Man shot to death as prank escalates
By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -
A man's game of keep-away with a 16-year-old girl's hairpiece turned deadly Wednesday night when the girl's mother shot the man, who had reportedly been pestering the girl, investigators said.
Detectives say Joedell Newton, 22, snatched the hair extension off the head of a 16-year-old friend, refusing to give it back unless the girl begged for it, said homicide Detective Cheryl Johnson.
The girl eventually went inside her apartment while Newton remained outside, clowning around with the fake ponytail, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
A witness told police the man placed the hairpiece on his head and asked everyone if they liked his new hair. He then put the hair in some water and made a "mud pie" out of the hair, telling others in the area he was going to throw it in the 16-year-old girl's face when she came out of the apartment, the affidavit stated.
Johnson said someone then knocked on the girl's door, and her mother, Dorothy Claivil, 36, opened the door.
The girl told her mother, "Don't worry about the ponytail because whatever they did with it, I don't want it," the affidavit stated.
Claivil then closed the door. Johnson said someone continued to knock on the family's door multiple times.
The mother opened the door again and shot Newton once in the arm, Johnson said.
Police say the bullet traveled into Newton's chest. He was later pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital.
Claivil volunteered to talk with investigators at the downtown police station. She told detectives that a man kept knocking on her door, and she told him to go away, the affidavit stated.
She denied shooting the man, stating that she only heard the gunshot and had no further information, the affidavit stated.
Claivil was subsequently arrested on a murder warrant and was being held in Mansfield Jail on Thursday with bail set at $100,000.
"We're still investigating the case to verify all the facts and details and locate the witnesses," Johnson said.
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A life lost over fake hair. . . .
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