Thursday, October 18, 2001

Probation officer arrested after shooting stepson, 6
By Angela K. Brown
Associated Press

FORT WORTH — A probation officer was arrested Wednesday morning following a brief manhunt after her 6-year-old stepson was shot in the abdomen and his older brother was pistol-whipped at a park.

Tonya Clemons, 31, of Arlington was charged with attempted capital murder after being arrested at a friend’s home in Fort Worth.

Trey Vaughn Garner was in critical condition at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth after undergoing surgery. His 9-year-old brother, Timothy Garner Jr., suffered a superficial wound to the head and was in good condition at the hospital.

“We don’t even have a whisper of a motive at this time,” said Chief Deputy Jim Willett of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators said Timothy witnessed the 7 a.m. shooting at Echo Lake Park and fled to a frontage road on nearby Interstate 35, where a driver swerved to miss the boy and then stopped to help.

Clemons then ran toward the car and hit Timothy in the head with the gun, but the driver forced her away from the car and sped away with the child inside, Willett said.

“He (the driver) didn’t volunteer to be a hero, but that’s what he is,” Willett said.

Clemons reportedly ran to the nearby house of a friend, who called police after the woman was acting odd and said her sons were hurt, Willett said.

Family members gathered at the Fort Worth park after the shooting.

“She is a sweet, loving, joyful person,” said William “Butch” Clemons, the suspect’s uncle. “She loves to play. She especially loves children. ... They had a wonderful relationship. They loved her; she loved them.”

The woman had not been depressed and had never showed signs of violence, Butch Clemons said.

“I just was floored,” he said of hearing about the shooting Wednesday. “Nothing like this has even happened in our family before.”

The uncle said the woman had been married to the boys’ father about a month. Police said the couple had domestic problems recently.

Clemons is an adult probation officer in Arlington, but it was unclear if she had a department-issued weapon and if it had been used. Investigators had not found the gun Monday morning but planned to search the suspect’s car.