Jame Houston
SALINE CO., Ill.--A Harrisburg man was convicted in a four-year-old case Friday in Saline County circuit court...but it wasn't the on the count he was originally charged with at that time.
James E. Houston, 35, has an extensive record in Saline County, most of that for some sort of battery.
In early September 2010, he was arrested and charged with an incident of Aggravated Battery of a Child at an Eldorado apartment with a then-girlfriend, Amber Akins, wherein he was accused of beating Akins' two-year-old son.
On the evening of Sept. 7, 2010, Akins had gone to take a test at Southeastern Illinois College, leaving Houston to babysit her two-year-old. When she returned, she found her little boy with blackened eyes and bruises, and the boyfriend, Houston, drunk and belligerent.
When Akins attempted to question Houston as to how her baby had gotten injured, Houston attacked her. With the child in her arms, he slammed her head into the walls of the apartment as well as into the refrigerator. When she tried to call for help with a cell phone, he threw her down on the bed face-first and placed a pillow over the back of her head, pressing down hard, suffocating her.
She was able to get away, however, when the little boy struck Houston on the foot. Houston, who displays the typical qualities of an abuser and so is insanely jealous, in his drunkenness was showing that jealousy inadvertently, and called the little boy by his dad's name when the boy struck Houston. Given that the dad was an ex of Akins', this was the cause of the jealousy...and being struck on the foot (and apparently attributing it to Akins' ex) was enough of a distraction for Houston that Akins was able to get up and grab her baby, taking refuge in the bathroom of the apartment.
Fortunately, by this time, the neighbors were hearing the commotion. The landlord's son, Joe Hunt, happened to live in the apartment complex and came to the door.
Houston, as is typical of women- and child-abusers, didn't have enough guts to go after a man, and so as Hunt was standing in the doorway, instead of attacking him, Houston began a rampage in the apartment, breaking items belonging to Akins, who was still hiding with the child in the bathroom. Hunt told Houston to get out, and he did...only to be apprehended by authorities.
When Houston was charged, it was initially only with the battery of the child as a felony, and a misdemeanor battery of Akins. This was due largely to the fact that when Akins made out her statement, she did not focus on what Houston had done to her, trying to suffocate her; she was only worried about her child, and rightly so.
However, when Houston, out on bond, had been arrested late last year with another battery, the prosecution, lead by Jayson Clark, upon reviewing the material, realized that there might have been more charges filed if Akins' statements were more thorough. So she gave a more detailed statement regarding what Houston had done to her...and he was charged with Attempted Murder.
Last week, he went to jury trial on that count...and was found guilty by a seven-man/five-woman jury.
Houston has been held in Saline County Detention since his arrest late last year, his bond having been revoked when he was charged with yet another domestic battery of a girlfriend.
He's been set for sentencing July 14, but he's facing more counts in Saline County. We'll have a full account of the matter in the June 17 issue...in just a couple of weeks. Be watching.