Adriana Payne
Tyler Payne
October 18, 2002 - 2007
November 2001 -2007
Jamie Hallam was given sole custody of her children.
Her ex-husband had disappeared and he wasn't visiting the children at all.
One day, he showed up and seemed to be in better shape than the last time
she had seen him. Jamie allowed him to visit with their children, Tyler
and Ariana. Jamie, convinced he had turned his life around, allowed him
to have the children for a weekend visit and then allowed him to take them
to a birthday party. That would be the last time she would see her children,
alive.
Jamie would try to get her children back with the
help of the Tucson Police. Taking the court order that gave her sole custody,
she asked the police to go with her to her ex-husbands apartment to bring
her children home. After speaking with Christopher Payne, who was 29 at
the time, the police officer contacted the state and was told to leave
the children where they were. This would turn out to be a big mistake on
the part of CPS who never visited the children to check on them.
Child Protective Services claims what while they
had reports that the children had been abused by someone else, they had
no complaints about Christopher Payne having abused them and they stayed
in contact with him regarding those claims:
"CPS did not place the children with Mr. Payne.
The children were placed with Mr. Payne by
another iindividual family member, and our
investigation revealed no information that the
children were at risk of harm with him."
After their divorce in March of 2002, Jamie and the
children lived with her stepfather, Richard Barcalow on and off for
about year. He spoke of how he'd gone to the home of Christopher and Jamie
at all hours to pick her and the children up because Christopher was being
violent. On June 16, 2003, papers were filed by Jamie requesting that
Christopher not be allowed to see the children because
of his violent temper as well as drug and alcohol abuse. Richard Barcalow
said that he had never seen Christopher abuse the children. At that time,
she also had her named changed back to Hallam. The court found that Jamie
was a fit mother, gave her sole custody and ordered Christopher to pay
child support of $446. a month.
On February 22, 2006, Christopher Payne filed for
a modification of child custody stating that Jamie was high on drugs and
not taking care of the children. Christopher claimed that CPS had told
him to file the claim. Richard Barcalow denied that Jamie was doing drugs
or that she was ever intoxicated around the children:
"She was wonderful with the children. She would
sit on the floor and read with them."
 
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On February 18, 2007 police
were called by the manager of a storage unit claiming there was a foul
odor coming from one of their sheds.
The man who had been paying for the shed had not
paid rent for quite some time and the shed had been double locked allowing
only employs to have access to the shed.
When the shed was opened, the officers found a plastic
storage tub with the remains of what looked to be a child about the age
of two though she was really four. The child would later be identified
as Ariana Payne. The police would also
learn that she had a brother, though his body was
not found in the shed. In fact, his body would never be found at all. Police
tried to find the body of Tyler Payne and were not successful in doing
so.
Police made contact with Christopher Payne who was
the renter of the shed. Christopher was arrested and charged with first
degree murder, child abuse and abandoning or concealing body parts. He
was held on
$1.5 million dollar bail. |
 
Tyler and Ariana Payne suffered abuse at the hands
of their father and his live in girlfriend. Reina Gonzales, who was 23
at the time, gave details about some of the abuse the children suffered
before they died. Reina claimed that she was also a victim of the abuse
which Christopher had been giving. Reina testified that Tyler and Adriana
were locked in a closet with no food or water. After Adriana died, her
body was placed in a storage container and Tyler was forced to stay in
the closet with her decomposing body. Tyler would eventually die as well.
Reina said that instead of helping the children, she started using drugs
to go numb and not have to deal with what was going on.
 
.
Richard Barcalow, Tyler's grandfather made a plea
to Christopher to tell authorities where Tyler's body was. He also made
a hopeful assumption that Christopher had sold Tyler:
"I hope he did sell him. At least he'd be alive.
It just hurts so much to have them killed or missing.
You don't know what happened.
Jorge Franco Jr, the attorney for Jamie Hallam filed
a case against the state in March of 2008:
“The liability for the state of Arizona in
this case stems from the obvious negligence of the CPS caseworker and supervisor
that was in charge of Jamie Hallam’s case in March of 2006. They
made inconsistent decisions eight days apart
and effectively violated a judges custody order”
Jamie's lawsuit says that she suffered psychological
and emotional damage as well as shock and grief due to the neglect of the
state to protect her children. In the suit Hallam states loss of companionship
of children, past and present medical expenses for counseling services
she has and will receive and incidental damages that are the direct result
of the loss of her children. No dollar amount was given, Jamie asked on
for:
“A judgment in an amount that will compensate
plaintiff Jamie Hallam fairly and fully for the wrongful
deaths of Ariana and Tyler Payne.”
Jamie was eventually awarded one million dollars
for her case against CPS. There is a lawsuit still pending against the
Tucson Police Department
Christopher Payne is set to go on trial in February
of 2009.
Reina Gonzales plead guilty to two counts of second
degree murder which was part of her plea bargain to testify against Christopher.
The plea bargain guarantees that she will go free someday. It is expected
that some time after the trial of Christopher Payne, she will be given
a sentence of two 22 year sentences, to run concurrently.
For information about preventing child abuse in the
state of Arizona, click the links below. If they can't help you, ask for
someone who can. NEVER give up looking for help for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child
1-800-422-4453
   
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My sincerest appreciation goes out to
Diane Trembly for allowing me to use one
of her beautiful Angels to make the graphics
for this set. Please visit her site,
by clicking the link below, to see all
of her amazing work.
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