NORWICH – For the first time since his arrest over a year and a half ago, accused murdered George Ford Jr. told his side of the story about the night 12-year-old Shyanne Somers was killed.
Under questioning by Defense Attorney Randel Scharf in Chenango County Friday, Ford told the court a version of events never before heard by the public.
“There’s not a waking hour that goes by that I don’t think of this,” said Ford during his testimony.
Ford, 44, of Piscataway, N.J., is charged with second degree murder. Ford arrived at Chenango Memorial Hospital with the girl’s body at around 4:30 a.m. on July 8, 2007, claiming he accidentally ran her over four hours earlier, while turning his truck around on Will Warner Road in the Town of Otselic.
Sheriff’s Lt. James E. Lloyd said investigators found the circumstances of the case suspicious and initially charged Ford with first degree reckless endangerment, saying he tested positive for alcohol and cocaine.
They later discovered a GPS tracking system inside his truck that recorded Ford’s travels on the night in question.
Police claim the GPS showed the vehicle arriving at the scene of Somers’ death for the first time at 3:03 a.m. and in the three hours prior to that, it was parked behind a vacant home a half-mile from where she was killed. They say device then shows the truck traveling on a number of back roads and past the hospital. Lloyd testified that Ford originally denied knowing anything about the residence and claimed the GPS contradicted his story.
Ford took the stand Friday and disagreed with police, saying they had confused the details of his original statements, which were the only ones he has given since the day of his arrest July 8, 2007.
Ford testified that he and his wife, Cindy, were at a South Otselic graduation party for most of the day on July 7, 2007. Ford said he had a few beers, a couple of shots of whiskey and a single line of cocaine at the celebration.
“I don’t know why. Other people had it at the party. It was stupid, I guess,” said Ford about using the cocaine.
The couple went to the party in separate vehicles and had become estranged in their deteriorating relationship, Ford admitted.
Ford said he left the party at around 7 p.m. because he became ill and returned home to rest, but later decided to return to the party. He decided to try and find a baby-sitter for his 2-year-old son.
Ford said he decided to ask his neighbors, who lived less than half a mile down the road, if Kathy Somers, Shyanne’s mother, could watch his son. After arriving at the Somers home, which Ford said he had been at about 15 times prior, he found Kathy was asleep and received permission from Shyanne’s father, James, to have her baby-sit.
Ford said he picked up Shyanne up at around 11:30 p.m. July 7, 2007 and took her to a nearby field he owned because the young girl asked about seeing his horses.
He said he took her to the 83-acre parcel of land he owned to show her where he was going to build a pasture.
“It was the first very first thing (horses) she asked about and it kept coming up in conversation,” said Ford.
Ford said he then took the girl to his house to baby-sit his son, but Cindy decided she didn’t want to return to the party. Ford then left to take Somers home.
Ford said he decided to stop at his friends Sheldon Rose’s house to see if he’d go back to the party with him instead.
But before leaving, Ford said Somers noticed a beeping GPS unit in his truck that his wife had placed there.
“She thought it was my cell phone,” he said to the Broome County Judge Joseph Cawley, who is the sole juror in the bench trial.
Ford said he decided to go to Rose’s residence along Stage Road but he wasn’t home and instead detoured to an abandoned property on Will Warner Road. Ford said had visited the residence numerous times and wanted to toss the GPS into a pond on the property.
Unable to find the pond in the dark, Ford said he just threw the GPS out the window along with an old syringe that had also been under the truck’s seat. He said he then left the residence to show Somers his horses that were less than half a mile down the road.
After driving down the road, Ford said Shyanne climbed out of his pick-up as he tried to turn around on the narrow seasonal road and he accidentally hit the girl.
“She was supposed to stay on the right side of my truck,” said an emotional Ford on the stand.
