol and God only knows what else. One of the guests was shot, but thankfully his injuries were not life-threatening. Would this have happened if the game warden had arrested Baird when he had the chance?

Obviously, we don't know what would have happened if Blake Baird had been arrested in the Leighton incident, but we do know his criminal career has continued. He's again wanted in the City of Florence on five outstanding warrants. If you know where William Blake Baird is, call 911 or your local police department.



If Blake Baird hadn’t been on the radar of local law enforcement before, he certainly was after the shooting at his North Florence apartment. Baird’s girlfriend admitted to firing the shot that caused a Leighton man to be rushed to the emergency room at ECM Hosital, but police quickly ascertained the many guns found in the garden apartment belonged to Blake. Baird was considered an addict, someone not legally able to own guns. Now a new set of crimes was added to Baird’s resume’.

Both Baird and his girlfriend quickly posted bond and returned to their apartment where they managed to miss several court appearances. Blake may have not been too concerned at this point; he managed to find employment at Pilgrim’s in Russellville. He must have thought things were looking up until he received an eviction notice. Shooting up an apartment will often produce such callous actions.

In case you’re feeling sympathy for the hapless felon, Baird was then accused of attempting to set fire to his digs. As in most things, Blake was unsuccessful and eventually left in the middle of the night with his girlfriend and what little the pair could carry with them.

The couple moved to a motel in Russellville. By this time, Baird was on the City of Florence’s Most Wanted List for his municipal infractions. He was also wanted in Lauderdale Circuit Court on the felony gun and drug charges. An alert employee at a Russellville fast food eatery had read an article about the wanted man in Pen-N-Sword and turned him in.

After Baird’s Russellville capture, he became a solo act. Whether his longtime girlfriend moved on to greener pastures or merely decided to get her life together, Blake had become a loner in his quest for drugs. He was at this point non-compliant with several legal entanglements and virtually unemployable. When addicts reach this stage, they often turn to less than legal ways to earn an income. In Alabama, selling a small amount of drugs is called Distribution. Selling a lot is Trafficking. William Blake Baird was now moving up in the world of crime.

Baird was charged with Drug Trafficking in March 2020. Due to the pandemic conditions, Colbert County allowed the alleged big time drug dealer to post a small bond and again be free. Authorities say the felon promptly dropped off the map for almost a year, wanted in both Colbert and Lauderdale Counties.

In April of 2021, law enforcement captured Baird on outstanding felony warrants. He’s currently being held in the Lauderdale County Detention Center; however, Blake may have no interest in posting bond this time. If he should leave the LCDC, he will be immediately transferred to the Colbert County Jail to be held without bond.

Until now, the justice system has been incredibly lenient with Baird. The public often asks why in such cases, but there’s often no simplistic answer. This time Baird seems to have no “Get out of Jail Free” cards left.

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