We recently sat down with Laura Nelson*, a Scott family cousin, and asked her opinion on the circumstances surrounding the death of six year-old Mason Scott and the subsequent arrest of his mother Christie Bray Scott.
SS: I understand you're a cousin to Christie Bray Scott?
LN: No, actually I'm a cousin to Jeremy and Patrick's mother.
SS. Patrick was Jeremy's older brother? How did he die?
LN: It happened about nine or ten years ago. He had just gotten into a truck with some boys just north of Russellville when the vehicle flipped and ejected Patrick. I think he was killed instantly. It was sad since I was always much closer to Patrick than Jeremy. Jeremy was always the remote one. He never seemed to change facial expressions, even before Patrick and Mason's death. Now I never see him smile.
SS: Do you think he may have Asperger's or something similar? I know it can be hereditary.
LN: I don't know. I've never really thought about it, but he's completely different from the rest of his family.
SS: How did Jeremy and Michelle meet? I've heard they were high school sweethearts, but I know Jeremy is from Russellville and Christie is from Haleyville.
LN: I really don't know about that either. Jeremy's parents, Nell and Dale, live in the Crooked Oak community. Nell teaches handicapped children at Phil Campbell, and Dale was a truck driver until about a year ago when he retired in bad health. I understand the Bray family has quite a bit more money than Jeremy's, so I'm not sure how they got together.
SS: Christie is an only child?
LN: Oh, no. She has a sister and a brother and a little sister that died when a car rolled over her. Someone, don't know who, left the car in gear and the child was killed.
SS: Do you think her sister's death affected Christie? I mean in a way that could have altered her perception of reality?
LN: I don't know about that, but she's never seemed just right to me. She's always been distant and like she was in her own little world.
SS: Where is Jeremy living now?
LN: Sometimes he and Noah Riley (his younger son) live with Nell and Dale; other times they live with the Brays. It seems he aligned himself with the Bray family. I've heard Don has had a stroke since all this started and he's determined to keep Noah Riley close. They bought houses in Hartselle and plan on moving there when this is all finished.
SS: Two houses?
LN: Yes, one for the Bray family and one for Jeremy and his family, whatever that turns out to be.
SS: Have you been to visit Christie?
LN: I haven't, but Jeremy and his father-in-law Don Bray take all the girls food. They have to do it that way. They can't take food just to Christie without taking it to the other female inmates as well. When Christie's grandmother died a little while ago, the Woodmen of the World took trays of food to the jail for Christie and the others after the funeral. I assume that's how she's kept her weight up. I know jail food is terrible.
SS: I understand you've been at the trial as much as possible. Do you have any opinions or other info you could share with us?
LN: Well, I think she may get off. They're not paying Tuten (Christie's defense attorney) $300,000.00 for nothing.
SS: You know for a fact that 300K is his fee?
LN: Not for a fact. It's just everyone has talked about how much money Don and Kathy are having to pay out to keep Christie out of prison. So, yes, I can see her walking.
SS: Will you be testifying?
LN: No, I couldn't be talking with you if I were to testify. Some of the other cousins are. Maybe that's why Jeremy doesn't act the same around any of us anymore. There were blisters on the bottom of Noah Riley's feet after the fire. Christie said they were from walking on gravel, but the ones in my family that saw them say they were definitely burn blisters. I don't think anyone had a doctor look at them, but I'm not sure.
SS: You say she might get off. Do you think she did it?
LN: Oh, yes. She's as guilty as hell.
* Name has been changed to ensure privacy (Photo by Matt McKean)
Tomorrow: Florence's Brad Holmes announces his candidacy for District I state representative.
As Christie Scott turned herself in, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing and Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett held the obligatory news conference and photo op. The bearded Rushing reiterated the basic facts of the indictment--three alternative accounts of capital murder, after which the often beleaguered Hargett mumbled over the sadness of it all, failing to remember if Mason was in kindergarten or first grade.
In the nearby courtroom, Circuit Court Judge Terry Dempsey refused bond in the case, even though both Scott's father and husband, with whom she was now ostensibly reconciled, testified that the former Alfa representative was no flight risk. Adorned in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, Scott was returned to the Franklin County Jail where she has remained.
Don Bray, a successful Woodmen of the World insurance agent in Winston County and self-proclaimed world's greatest chef, arranged for Huntsville defense attorney Robert Barry Tuten to represent his daughter. Tuten, a summa cum laude graduate of Jones School of Law, specializes in capital murder cases and has in the past represented such defendants as Natashay Ward, the Huntsville woman accused of starving her three children to death, as well as Andrew Pakhomov, the UAH physics professor tried for the murder of his wife.
Tuten also asked for a change of venue, another request denied by Judge Dempsey. Dempsey has stated the jury pool for Scott's trial will be increased by 300, bringing the total to 500 individuals in hopes of selecting a fair and open-minded jury. Tuten announced last week that the jury selection process, which begins today, may take as long as five days. He also refused to rule out a second request for a change in venue if he is unhappy with the final selection.
Franklin County is no stranger to murder cases in which a young child was the victim; however, this is the perhaps the first case involving someone of Christie Michelle Bray Scott's socio-economic standing in the community. Her family's money and position have bought her the best defense attorney; it remains to be seen if such factors will influence jurors from provincial Franklin County after they see the photos of Mason's charred body.Photo of Franklin County Courthouse courtesy of Capitol ShotsA member of V.O.C.A.L. will be in the courtroom and provide us with periodic updates in this case.
Three days after the death of Mason Scott, pieces of the puzzle that surrounded his last minutes were already falling into place. Russellville Fire Marshal Bobby Malone had called in the Russellville Police Department, the Alabama Fire Marshal's office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk utilized an accelerant-sniffing dog to determine that the fire was not accidental in nature and that the blaze had originated under six-year old Mason's bed. Could the mildly autistic child have been playing with chemicals that some how ignited? Could an arsonist have known that Jeremy Scott was out of town and used that opportunity to settle some real or imaginary score? The third scenario seemed even more bizarre to authorities: Christie Michelle Bray Scott had herself started the blaze that claimed the life of her older son.
It had been less than three years since a fire had destroyed the family's former home at 35 Steel Frame Road in Russellville. There were no injuries in that fire, and Christie had blamed a Glade air-freshener plug-in for the blaze. While there had been no physical injuries related to the previous fire, the home had been insured, and both Christie and her father Don Bray were insurance agents.
The investigation into the previous fire had been perfunctory at best. Christie was a native of nearby Haleyville, the daughter of Don and Cathy Bray, both leading citizens in the small town. Her husband Jeremy S. Scott was an Information Technology specialist for CB&S, a locally owned bank that had been a Russellville institution for over 100 years. Yet the fire on Steel Frame Road had raised suspicions among many in the community--Christie had been involved in two fires at her family home in Haleyville. Now a fourth fire had claimed not only the young couple's new home, but their child.
Mason had started the first grade at Russellville's West Elementary School on August 4. Less than two weeks later he was dead. Now many who had observed Christie and Mason together characterized the mother as uncaring. Others in the community were surprised that Scott showed so little emotion during her son's funeral at Russellville's Calvary Baptist Church and in the days that followed.
Christie Scott returned to live with her parents in Haleyville, while her husband Jeremy took their younger son to his parents' home in Russellville. The young father also took out a protection from abuse order against his now estranged wife after Mason's autopsy showed large amounts of sedative in his system. On October 26, Franklin County Judge Terry Dempsey issued a warrant for Scott's arrest after her indictment by a grand jury. Information presented during the hearing indicated that Alfa Insurance agent Christie Scott had taken out an additional life insurance policy on her son the day before his death.
Tomorrow: The trial
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