"It's quieter around here than it used to be," Larson says.
Larson last saw 10-year-old Pamela as she pushed off on her Rollerblades to buy cookies at a nearby gas station. Pamela was a happy and bright girl, says Larson, a 26-year-old mother of four who was struck by Pamela's air of wisdom. Larson mentions the time her 7-year-old daughter, Kayla, disobeyed her orders while in Pamela's company. In stepped Pamela, admonishing Kayla: "Don't talk to your mother that way. Go do what your mom asks."
Larson says every mother should have a daughter like Pamela.
"I think Pamela was the kind of girl that when she had a chore she probably did it," she says. "Maybe her mother taught her to be well-behaved and well-mannered. That was the sad thing. She definitely seemed to be a caring young girl."
Larson is standing in the same spot on the sidewalk where Pamela said goodbye to her and the kids. It was late in the afternoon of October 12, 1999. Larson's boyfriend was inflating their youngsters' bike tires, and Larson was talking to a woman drinking a beer -- Patty Butler, one of Pamela's older half sisters, who lived a few blocks away. Patty and Pamela were daughters of Paul A. Butler, who preferred giving his children names starting with the letter P.
Paul's progeny -- he had at least a half dozen children with three Armourdale women -- included Penny Butler. Pamela and 11-year-old Penny were from Paul's relationship with Cherri West. After Paul and West broke up, the girls were being raised by their mother and staying in a crowded house with another half sister, Casey Eaton, as well as Eaton's infant daughter and West's mother, Sandy Campbell. Other friends, children of friends, and relatives took residence with them from time to time.
From the outside looking in, Larson wondered whether West was having difficulties keeping her house in order. She and Paul, an alcohol and drug abuser, had split years earlier while Paul was tangling with his demons. Cherri West was now married to Danny West, but he was in prison at Lansing Correctional Facility for drug-related problems. Casey Eaton's father, Danny Eaton, was in prison at Lansing too. His crime was second-degree murder, related to drugs. Cherri West didn't seem to have much luck with men.
"Cherri and I were not the best of friends, but we knew each other," Larson says. "I think she was a good mom, a single parent for a while who worked hard for her money. I knew she was poor -- poorer than us -- but I think she was doing a good job with her kids."
When Pamela went to get cookies, sisters Penny Butler and Casey Eaton were at home with their grandmother and Casey's baby. Cherri West, an inventory supervisor at Arrow Speed Warehouse, a high-performance auto parts store in Armourdale, was at work. In a rare moment, Pamela was on her own.
"I keep close, tight ends on my kids, and usually (West's) girls were always together," Larson says. "But I don't let my kids play in the street anymore because it's really isolated over here."
Within minutes after Pamela left, Larson heard tires "peeling like a bat outta hell. Casey Eaton was jumping and saying, 'They took my sister! They took my sister!'"
Showing 1-2 of 2
I was there for the whole Pamela Butler thing! Pamela's mother knew my grandmother! Teresa Given! We put flyers up everywhere! I think what that guy did is so messed up and sick! He sould suffer so much! I hope guys in prison are beating the crap out of him! I'm so sorry for your loss! I heard all the rumors that were going on and i knew they were not true! but I went to the funeral and i never really had the chance to talk to anyone cause i was so distrubed! but what i saw! but when my grandmother Teresa called my mother and told her what happened we rushed out to help put out flyers! I still have one of those flyers and I still have the purple thing I got from the funeral its in my room next to the things that were my little brothers that passed away october.10,2003! I know how much pain you must have felt! and I'm sorry!
Thanks,
Mallory
I was there for the whole Pamela Butler thing! Pamela's mother knew my grandmother! Teresa Given! We put flyers up everywhere! I think what that guy did is so messed up and sick! He sould suffer so much! I hope guys in prison are beating the crap out of him! I'm so sorry for your loss! I heard all the rumors that were going on and i knew they were not true! but I went to the funeral and i never really had the chance to talk to anyone cause i was so distrubed! but what i saw! but when my grandmother Teresa called my mother and told her what happened we rushed out to help put out flyers! I still have one of those flyers and I still have the purple thing I got from the funeral its in my room next to the things that were my little brothers that passed away october.10,2003! I know how much pain you must have felt! and I'm sorry! Thanks, Mallory
like
dislike
