Roger Estlack

A Clarendon woman is out on bond this week, facing a felony charge related to the death of her grandson, Chance Jones, last year.

Gayle Edes, age 67, was indicted by the Donley County Grand Jury last Wednesday, January 4, 2012, on the first degree felony charge of Injury to a Child by Omission, District Attorney Luke Inman said. She was arrested by Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn that evening, and arraigned by Justice of the Peace Connie Havens, who set bond at $50,000.

The arrest came exactly one year after local authorities were called to the rural Donley County residence of Edes’ son, Robert Babcock, where they found four-year-old Jones unresponsive and obviously beaten.

Jones died the next morning at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo, and authorities believe his death could have been prevented if Edes had reported what was going on or taken action.

“She knew for two weeks and helped hide the fact that the boy was being abused,” Sheriff Blackburn said. “She made a conscious decision not get him medical care.”

Blackburn said he would have charged Edes much earlier in the investigation but said he held off because the district attorney wanted more information. He said the DA finally got enough information to present the case against Edes to the Grand Jury last week.

“I’ve wanted to arrest her since about January 14,” Blackburn said.

Court records allege that on January 3, 2011, Edes intentionally or knowingly, by omission, caused serious bodily injury to Chance Mark Jones by her failure to get medical attention for the boy and that she had care, custody, or control of the child at that time.

“She was helping take care of him, which puts a greater burden on her to protect the child,” Blackburn said.

Edes was taken to the Collingsworth County Jail for holding following her arrest and posted bond the next day. If convicted, Edes could face a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

Babcock remains in the Donley County Jail facing a capital murder charge in Jones’ death with a bond set at $1 million. According to previous reports, Babcock had only recently met his son and only had custody of him for a few weeks before, according to investigators, he began abusing the boy on December 24, 2010, and continued abusing him until January 4, 2011.

An autopsy conducted January 6, 2011, revealed that the boy died from blunt force trauma to the head and that he also suffered internal injuries from trauma to the torso. Investigators at the time called the case the worse they had ever worked.

District Attorney Inman would not comment last week on the charges facing Gayle Edes, saying that his office is focused right now on the charges against Babcock, whose trial has been moved to Hall County.

A Temple, Texas, company announced this week that it has purchased 63 Taylor Food Mart Stores from Taylor Petroleum Company based in Amarillo, Texas, two of which are operated in Clarendon.

Fikes Wholesale Inc., parent company of the 194-location CEFCO Convenience Stores Chain based in Temple said in a press release that it had acquired the retail interests of the Taylor Food Marts located in West Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to welcome the Taylor Food Mart Team and Stores into our Fikes/CEFCO Convenience Store Family” said James Fikes, President and CEO of Fikes Wholesale Inc. “This agreement truly represents a win-win for all parties involved and we look forward to serving our customers in these new market areas with immediate plans to resupply depleted inventories”.

“The addition of the Taylor Stores coupled with the August 2011 acquisition of the 69 store Food Fast Store group has helped our company grow to a 257 Store Chain operating in seven states” said Fikes.

Fikes Wholesale, Inc. is a 60+ year old company that began as a fuel distributor. The company employs more than 2,000 people across the southern United States.

CEFCO Convenience Stores operates stores in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas and employs more than 2,000 team members chain-wide.

Investigators are still looking for answers in the case of a 63-year-old Amarillo man who was shot last Wednesday night, January 4, while hunting in Briscoe County.

Sava Garcia, Jr., was reportedly hunting on the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River near the bridge on Texas Highway 256 when he was shot once in the shoulder between 3:30 and 6 p.m.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Garcia reportedly walked for some distance before collapsing and then being found by Antonio Padilla, Jr., age 53 of Spring Lake. The two men were hunting together.

Padilla transported Garcia into Donley County where they were met by local EMS personnel about eight miles south of Clarendon. Garcia was then transported to Clarendon and airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo where he underwent surgery. Blackburn said Garcia was in stable condition last Thursday morning.

The Briscoe County Sheriff’s Office believes the shooting to be accidental and says a white pickup was seen under the bridge prior to the shooting and is currently being sought by law enforcement.

Authorities are asking anyone who was hunting or who knows someone who was hunting on January 4 on the river near the Highway 256 Bridge to contact the Briscoe County Sheriff’s Office at (806) 823-2135.

The North West Texas Ag Conference will be held in Clarendon at the Donley County Activity Center on Friday, January 13, with registration from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. A $10 participation fee will be required at the time of registration to offset meeting cost.

Topics for this year’s conference will include “Watering for the Future” presented by Nick Kenny, Texas AgriLife Extension Irrigation Specialist; “Thoughts for Controlling Weeds in 2012,” presented by Dr. Peter Dotray, Texas AgriLife Extension Weed Specialist; “Cotton Disease Management,” presented by Dr. Jason Woodward, Extension Plant Pathologist; “Soil Testing,” presented by Fred Vocasek, Senior Lab Agronomist Serv-Tech Laboratories; and “Pesticide Laws and Regulations,” presented by Levon Harmon, Texas Department of Agriculture.

A meal will also be served along with Industry seed and chemical representative updates will be presented. Participants will receive five CEU credits toward there pesticide applicator License requirements. Participant will be asked to please RSVP to the Donley County Extension Office by Thursday, January 12, at 2 p.m. to assure meal head count.

If you have any questions or special needs, contact Leonard Haynes at 806-874-2141 or by cell at 806-282-7680.

A 63-year-old Amarillo man was shot Wednesday night while hunting in Briscoe County.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn tells the Enterprise that Savas Garcia, Jr., was reportedly hunting on the Red River when he was shot in the shoulder and neck. Garcia walked for a great distance before collapsing and reportedly being found by Antonio Padilla, Jr., age 53 of Spring Lake. The two men were hunting together.

Padilla transported Garcia into Donley County where they were met by local EMS personnel about eight miles south of Clarendon. Garcia was then transported to Clarendon and airlifted to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo where he underwent surgery. Blackburn said Garcia was in stable condition Thursday morning.

Blackburn’s office helped gather evidence in the case. The shooting was being investigated by the Briscoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Rangers, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

The mother of accused child killer Robert Babcock is in the Collingsworth County Jail this morning facing charges related to the death of her grandson, Chance Mark Jones, one year ago.

Gayle Edes of Clarendon was indicted by the Donley County Grand Jury yesterday, January 4, 2012, on the first degree felony charge of Injury to a Child by Omission, District Attorney Luke Inman told the Enterprise.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said he arrested Edes last night about 8 p.m., and she was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Connie Havens. Bond was set at $50,000, and Edes was transferred to Collingsworth County for holding.

Court records allege that on January 3, 2011, Edes intentionally or knowingly, by omission, caused serious bodily injury to Chance Mark Jones by her failure to get medical attention for the boy and that she had assumed care, custody, or control of the child at that time.

“She was helping take care of him, which puts a greater burden on her to protect the child,” Sheriff Blackburn said.

If convicted, Edes could face a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
Edes’ son remains in the Donley County Jail facing a capital murder charge in Jones’ death with a bond set at $1 million. Robert Babcock is accused of beating his son, four-year-old Chance Mark Jones, who died one year ago today, January 5, 2011, from injuries he received.

According to previous reports, Babcock had only known of his son a few months and only had custody of him for a few weeks before, according to local authorities, he began abusing the boy on December 24, 2010, and continued abusing him until January 4, 2011.  On that date, Babcock called emergency personnel to his residence near Clarendon where they found Jones unresponsive.

The boy died the next morning at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo. An autopsy conducted the next day revealed that the boy died from blunt force trauma to the head and that he also suffered internal injuries from trauma to the torso. Investigators at the time called the case the worse they had ever worked.

District Attorney Inman would not comment on the charges facing Gayle Edes , saying that his office is focused right now on the charges against Babcock, whose trial is scheduled to begin January 17 in Hall County.