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The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

The student news site of Guilford College

The Guilfordian

Hate crime reaches West Virginia’s quiet community

Six white kidnappers held a young black woman captive for a week in a trailer in Logan County, West Virginia. She was repeatedly raped, tortured, and forced to eat rat, dog, and human feces.

According to victim Megan Williams, 20, her kidnappers choked her with a cable cord, stabbed her with a butcher knife and wooden sticks, hit her with fly swatters, poured hot wax on her, and called her a racial slur. They forced her to drink from the toilet, drink the kidnapper’s urine, lick up blood, and they also ripped her hair out.

According to CNN, Megan’s mother, Carmen Williams, did not report Megan missing, because her daughter disappears for weeks at a time.

“I am surprised in this day and age it could happen with no one noticing,” said Helen Rice, director of student health.

Williams was discovered when an anonymous tip was given to the Logan Country’s Sheriffs department on Sept. 8. The witness went to the trailer of the alleged kidnapper, Frankie Brewster, and saw the victim.

“Frankie was sitting on her front porch with her doors open. We asked Frankie who else was at the residence and she stated no one else was here, that she was alone,” said the unnamed witness to The Charleston Gazette. “As she was talking, she got up and stepped toward her door when a female inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms out, saying, ‘help me’.”

According to The Charleston Gazette, the witness saw that Williams had four stab wounds in her left leg and that her eyes were bruised.

“There is no humanity in the way she was treated,” said Holly Wilson, coordinator of Africana community programs.

The FBI is looking at this case as a possible civil rights violation and hate crime.
According to ABC News, Williams’ statement said she was raped at knifepoint by Danny Combs in the trailer’s bathroom, tied with a cable cord and choked by Karen Burton, doused with hot wax by George Messer, and stabbed by Bobby Brewster.

“An assailant cut the woman’s ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black,” authorities said to ABC News.

According to BBC News, Williams was not a random target and had a previous relationship with Bobby Brewster. In July he was charged with domestic battery and assault after they had a dispute.

“She obviously had some sort of relationship. That is based on the fact that she was present at his residence on a prior date,” said Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said to FOX News. Abraham is pursuing state charges that already have been filed.

Often in sexual assault cases victim’s names are left anonymous, but in this case Williams and Carmen Williams, agreed to have it announced to have people aware of what Williams had encountered.

“I don’t understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter” said Carmen Williams to ABC News. “I didn’t know there were people like that out here.”

William’s kidnappers include Frankie Brewster, 49 and her son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, Karen Burton, 46, and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 27, Danny J. Combs, 20, and George A. Messer, 27.

“They are misplaced people and they took it out on this poor girl,” said senior Genoa O’Brien, a former member of the anti-racism team.

Logan County Magistrate Court records show the accused have had previous arrest records from many years ago, according to ABC News.

“I have some familiarity with all of those individuals” said Brian Abrahman, Logan County prosecutor, to ABC News.

The six kidnappers have collectively gathered 108 criminal charges since 1991. Frankie Brewster had the most serious charges. Karen Burton had the most charges, 33, and her daughter has 20.

In 1994, Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder for the death of 84-year old Polly T. Ferrell, but she was let off with lesser charges for manslaughter and wanton endangerment. Brewster was released from prison in 2000 after five years in prison.

“Some people hide behind others and can’t deal with responsibilities,” said Kathy Adams, professor of psychology. “These people are not using their conscience or they do not have what we define as a conscience.”

They are all charged with sexual assault, malicious wounding, and kidnapping. Brewster is charged with giving false information during the investigation. Bobby Brewster and the Burtons are charged with commission of a felony.

“I think this was a deployable crime against this woman,” Wilson said. “No one should endure what she went through for five minutes.”

According to ABC News, Frankie Brewster is accused of forcing Williams to perform oral sex on her.Each of the six captors’ bail is $100,000.ABC News reported that in a courtroom, Williams clutched a small teddy bear and wore a brace on her right hand and a bandage on her left ankle.

Carmen Williams told The Charleston Gazette that she has barely left her daughter’s side and knows that it will take a long time for her Megan to recover.

“I just want my daughter to be well and recover,” said Carmen Williams to ABC News. “I know the Lord can do anything.”

“She is not going to forget this,” Adams said. “She’ll have to learn to trust others again. Her trust was destroyed. She’ll have to learn how to trust people again.”

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