The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 21

METRO The Cincinnati Enquirer 7T NW Saturday, November 18, 1995 B7 Murder: Cole convicted Adopt: Foster kids yearn for parents Adoptive parents tend to come from the middle-income bracket. The average income of all families who applied to adopt through the county's Department of Human Services last year was $40,000. The average income for black families was $35,000. rejected that charge, however, and found Cole guilty of the purposeful killing of Blankenship. Cole sat with his legs crossed and hands in his lap as the verdict was read.

He displayed no visible reaction and declined to comment as he was led from the courtroom. His wife, Virginia, sobbed at the back of the courtroom. She was comforted by her mother, Bonnie Wright, who said the jury reached the wrong verdict. "Charles thought he had a weapon," Wright said. "That's the reason he shot." Lawson had argued that Cole was afraid and was trying to protect himself from the dangerous youngsters in his neighborhood.

Crime in the area also was why Cole installed the surveillance camera, several weeks before the shooting. "It's a scary place to live," Wright said. Lawson said the video hurt Cole's case because it gave jurors an opportunity to second-guess his CONTINUED FROM PAGE Bl much different outcome. "Without the video, I think this would have been a much more difficult case to prosecute," said James Butler, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor. The video shows an argument that began shortly after 3 a.m.

on the front porch of the multifamily house Cole owned. He and Blan-kenship who was trying to intercede in an argument between Cole and one of his tenants exchanged words, and Blanken-ship, a 24-year-old who claimed "to own Tremont Avenue" in the video, made several threats to Cole. Blankenship then disappeared into the building, and Cole retreated into his apartment at 3: ll a.m. to get his gun. He then returned to the porch to wait, prosecutors said, for Blankenship.

At 3:38 a.m., a Cincinnati police cruiser drove past the house. Cole, with the gun tucked in the back of his pants, faded into the shadows and did not seek help. Then, at 3:44 a.m., Blankenship claiming he was armed, but carrying only a pair of sunglasses marched onto the porch. Cole first yelled, "No, no, no," but then fired the shots. "Without the video, we wouldn't have had that time frame," Butler said.

Because of the video, prosecutors had charged Cole with aggravated or premeditated murder. The jury NEW $590.00 plus shipping 3 YEAR IBM WARRANTY IBM 484 SLC 2-50 COMPUTER 4 MB MKMORY. 170 MB HARD DRIVE. 1 .44 FLOPPY DRIVE. 101 KEY KEYBOARD.

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If you are interested in adopting a black child, here are some places to go for help: Hamilton County Department of Human Services, 632-6366. Catholic Social Services of Southwestern Ohio, 241-7745. Lutheran Social Services, 326-5430. Adoption Awareness Alliance, 771-5353. Group of Black Adoptive Parents, 541-4166.

Some black families never make it through the screening process to adopt. In Hamilton County, about 150 people call each month to inquire about adoption, but about 80 show up for training. About 20 make it through training and the screening process to adopt. Eversmann said as many African-Americans show up to adopt as whites. He said families can be screened out for any number of things: a felony conviction in the family, a poor credit history or a past mental instability are just a few.

King, of the black adoption center, said African-Americans are screened out sometimes because of misunderstandings with white recruiters. "There are cultural differences, and it can come down to something (EH rf To iriiliVJllliVi CONTINUED FROM PAGE Bl black families, efforts have in-. creased to find black families willing to adopt. Eversmann, supervisor of County's home-finding unit, said all children in the public system have special needs and it is "difficult to find families willing to "adopt. The longer they stay in the system, the older they get and their chance drops of ever being adopted.

But the disproportionate num- fteys aren't the only reason black hildren are not being adopted. African-Americans involved in the adop- tipn field say African-Americans decline to adopt because of a lack of information, insecure financial status or because they already are caring "for a child who is not theirs. lot of these families don't -know they are needed and how --crucial the need is," said Gloria King, director of the Black Adoption, Placement and Research Center in Oakland, Calif. "They see ads on television, but don't think they are at them. They think adoption agencies are looking for Ozzie-and- Harriet type families." Nelda and Hosea Jackson of For-' est Park adopted three siblings -two girls and a boy in August.

Nelda Jackson agrees black families unaware of the numbers of black children who need parents. She had raised four children from previous marriage, and Hosea Jackson had raised three before they adopted Dionsoylo, 7, Janay, 8, and Shawanee, 9, in February 1994. The Siblings had been raised mostly in the foster care system. Nelda Jackson said black families that don't feel they can afford it should still check into adoption. State subsidies are available.

7, "We're not rich," she said. "I'm retired and my husband works all day." But money is a barrier. In Cincinnati, the median income for a black family is a white family, $34,485. Rogers: 70 CONTINUED FROM PAGE Bl beach. The crime was witnessed by a man across the river in Indi-' ana.

"After talking to investigators further, we've ruled him out," he said. But authorities in Ohio think a 16-year-old girl may have been the first victim in a series of cross-country killings. The Preble County Sheriff's Department said Thursday that Rogers' first victim may have been Kelly Ann Camargo of Hamilton, the Dayton Daily News reported SUPPLY co. in shooting client's actions. "People could look at it and say, 'Maybe Charlie Cole could have done something he said, adding that the jury might also have acted on the emotions that the videotape evokes.

"I don't think it helped at all," he said. "It's hard to see a murder. We said it was self-defense, but we told them it was not going to be a pretty sight. In most cases, the jury is not going to see the murder they're just going to hear the testimony and make their decision on that." Lawson said he will ask Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel to set aside the jury's verdict and find Cole not guilty. Nadel will sentence Cole on Dec.

5. The penalty for murder is life in prison without chance of parole for 15 years. And Cole will have an extra three years tacked onto his sentence because he used a gun. i800opus WrronffiiMyni Ttiwito opWnlo purchase Maxima $15,466. 4 Days Only In Cincinnati Nov.

17-20 Jesf QeajS jn The Nation! 9 M9oo flfe. ac ssm 100's of assorted cabinets to choose from i tr i IJ Hand-carved Rosewood Chair w'Cushion jL" I'whJ ft as small as not asking a question right," she said. Blacks traditionallyhave taken care of relatives' children, with grandmothers raising grandchildren or aunts raising nieces and nephews. Now in Hamilton County, 75 percent of the children in county custody who have been placed in the home of a relative of their natural parent are African-American. The number of children available for adoption has tripled in the last four years.

Crack cocaine has led to a large increase in the number of parents who abuse and neglect their children, sending them into the county system. Societal problems of the past 30 years and an increase in family mobility have left more and more black children without a relative to turn to when parents don't provide a decent home. At last month's Million Man March in Washington, D.C., the National Association of Black Social Workers issued a plea for black families to step forward and adopt. In Hamilton County, Human Services staffers recruit at the annual Black Family Reunion and churches. Today, Catholic Social Services of Southwestern Ohio will hold an adoption fair to coincide with National Adoption Month this month designed to pair the county's black families with black and biracial children.

Their efforts aren't always fruitful. Catholic Social Services has dropped its adoption fee to $100 for black families who adopt black children. Three families signed up last year, and a recruitment effort this year landed five families. Lutheran Social Services has about 10-12 black children available each year, while eight to 10 black families apply to adopt. The children available through private agencies are infants, presumably with no problems, unlike children in the public system.

"Our white mothers can have a lot of families to choose from and we want our black mothers to have the same option," said Barbara Wentz, adoption manager. "But they don't have as many choices." Nov. 1, 1993, two months after Camargo's body was found, Hamilton police Detective Dan Pratt said. Peters' decomposed body was found wrapped in a sheet and tied to a chair in a Kentucky cabin that Rogers' family owns. Rogers had been living with Peters for several months.

The men were seen together shortly before Peters disappeared sometime between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1, according to a missing-person report. Free Gift Wrap with purchase! merchandise Church Supply Lawrence Avenue berhind our store! hEbE Register for a door prize! 2 YEAR LEASE! 'LOADED! Wl SWEENEY NISSAN may have been killed rtj a 'Li 11111 I Hut Momymw) flfl Sat 9am 6pm CWSrjfjl i 24 month. 30.000 mile a wtfn 1 bt peralry tor ercM rrnieags no) included.

End ot toss SQiaMjtIBB 8EDS Friday. Camargo's decomposed body was found in Camden in September 1993, two weeks after she was last seen getting into a car with a stranger outside a Hamilton bar. Preble County Sheriff Tom Hayes said an investigation began this week to explore any possible link between Camargo's death and Rogers. 'We're going on the information that he was from Hamilton and she was from Hamilton and it was reported that he picked up his victims in bars," Hayes said. Peters was reported missing on Christmas WALL TO WALL MILLION INVENTORY 1 0OO's OF ITEMS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE LIMITED QUANTITIES Friday 2 -8pm, Saturday 11 -5pm.

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