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Kids may have seen mother die

• Police issued a verbal warning at the residence less than 24 hours before a Wednesday death occurred, documents show.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Police continue to search for the man they say killed the mother of his three children after an apparent domestic dispute escalated to violence Wednesday night.

Police and witness accounts show that 24-year-old Jessica Acree was struck down by her boyfriend with her infant child still in her arms outside of her Crescent Drive home in East Albany.

Police have are seeking Earnest Sims III, 26, who is on the run.

Police have described Sims as 5-11, weighing 155 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and dark pants with a braided, twist hairstyle. He may be driving a gray 1995 Chrysler Concorde.

According to police reports, Albany Police Department officers responded to a domestic dispute call at 2527 Crescent Drive just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night.

Upon arrival, they reportedly found a female, who was later identified as Acree, lying face down near a door on the south side of the house. The officers searched the house for suspects and found Acree’s three children — two six or seven year old girls and a 7- month-old boy — inside the home.

The complainant, who asked not to be identified out of concerns for her safety, called 911 after she reportedly witnessed Sims attack Acree, who she said was still holding the 7- month-old boy.

She said that she thinks Acree was running to her house for help when she was choked and stabbed.

“I looked at her and he tightened his arm around her neck and she could barely talk and she said help me, help me and I knew something was wrong, and then he came towards me so I slammed the door shut and called police,” the complainant said.

She said that Sims told her that the baby was sick, before he started dragging Acree and his child away.

Thursday, police searched areas where Sims was known to frequent. Neighbors said that police searched a home near where the attack occurred, reportedly looking for Sims around noon after police learned he may have stayed the night in a shed at the home.

Later in the afternoon, APD units swarmed around a home on Mulberry Avenue looking for Sims, but found nothing.

Neighbors described Acree and Sims — who moved into the normally peaceful East Albany neighborhood in December 2006 — as a tumultuous couple whose on-again, off-again romances frequently resulted in police visits.

According to APD records, police responded to Acree’s house at 2:48 a.m. Wednesday, almost 19 hours before the homicide occurred, and issued a verbal warning. No police report was generated for that early-morning encounter.

Police records show that officers have responded to calls at Acree’s home at least eight times since April, including calls in reference to a theft, family violence and a suicide attempt.

According to Silke Deeley, the director of the Liberty House — a domestic violence shelter headquartered in Albany that serves 17 counties — Acree and Sims relationship is indicative of what she calls an epidemic of domestic violence.

Deeley says that since January, the Liberty House has taken 817 crisis calls and has offered its victim services to 489 women throughout the area. The Liberty House offers a sheltered environment but also has outreach programs and counseling and can help victims of domestic abuse obtain temporary restraining orders against their abusers.

She believes that domestic crimes often go unreported because victims are afraid to call police because of a perceived lack of action by law enforcement or out of fear their names may show up in the media. But Deeley also says the responsibility falls on the neighbors to call police when they suspect abuse is taking place.

“You know, when people are having a party with loud music they call the police, but when people hear screaming they just pull down the shades,” Deeley said.

Deeley believes in situations like the Acree murder that the children are the true victims.

“The children are such innocent victims, they don’t have any choices,” Deeley said. “People always ask this question: why didn’t she leave, why didn’t she leave, but why didn’t someone stop him?” Deeley said. “This stuff doesn’t happen in a vacuum, someone knew something.”

“Domestic violence is just one of those things people don’t want to look at,” Deeley said.

The complainant, who briefly oversaw Acree’s children after police arrived, said that at least one of the girls was seen standing over her mother’s body before police arrived.

Deeley says that victims of domestic abuse often find themselves trapped because they just can’t get away from their abusers.

“They don’t have the means to leave, they don’t have jobs, or money to leave, they’re isolated from families or friends and that’s often why they go back to that environment of abuse,” Deeley said.

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