Man killed, Wichita woman arrested in Florida after son put in fire, sheriff says
A Wichita woman and her 9-year-old son, who were listed missing and endangered on Dec. 6, were found in Florida on Tuesday after she and a man burned the boy’s possessions because they believed “he was possessed by a demon,” a Florida sheriff said.
Witnesses also saw 39-year-old Richard Myron Ham put the boy in the fire and cover him with a burning blanket, Highland County Sheriff Paul Blackman said.
The boy escaped without any burns or serious injuries, sheriff’s spokesperson Richard Dressel said Wednesday. The boy was checked at the scene by first responders and is now with the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Ham was fatally shot after hitting a deputy in the head with a metal bar, the sheriff said.
The incident was reported to 911 just after 4 p.m. when witnesses saw Ham and the boy’s mother, 30-year-old Lakenya Phillips, burn the boy’s possessions at the corner of an intersection.
Phillips remained jailed Wednesday on attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, battery on an officer and cruelty toward a child without great bodily harm.
“Phillips apparently was in a relationship with Ham,” Dressel said, adding he didn’t have a hometown on Ham but officers last made contact with him in Wichita. “I still don’t have any information on why they came here.”
The two deputies who arrived at the 911 call found Ham armed with two metal rods.
“Ham refused to follow deputies’ orders and a Taser was deployed,” Blackman said. “The Taser did not appear to have an effect on Ham. Ham pulled the Taser probes from his body and re-armed himself with one of the bars. He then swung the bar and struck a deputy in the head.”
A deputy then shot Ham, who was taken to the hospital where he died.
The deputy who was hit was treated and released from a hospital.
“Multiple firearms and drugs were found in the vehicle Ham and Phillips were driving at the time,” Blackman said. “Ham’s criminal history includes convictions for armed felonies and drug possession and multiple arrests in Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia.”
