Thomas “Chad” Clayton
Birth: October 22, 1971
Death: August 1, 2013
Obituary
Thomas “Chad” Clayton of Dothan, died unexpectedly, Thursday, August 1, 2013. He was 41. Funeral services will be held 3:00 p.m. Sunday, August 4, 2013 at Byrd Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Pierre Harvey and Coach Ronnie Shelley officiating. Burial will follow in Memory Hill Cemetery with Byrd Funeral Home on West Main Street directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home in the chapel from 6 until 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Chad was born October 22, 1971 in Dothan where he lived most all of his life. He was a 1990 graduate of Ashford Academy. Chad served in the U.S. Army from 1991 until 1995 and later was employed with Covington Heavy Equipment. Chad was an avid sports fan and was a loving brother and son.
Chad is survived by his parents, Tommy and Thollie Clayton of Dothan; a sister, Melissa Matthews and her fiancé, Wesley Barber of Dothan; a brother, Shane Clayton and his wife, Melanie of Dothan; two children, Bryant Clayton of Tampa, Florida and Kenya Clayton of Luverne; nieces and nephews, Madylan Clayton, Gunnar Clayton, Jett Clayton and Molly Matthews.
Serving as active pallbearers will be, Coach Ronnie Shelley, Doyle Williams, Bernard Anglin, Jeremy Pope, Scott Love and Shane Clayton.
BYRD FUNERAL HOME ON WEST MAIN STREET, 3409 W. Main Street, Dothan, AL 36305 334.793.3003
Criminal Details
DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson – Apr 9, 2015 Updated Apr 9, 2015
Dothan woman convicted of manslaughter
A Houston County jury convicted a Dothan woman of manslaughter late Thursday afternoon for the fatal stabbing death of her boyfriend in 2013.
Jurors deliberated for about two and a half hours before deciding to convict 37-year-old Tareka Green Stoddart of manslaughter. She had been on trial for murder, but jurors decided to convict her of the lesser charge.
Following her conviction, Circuit Court Judge Larry Anderson sentenced Stoddart to serve 16 years in prison.
Stoddart said she fatally stabbed 41-year-old Chad Thomas Clayton in the chest with a screwdriver in self-defense in the 800 block of North Cherry Street on July 19, 2013. He died from his injuries about two weeks later.
“We were tussling back and forth,” Stoddart testified on Thursday. “It was a fight.”
Stoddart said the stabbing happened because she was scared and defending herself during an argument.
Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska asked Stoddart to demonstrate to the jury how she stabbed Clayton by using a pen.
“I was protecting my space,” she said. “I told him not to come any closer to me.”
Valeska questioned Stoddart about how she happened to be carrying a screwdriver at the time of the argument.
“I always (carry) something because I am afraid of dogs,” she said.
At the conclusion of Stoddart’s testimony, lawyers made their closing arguments before the jury started their deliberations. The jury had four options as they deliberated – guilty of murder, manslaughter or felony first-degree assault, or not guilty.
Dothan police investigators arrested Stoddart on Aug. 2, 2013, and charged her with felony murder. Stoddard has been held at the Houston County Jail on $500,000 bail since her arrest.
Valeska argued Stoddart murdered her former boyfriend, and her past history of violence with him showed she had the intent. Valeska reminded jurors of evidence, which showed Stoddart had stabbed and cut Clayton on three prior occasions before the fatal screwdriver stabbing. No charges were ever filed in the other stabbings.
Valeska also told jurors they never once saw Stoddart show any remorse during any of her testimony in court. Valeska called Stoddart cold and calculated because she fled the scene of the argument and didn’t stay to offer her former boyfriend help.
“She took his life and killed him, and then she ran off in the dead of night and left him,” Valeska said. “The family will get justice today when you convict her of murder.”
Attorney Arthur Medley, who represented Stoddart, told jurors his client’s former boyfriend died from an unintentional killing. He also said his client and her former boyfriend had been drinking that night.
“This wasn’t an intentional murder. It’s one singular puncture wound as the two of them were fighting,” Medley said. “We’re not disputing she stabbed him. She defended herself.”
Valeska questioned why, if Stoddart acted in self-defense, she didn’t stay and actually tell that story to police instead of leaving the scene.
“He paid the ultimate price because he was too good,” Valeska said. “This is murder. She did it, and the past history shows it.”
Source: View DothanEagle.com Article
Criminal Details
DothanEagle.com
Matt Elofson – Apr 24, 2016 Updated Apr 24, 2016
Dothan woman convicted in fatal stabbing wanted
A Dothan woman remains wanted for bail revocation in connection to the fatal stabbing of her former boyfriend.
Tareka Green Stoddart, 38, has been wanted for over a month after a local judge revoked her appeal bond for the felony manslaughter charge a jury found her guilty of last year.
Houston County Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Rafferty confirmed deputies were still looking for Stoddart.
Dothan police arrested Stoddart on Aug. 2, 2013, and charged her with felony murder in the stabbing death of 41-year-old Chad Thomas Clayton.
A jury found Stoddart guilty of a lesser felony manslaughter charge in May of 2015.
Stoddart said she fatally stabbed Clayton in the chest with a screwdriver in self-defense in the 800 block of North Cherry Street on July 19, 2013. He died from his injuries about two weeks later.
District Attorney Doug Valeska argued at trial how Stoddart murdered her former boyfriend, and her past history of violence with him showed she had the intent. Valeska reminded jurors of evidence, which showed Stoddart had stabbed and cut Clayton on three prior occasions before the fatal screwdriver stabbing. No charges were ever filed in the other stabbings.
Circuit Court Judge Larry Anderson sentenced Stoddart to serve 16 years in prison, but agreed to an appeal bond in the case while the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals considered her appeal.
Stoddart was released from custody after she posted a $20,000 appeal bond in June 2015.
Court records show Anderson issued an order to revoke the appeal bond on Feb. 9, 2016, granting a request from the Houston County District Attorney’s Office. The request cited Stoddart’s failure to report to the probation office for weekly drug screenings in accordance with her appeal bond requirements.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Tareka Stoddart can call the Houston County Sheriff’s Office at 334-677-4808.
Source: View DothanEagle.com Article