Jimmy Townsend ////// 838 | Forensic Files

[Music] Heat. [Music] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you were doing, thanks
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crime. [Music] There are few things more tragic and senseless than the murder of a child.
When that child also has a child of his own, the tragedy intensifies beyond comprehension. How could a chance
encounter at a local agricultural fair, presumably a very wholesome activity, turn so
deadly? When Jimmy Townsson of West Monroe, Louisiana, was attacked and beaten to death, an entire grieving
community wanted answers. Could it have been jealousy of a gifted Golden Boy that prompted the
attack? Were his asalants perhaps envious of the prize he had recently won? Or was the motive even more
sinister? Regardless, the merciless beating callously administered on that terrible
night would forever rob his parents of their only child and deny a daughter the opportunity to ever know her
father. This is True Crime Garage. [Music] West Monroe and Monroe, Louisiana, sometimes known as the Twin Cities.
These are cities that are both part of the Bible belt in the United States that are situated about 100 miles east of
Shreveport, Louisiana. This is where this week's true crime story will take place. Monroe is the ninth largest city
in Louisiana. In the mid 1980s, as with today, Monroe possessed a very diverse population. Back then, the area boosted
a youthful demographic with a significant portion of the population being under the age of 18. The economy
was fueled primarily by manufacturing and retail and a significant number of educational institutions are located in
the area. In the 1980s, one of the premier events in the region that occurred during this era was the Arkla
Miss Fair. First introduced in 1975, the fair rapidly evolved into the region's annual highlight, becoming an integral
part of local culture. Ultimately, this was an annual fundraising event that everyone looked forward to along with
livestock and agricultural displays. The familyfriendly event included games, rides, music, food, and craft exhibits.
It was here at this seemingly innocuous event that Jimmy Townsen would become embroiled in an argument that would cost
him his life. We need to go back to December of 1971. On December 20th, 1971, James Allen Townsen, soon to be
known to all as Jimmy, is born to James Allen and Rita Gale Townsen in West Monroe, Louisiana. He was and will be
the only child born to the couple. Jimmy grows up in West Monroe with a passion for playing sports and he rapidly gains
a reputation as an extremely gifted athlete. By the time he's a student at Riser Middle School, his physical
attributes and superior athletic ability win him praise and accolades in several
sports, notably baseball, football, and boxing. Besides securing a spot on the All-Star team, he also excels
academically and socially, and he fits in with every team that he joins. His coaches and trainers have nothing but
praise for the young man, the the one that they describe as a sturdy young man with the looks, maturity, and athletic
abilities of someone far exceeding his years. Jimmy's parents are both extremely supportive of their son's
endeavors. But his father his father's working for an oil pipeline, so he is frequently unable to attend Jimmy's
sporting events due to this demanding job. Jimmy's mother, Gail, more than makes up for his absence by attending
virtually all of her son's games and practices. Now, let's go to 1985. By this time, James is known to all as
Jimmy. He is 13 years old. He's an eighth grader still living in West Monroe, Louisiana. He's attending Riser
Middle School. He is the pride and joy of his parents. Although only a junior high school student, Jimmy was already
an accomplished athlete who excelled in school team sports. Given his natural abilities in athletics, it was not
surprising that he also enjoyed hobbies like bowling, fishing, and hunting, as well as riding his bike all over
Westmin. By all reports, the bright and engaging young man was well-liked within
his school and throughout the community. His name frequently appeared in hometown
newspapers, underscoring his outstanding achievements in local sports. Jimmy's athletic career was at the center of his
mother Gail's universe, and the young athlete had no shortage of male role models and encouraging figures, often
finding inspiration in his coaches and athletic instructors. And the admiration seems to
be mutual, as many of these adults in his orbit had nothing but praise for the remarkable young man. Yeah. Whether it's
sports or academics or music or whatever it is, when you're roughly this age, it
seems like the adults around you, they see the promise and they see that his talents possibly could take him
somewhere. Maybe it takes him to a good university, which then would lead to a good job, to a bright future. Yeah. And
we often see that around this age 12, 13, 14 is when kids that are excelling in any of
the areas that you just mentioned, they do start to separate themselves from the
pack and you can start to see who has talent, who has the drive. And Jimmy's passion was sports of all types. Now,
he's described, and I've seen some pictures of him. He's described as a strapping young man who often towered
over his classmates, at times, even seemed to be like a man among boys from several perspectives. Now, he was tall,
he was brrawy, and powerfully built. He was a star on the baseball diamond, participating as both a pitcher and a
shortstop, two of the more difficult positions to play. And in fact, it was practically a foregone conclusion that
he would likely go pro, become a professional baseball player once he graduated high school. His contributions
were so significant that the year before he died, Jimmy was elected to the All-Star team at the age of 12 by a
unanimous vote by his coaches in smalltown West Monroe. Jimmy was acknowledged by numerous adults within
the school and church leagues and was described as an asset to any team that he joined in any sport. His coaches and
friends characterized him as a regular kid who fit in with everyone. But he was also a smart and creative thinker. In
early 1985, this is pretty cool. Jimmy won first prize in this promotional contest that was held by the local
newspaper. So they were promoting a boxing event. This was he won first prize for his
submission of an upcoming boxing match. This was run by a local news outlet, the Monroe
News Star. And he took first place in this contest. The contest was to name provide a name, a cool creative name for
this upcoming fight. And so his submission of rocking Richard's Rumble was selected from dozens and dozens of
entries as the winner. The upcoming fight, this was a featherweight match that would take place April 18th
featuring Richard Savage and Gerald Hayes. In addition to two tickets for the future fight, Jimmy also receives a
prestigious invitation to have lunch with the legendary former heavyweight champion smoking Joe Frasier. So Joe
Frasier would be in town for the event and Jimmy winning this contest gets to meet a former heavyweight champion and
have lunch with him. But his triumphant accomplishments in sports and winning newspaper contests weren't the only
things that made Jimmy stand out from his peers. The good-looking eighth grader was markedly different from his
peers in another significant way. This because at the age at the young age of 13, Jimmy
Townsen welcomed a daughter into his life. And that's right, that's not an error there. He was 13 and he was now a
father. The way that I understand this part of the story here, Captain, is that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old
girl, and the result of that was a pregnancy that followed by Jimmy becoming a father. And sadly, he would only be a
father for about one month's time because now we need to talk about this arclam. in the evening of Friday,
September 27th, 1985. This fair is a big deal. It's still, I believe, it's still
ongoing today. At least it has been in the past couple of years. And the festivities are well attended by those
in the immediate Monroe community. But the dazzling lights and the flashing rides, concession foods,
and livestock exhibits also drew fairgoers from as far away as southern Arkansas. Now, on this day, the
temperature ranging from 58 degrees all the way up to 74 degrees throughout the day. The temperatures remained in the
high50s that evening. And it was very high humidity, which would keep the the night even feeling warmer. So, it was
shaping up to be a beautiful night for this annual event until unspeakable tragedy struck. And Jimmy attends the
fair that night. The Arklam Miss Fairgrounds was located at Monroe Civic Center. So along with friends, their
names Shane and Anthony, Jimmy heads off for the annual event, intent upon having
a good time with his friends. The new father no doubt needs a break from the weighty concerns foreign to most
13-year-olds and probably just wants to cut loose and have some fun being a teenager for the evening. By all
accounts, up until the latter part of the night, he seems to be achieving that goal, enjoying the rides and such,
indulging in delicious junk food, which is typically my favorite part of any fair, and participating in carnival
games. He's determined to stay for what is called midnight madness as the fair remained open past
midnight. So, a lot of the teenagers want to hang out there and get permission from mom and dad to to stay
for the midnight madness portion of the fair. And Jimmy had done so. He had made
arrangements with his mother to pick him up from the fair at 12:30 a.m. Now, boys
will be boys, as they say, and to squeeze out every drop of fun, Jimmy and his friends decide to sneak off to smoke
a joint. This is at the secluded east end of the fairgrounds. So, this will be tucked away
from the crowds, so they'll be behind the farmers market and shielded by darkness over there. Now, around 11:30
p.m., the three boys, a trio, who are minding their own business and keeping a low profile, of course, because of the
marijuana, they are approached by a group of older teen boys. Reportedly, this group of older
boys, their ages range from 15 to 19. And the way that it sounds to me, Captain, we're talking
about five or six older teenage boys. And as the story goes, these older boys first approached them, offering to
sell them a dime bag of wheat. Jimmy and friends declined the offer, telling them
that they they already had enough. But the older boys persist and somehow this conversation then turns
into threatening. The older boys are threatening the younger boys. It is later suspected that several if not all of
these older boys belong to the disreputable group known as the Berg Jones Lane Gang.
So, one of these older boys throws a punch at Jimmy after an argument. Jimmy swiftly
retaliates, landing a solid blow upon his opponent. Now, realizing that they are
outnumbered and overmatched, Jimmy's punch gives them the opportunity to run and try to get
out of there. So, Jimmy and his friends, they run off in opposite directions trying to escape. the attackers. Yeah.
And it's not much of a fair fight. Six against three. The gang decides to run after the boys, but they hone in on
Jimmy rather quickly. So they they're chasing him until he gets cornered. He finds himself in a fenced in
area and he's trapped. So upon catching up with their target, these boys they surround him and they launch into a
ruthless and coldblooded attack on 13-year-old Jimmy Townson. They begin beating and kicking him mercilessly,
pummeling him so severely that his spinal cord eventually becomes dislocated from his neck. Now, as Jimmy
lay there motionless upon the ground, gravely injured, these older boys, the attackers, of course, they
flee the scene, leaving the 13-year-old there helpless and clinging to life. So,
Jimmy, now on the brink of death, is is eventually found by his friends who alert police at the fair. And there's
some varying reports here on some of the details and I would imagine that a lot of that has to do
with one just the chaotic nature of the situation but two getting varying accounts and some of those accounts
coming from from teenagers. But some of the information says that they find Jimmy near the spot
where the boys had first separated when they decided to run. So, he may not have
made it very far. Right. After medical personnel administered CPR, Jimmy is then rushed off to St. Francis Medical
Center, which isn't terribly far away. This will be a desperate attempt to try to save the young teenager's life.
Although it seems futile, he's placed on a ventilator. And I don't know if this was
an attempt to perform some kind of surgery or to to take some measures to perhaps save his life. Right. I think
that it it may have been perhaps an attempt to keep him alive long enough so that his father,
who was reportedly often out of town for work, so maybe that he could he would be
able to say goodbye to his only son. and he'd be able to come back into town and
and have one last chance. Now, despite monumental efforts to try to save the boy, Jimmy's injuries prove to
be fatal. A September 30th, 1985 article in the News Times confirms the youth's time of death as
10:53 p.m. on Saturday, September 28th. So they kept him alive for about one day's time. And I want to read some
portions of this news article that came out, the New Star article that we had just referenced. And the headline
here, this was on page one of the New Star. The headline is youth questioned in beating death, no arrest made. And it
reads, "A 17-year-old charged in a Saturday morning fight at the Arlamus Fair was one of several persons
questioned in the weekend beating death of a West Monroe youth. No arrests have been made in the death of Jimmy Townsen,
who was involved in a fight. Police Chief Willie Buffington refused to say how many suspects were questioned, but
said some are young adults, 17 or 18 years old. He says, quote, "At this particular point, we are talking to
several witnesses and several people who were involved in the fight and who are in fact suspects. It was a fight," he
says. He goes on to say that blacks and whites were fighting. We don't know who all was involved with the fight. We
don't know what the fight was about. He added, I think the detectives may have an idea, but he's he's not going to
elaborate in this article. The 17-year-old was booked, the person that was questioned was booked in connection
with another weekend beating on the fairgrounds, and that arrest stemmed from a complaint by a 19-year-old who
identified the 17-year-old as the person who had attacked him. The 17-year-old was charged with drunk and disorderly
conduct, simple battery, interfering with police officer, and resisting arrest by
flight. He was released on bond. The chief goes on to say, "We are not at a point in time where we can go before a
judge and get a warrant for an arrest." He also says that no weapons were found at the scene of the fight that resulted
in the death of Jimmy Townsen. He also added that we don't have any evidence that it was a gang, but we will know and
learn shortly that that is one of the possibilities. Yeah, it's and it seems to be the ongoing theory, the theory
that has lasted over the decades. The chief goes on to say, quote, "This thing is like a
gigantic puzzle and we are trying to put it together. One of the big things we are waiting on is the autopsy report."
So the this article does extend to the second page of the newspaper as well. And what they are talking about without
naming any names is it doesn't seem like this fight and the assault on the other
on that 19year-old, right? It doesn't seem like that was the only fights or assaults that were going on at the fair
over the course of of the fair itself. It It really sounds to me like either there's a bunch of kids that are just
not getting along and they are fighting or what I'm more suspicious of and tend to lean is that it sounds like a group
of kids were going around and bullying other kids. I mean, think about the scenario. If you wanted to shake down,
essentially rob some other kids of their money, this would be an ideal scenario and location for that. You get a bunch
of your buddies together, muscle if you will, you see a kid or two by themselves. Often times at these fairs,
especially back in 1985, we know with Jimmy's situation this to be true. And according to the news articles that I
read, it had to be true for so many other kids. This is parents dropping their children off to attend the fair
with their friends and hang out with their friends and meeting at a designate designated location afterwards to pick
them up and return them home afterwards. So you're they're unsupervised kids who
are vulnerable to these bullies and to this gang, if you will. Yeah. and probably given money by their parents.
Hey, I'll give you some money so you can get something to drink, something to eat, and some money to play some games.
Yeah, you don't want to attempt to rob a bunch of kids that don't have any money.
It's likely that the kids here are going to have money because of the games, because of the food and and the rides
and and whatnot. And some of these stories, some of these reports that are coming out of the fair are very similar
to the situation with Jimmy, but thankfully don't have the same result. But it ends up with kids getting beat
up, getting surrounded, getting picked on, and in more than one situation ends up with several kids
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Colonel. Raise them high. A little housekeeping here for our wonderful, beautiful listeners. Oh, by the way, if
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Record, which is available on Apple subscription and Patreon. So, we have our campaign, our keep our girls safe
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to you. This story is not bizarre, but unique for several different reasons. One, we have the the scenario
of this youngster being a father at the age of 13. And yeah, like I said, I believe his daughter was just a month or
so old at the time that Jimmy was attacked. The other thing that I want to remind people about too is yes, this
case feels like a very old case, right? 1985, we're coming up on 40 years old on
this case. However, keep in mind one thing that is unique about this is that the the attackers are all believed to
have been teenagers themselves or right around that age. 20. Correct. So, we very likely have the weird scenario
where we have a old case, a 40-year-old case, but I would suspect that most of these suspects are probably still alive.
I would guess that that probably one or more moved out of the area when they became of
age, conveniently moved out of the area, but these are very likely people that are that are still alive to this day.
So, it it makes this case feel not so far in the rear view. Yeah. And simply, we have this event that a lot of people
are going to attend. people are going to come from all different areas. So that makes it a little more complicated for
police. Are are these individuals that are attacking people or bullying people one are they the same group of people?
Are they local? Are they part of this local gang uh quote unquote gang? Because I think this is a gang that's
made up of younger kids uh or young adults. You have a group of friends like Jimmy. They're just going to this fair
to have a good time and maybe get into a little bit of trouble, but nothing violent. And then we have this other
subsection of kids that are going to bully to possibly steal other kids money. And I think this is a situation
that obviously just got out of hand. And anytime that you have, you know, six kids trying to fight three, you kind of
get this mob mentality where they might have uh took the violence a little bit further because of a mob
mentality. But out of that, if there's six, and we should know this because we have Jimmy's two friends, those those
would be pretty solid eyewitnesses. But out of those six individuals that attacked Jimmy, you'd
think there would be one of them that would go, I can't live with what I did. And oh yeah, I I guarantee you
whether it be a a drunken confession at the, you know, at a late night that one or more of these guys
have spoken up. they've just not told the the right person, you know, they've just not told somebody that is in
authority in in the situation. And and with Jimmy's case, I I should be clear here. So, some reports say that it
was five guys, some reports say that it was six. Regardless of the the boys that
approached them, we do have a good idea, like you said, because of his two friends being there with him that night
and being threatened as well who had who were forced to run off. The actual attack itself wasn't witnessed
by the two friends, but it sounds like it was witnessed by potentially witnessed by other people, right? And
that makes this situation even that more difficult that we don't have any arrests
that were made immediately after this. Now, we do have arrests that were made, but those were involving other
situations. How many of those other fights, those other assaults and attacks were committed by the people
that are responsible for the death of Jimmy Townsen is a big question mark. Again, because it's a big large event,
people coming from all areas, there's a good chance that the eyewitnesses that saw anything weren't local. So, they
don't know any of these kids. So, all they could tell law enforcement is, "Yes, I I saw these kids fighting."
Well, who were they? I don't know. We're not even from the area. So I I don't think there's and there's a good
possibility that Jimmy's friends didn't know these kids that were attacking them
directly. So they can't name names. So that becomes difficult. But also when you're 13, right, to uh let's
say 19 years old, if you're in some kind of uh scuttle or whatever, you you you're in a little um fight and this is
a quote unquote gang, there's a possibility that you're just not mature enough to understand. I need to get this
information to law enforcement because by doing so, law enforcement can do their jobs. arrest these individuals,
which then will protect you. I I can't tell you the amount of times that I was a kid and somebody was being bullied or
something was happening and you're like, why aren't you just telling the teacher?
Because they were so afraid of, well, once I tell the teacher, the kid gets in trouble, but that doesn't protect me.
This kid then can come back after me. Mhm. somewhat what was happening with Jimmy's
friends. Let's get into what we do know and what was known to the persons and not known to the persons that were close
to the case and even some that were in attendance at the fair on this evening. So, in the aftermath of Jimmy's tragic
death, an investigation is launched. Obviously, now it would be September 29th, so one day after his passing, that
Jimmy's autopsy was conducted. The examination and report revealed that he died from shock due to multiple brain
injuries. The coroner of course rules it a homicide, noting quote severe cerebral
injuries without skull fractures akin to shaken child syndrome. Now the report itself was not released publicly or not
spoken of publicly until a month later on October 29th. But that news report suggests his
injuries could have been caused by blows or being jerked around. Jimmy also had facial and neck wounds, including
scrapes and bruised cheek and neck hemorrhaging. The official cause of death is listed as
multiple intraraanial injuries. So, here is the newspaper release of that autopsy or the them talking
about the autopsy. It says an autopsy report filed in the parish clerk of court's office shows that 13-year-old
Jimmy Townsen died of shock that resulted from multiple brain injuries. The West Monroe Youth died
September 28th at St. Francis Medical Center after he was severely beaten the previous evening, the previous night at
the fair. He had severe cerebral injuries without skull fractures. What they go on to say here in this article
is they're not certain if a weapon was used, but a weapon could have been used in this attack, but it would have to be
a type of weapon that could cause these severe injuries without causing fractures to the skull. It goes on to
say that the youth's spinal cord was dislocated from the base of his brain. The autopsy report says the dislo the
dislocation is quite similar to the findings of the shaken child syndrome normally seen in infants and toddlers.
The investigator said the syndrome is found when the spinal cord dislocates from the brain of young children who are
violently shaken. You have to wonder too, we we know that the attack occurred when he became trapped, right? He's he's
basically fenced in and then surrounded by these boys, five or six of them. Could he have gotten pinned up against
that fence in a way that when they're I mean, there's no nice way of saying this, but the way it plays out in my
head, they're stomping him, right? They're probably once they get him to the ground, they're probably kicking him and
stomping him. And the soles of a shoe would very likely help to cause these severe
injuries without fracturing the skull. And I just wonder if he was pinned up against the
fence in some kind of manner that may have caused this dislocation. Yeah, I agree with you. Right. and you hear
maybe there was some kind of weapon used, you go, "Well, six kids around you kicking you would cause a lot of damage
and and then obviously like you said, it probably wouldn't be enough to fracture
the skull." It goes on to say the that Jimmy's injuries may have been caused by blows with an object that could cause
minor trauma without skull fractures or by being jerked around by a group of people. Jimmy Townsen also suffered
hemorrhaging quote all sorry quote over all surfaces of the brain end quote. Injuries to the face and neck included
scrapes near his right eye, bruises on his right cheek, scrapes on his chin, and hemorrhages with his neck. Well, I
think another thing in play here is if Jimmy was knocked out, his neck muscles wouldn't be stabilizing his head. And I
think that's what happened was he was knocked out. And these guys, again, because of a mob mentality, they just
didn't stop. And if he's being jerked around by all directions, there would be no protection to his head, neck, or
spine. Well, and in all these other attacks or shakedowns, whatever you want to call them, where
we have victims, people who were victimized or robbed, and they they're still thankfully alive and able to
provide witness statements to police. So, you have to wonder and you know that it's happening and every every time that
they have someone that they're questioning, whether it be a witness, a victim or potential suspect in any of
these crimes, it's going to include questions about Jimmy Townson's death and the attack on Jimmy Townson. At some
point, don't we have a individual that confesses? Yeah. So, this is where it gets it gets
real shaky, this investigation very quickly. So they launched this investigation and as said there's no
immediate arrests that were made but they there are statements that say at least three presumed witnesses
existed. So potentially three witnesses. However, we do have statements from police saying that no
one has come forward. No one has called uh Crimestoppers. There was a homeless man
who attempted to provide a statement to police. I'm guessing he was more of a witness rather than a suspect, but his
statement, I've never seen it made public, and from my understanding, it was rejected by police due to him being
extremely intoxicated. Right. These witnesses to the crime developed what at least one report says is a convenient
case of selective amnesia about the incident when questioned by police. So So some witness statements potentially
even o even other victim statements seem to have provided names to police. And when they go to talk to
these people, it's a convenient case of selective amnesia. I don't I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, I was
at the fair. I didn't attack anybody. I don't know those other people. I've never saw that person before in my life.
I What did you do at the fair? I did this and then I was I left at uh 12:00 what 1 in the morning. Yeah. Or lied
completely and said they were never at at the fair. And now you have to prove that they were. I mean, one of the local
rumors is that this gang u law enforcement was afraid of or eyewitnesses were afraid of and and
maybe that's a possibility, but everything I've seen by looking into this case, it to me it doesn't seem like
this well organized gang. It seems like more of a group of kids. And so to think
that law enforcement is going to be to be afraid of them, I'd actually go with another local rumor is that maybe some
of these individuals that were involved in this bullying and possibly the attack
on Jimmy are somehow connected to law enforcement through family. And so that would make more sense in the sense of
maybe law enforcement is trying to protect them because, you know, if your 15year-old nephew
was in this attack and maybe didn't have much to do with that at all, you're trying to protect him
because he's obviously still a a kid. Yeah, it's difficult to say. I think that probably at play here, we have a
few different things. There were some people that didn't feel comfortable providing information to police, right?
And then when police were talking to the right individuals, they're probably getting stories that are all over the
place because they're coming from different people who are very likely lying about their involvement or lack
thereof in this in the situation. Yeah. And I think it's easy when for family members and friends of the victim to
think because a case has not been solved, maybe there's some kind of conspiracy thing going on. But one of
the other local rumors that I've heard was that cops the that law enforcement had a pretty good idea of who did it.
But that doesn't mean you can prove that in a court of law. And it's also going to be harder to prove and and harder to
get justice on your side when the attackers are um still minors. Mhm. You know what I
mean? I just think it makes it a little more difficult. Oh, absolutely. And and exactly. I think that you're probably
pretty spot on here with with the thought that they have a good idea of who did this or at least who was in
involved in the attack. Um maybe not all five or six of them but probably two or
three or or if not more. So this is let's go back to the time period here. This is from a a statement from a
detective Zambi. It does provide a little more information about what was going on at the fair. It says,
"Detective Zambi declined to comment on whether police have any suspects at this
time, saying quote, "If anybody saw anything, they haven't reported it to Crimestoppers. The general manager of
the fair, his name is Greg Gregory. That's a not very creative with the name the
naming of of your kid. But anyway, Gre Greg Gregory, the general manager of the fair, said the beating occurred in a
field behind the northeast Louisiana farmers market. No details about the circumstances surrounding the beating
have been confirmed by police or fair officials. Another West Monroe youth, age 14, his name Jim Murphy, was
admitted to Glenwood Regional Medical Center at 2:30 a.m. Saturday after he suffered
blows to the face at the fair. He was reported in very stable condition Sunday, but he has facial injuries and
is wearing an eye patch, a nursing supervisor told the newspaper. So that that names a another victim there. And
if you read some of these articles, there there were other victims that were referenced
but not named. It's again, it's I have I I I refuse to jump over the hurdle that these these guys
didn't attack somebody else, that they didn't shake down somebody else. And so if in fact police know a couple of the
names or have good suspects in this case, they very likely found those good suspects because
of them committing other crimes, less severe crimes at the fair that very night.
Now, it's widely believed, even to this day, that members of the notorious Berg Jones Lane gang are responsible for
Jimmy Townsson's death. And what do we know about this gang here? They were operating from the
Berg Jones Lane neighborhood, which is located in Monroe. This gang was linked to drug trafficking and violent crimes,
instilling fear in the local community. Consequently, information about the deadly incident at the fair has remained
scarce even to this day with many residents suspecting that like the captain said that the
Monroe police are already aware of the culprits but lack sufficient evidence to proceed
further with justice for Jimmy because it you could have the right guy, you could have the right guys, you can
put them in handcuffs. You can take them into court. You can only try them once if you get this thing horribly wrong.
Yeah. It just seems like there is not a lot of evidence and and frankly, unfortunately, it doesn't sound like we
really have much in the way of physical evidence to help further the investigation either.
Now, in 1986, without Jimmy to help raise the infant daughter, the teenage mother
makes a very difficult decision to seek a loving and stable home for her daughter. So, the baby is placed with an
older couple. She's just 11 months old at the time, right? does become a part of an adoring
wonderful new family. Uh she grows up not really knowing the truth about her her father
or her her parents for many years, right? And at some point she does learn what happened to her father. this
will lead her to. So, it's not until she grows into adulthood that the truth about the tragic death of Jimmy Townsen,
her father, emerges, and she takes up the fight for the father, her father, for her father that she never
knew. This is from an online source called Backroad Mysteries. It says, quote, "Things were a lot different back
then. The daughter's name is Christy Joiner. That's a quote from her. She goes on to say, "There were named
suspects, but I think eyewitnesses were scared to come forward." Now, as we know, Christy Joiner was put up for
adoption. She didn't know about a real father until she was older, till she was an adult, according to this report. She
does say that every time police in and around Monroe saw the homicide, she is left wondering why her dad's death was a
basically became one of the coldest cases in the state. Well, and some of these gang members, they think, you
know, obviously either died from drugs or they're in prison or they moved away, but some of these individuals, maybe
they're not in a gang anymore, but they're still in that area. And so, when you have these local rumors of who
possibly could have been involved or just, hey, we think this this gang was involved, but then you start hearing
rumors of, well, this guy was in that gang. So the fact that she is still in this community and sees these
individuals walking free it has to be very uh one concerning you know are they going to do
something to me because I'm pushing to get justice for my father that I I never got to know because of these violent
acts. Mhm. But also, I think it would be um as much as it would be maybe concerning,
it'd also just be frustrating to see these people out living a life that they're that her father never got to
live. Well, and she very likely has sadly seen that. So, about 10 years ago, she began reaching out to authorities in
hopes of getting Jimmy's murder investigation, let's say, reopened. I you know they never really close these
things but they're oftentimes not actively being worked. So getting it reopened examined with fresh eyes.
Because of that, she learns a lot of the details that have not been made public about what occurred at the
Arlamus Fair and that night and and even a list of suspects that detectives have
developed and at least one source here, Captain says many of whom are still living and operating in the very same
hometown in which she rei she resides. Now, there was a an original the original reward for information leading
to an arrest and conviction was $5,000. This was initially offered by a Monroebased civic organization, but has
since expired. Christy is personally offering a $1,000 reward. She has created a private Facebook group,
Justice for Jimmy Townsen, and a change.org or petition to raise awareness of her father's unsolved
murder. And she continues to collaborate with with authorities until those responsible for her father's death are
finally held accountable and brought to justice. Well, and also I think one of the issues with this crime, one being at
such a public event, but also it was 85, correct? So some of the technologies that we use
now, DNA testing, just wouldn't have been as popular or as known. So it makes you wonder, is there anything that they
have left? Because they also had to take Jimmy to the hospital. What happened to
his clothes? How many people touched those clothes? Is it even something that you could test? So then if you have a
list of two or three that you definitely think were involved that you could test
some evidence against them to to give you more evidence to bring them to trial. Sadly, Jimmy's parents, James
Allen and Rita Gail Townsen, passed away in 2008 and 2012, respectively, leaving Christy to keep
looking for answers. Quote, "They never got the answers they were looking for. It was particularly hard on his mother.
She never really got past it, says Christy. We have the names of a number of suspects, and we are pretty sure we
know the individuals responsible for his death, said Christy. We just hope and pray that someone will eventually speak
up and we can finally get some closure. Jimmy lies for eternity in the Twin City
Memorial Gardens about 10 miles from where he died. If you have any information about
this crime, please call Monroe Police Department at 318-3292600. [Music] Want to thank everybody for joining us
here in the garage. If you need more True Crime Garage for your ear balls, make sure you check out Off the Record
on Apple Podcast and Patreon. Last week we talked about the Richard Allen confessions. This week we're talking
about the parrolling of cop killers in New York City. So, tons of interesting content and cases over on Off the
Record. And until next week, be good, be kind, and don't litter. [Music]

Jimmy Townsend ////// 838

Part 1 of 1

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If there ever was a boy who was a living legend in his neck of the woods, well for West Monroe, Louisiana in the early 1980’s it was Jimmy Townsend. Jimmy was smart, talented, good looking, and liked by all. He was known in West Monroe for his athleticism and the ability to carry his youth sports teams to success. It was thought that Jimmy would most certainly someday take his talents to the Majors. Jimmy as it seemed was destined for big things. Jimmy and a group of friends were confronted and attacked by a group of older boys at the annual Ark-La-Miss fair. Jimmy was beaten to death by those boys. The reports vary but it could have been as many as 7 older boys that surrounded and beat Jimmy Townsend to death. The murder of 13 year old Jimmy Townsend is still unsolved. If you have any information about this crime, please call the Monroe Police Department at 1-318-329-2600.

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the murder of 13-year-old Jimmy Townsen and his daughter's fight for justice decades later.

Key points

The Tragic Murder of Jimmy Townsen. A community is left grieving after the senseless murder of a young boy.
The Fair's Dark Turn. What started as a fun night at the fair ended in tragedy for Jimmy.
Jimmy's Promising Life. Jimmy Townsen was a gifted athlete and a young father, full of potential.
Jimmy Townsen's Tragic Death. A 13-year-old boy, Jimmy Townsen, died from severe injuries after being attacked at a fair.
Investigation Challenges. Witnesses to Jimmy's attack develop selective amnesia, complicating the investigation.
Justice for Jimmy Townsen. Christy Joiner fights for justice for her father, Jimmy, who was murdered years ago.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

How could a chance encounter turn so deadly?

Questioning the circumstances surrounding Jimmy's murder.

3:05WatchApr 22, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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