Hailey’s parents ordered to keep distance
By Jane Beathard
Staff Writer
The parents of a London girl who died last weekend as a result of suicide were ordered to stay 250 feet from the home of a neighbor, following a series of incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Madison County Common Pleas Judge Robert D. Nichols granted the neighbor a temporary civil protection order against Melinda Groce and David Petee of 44 N. Walnut St. A hearing for a permanent order is set for Feb. 11.
The Madison Press agreed to not publish the neighbor’s name.
Groce and Petee were the parents of 11-year-old Hailey Petee, who was found dead in her bedroom early Sunday. County coroner James Kaehr, M.D., ruled the death a suicide.
Groce and Petee attributed their daughter’s suicide to bullying by her peers.
The neighbor told Nichols on Wednesday that Groce and Petee threatened her via Facebook emails in retribution for information she provided WBNS-10TV about Groce’s background.
According to court documents, the neighbor emailed reporter Ashleigh Barry, saying her broadcasts about the suicide were one-sided and put London schools and the community in a bad light. She urged Barry to investigate the child’s family and home life.
Groce served three years in prison (2008-10) for possessing drugs and tampering with evidence in Union County, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction.
Barry and her supervisor forwarded the email to Groce, sparking three profanity-laced messages to the neighbor.
One threatened “no mercy” to the neighbor and her family. Another said Groce had visited the neighbor’s house and knocked on the door.
“You better move is all I have to say…I found you,” Groce emailed.
The neighbor said WBNS violated her trust by forwarding the email to Groce.
“I mistakenly assumed that information given to the station was confidential and that news stations protect the source,” she said.
In addition to maintaining the 250-foot distance, Nichols’ order forbids Groce and Petee and their associates from contacting the neighbor via social networks or any electronic media.
Hailey Petee’s funeral is set for 11 a.m. Thursday.
In the meantime, Dr. Kaehr is preparing a detailed report of circumstances surrounding the 11-year-old’s death. The London Police Department will also issue a report in coming days of its investigation into the incident, chief Dave Wiseman said.
@ grammarcop
One word to describe you. Disgusting. This is why london has all the problems they do have cause of people like you. You really just proed my point my commenting on my post so thank you. And your saying im barley literate? Wow. Your something else. How do you even sleep at night?
Your post proves my point as well. You are barely literate and a sympathizer with drug abusing criminals.
When parents bully, whether it be at work, or in their neighborhoods or in social activities, their children will turn out to be bullies as well.
When the spotlight is on someone who reportedly has something to do with a crime or an awful incident as this, and that person goes out of their way to dip into an already ongoing investigation, and give information which doesn’t DIRECTLY involve the incident that has happened, then that person is guilty of trying to direct attention Off of themselves, and onto someone else. A defense mechanism that some aren’t even aware they are doing.
Regardless, anyone can easily find the information on the neighborhood at the county site.. Numbers of rentals, owners, times of residence, etc..
http://madisonoh.ddti.net/Map.aspx?Load=String&Todo=Find&SearchString=31-01651.000
Cant we all just get along !!
OH my my my,,,, So now you all want to bash the parent’s of Hailey on their past!!!!!!! Well here’s a known fact WE ALL HAVE ONE!!!!!!!!!! Them an their so called bullying,,Why dont we all do this why dont we just lets this go an push it under the rug an act like nothing ever happened You know like it always get’s done around here. But best believe this you can dig an dig an dig into the past of the family an it’s really not going to matter what you dig up it still isn’t going to change the fact that their daughter is gone an their daughter was bullied by the same people everyday an NOBODY wants to own up to it for some reason it’s like you people are saying GOOD JOB BULLIES keep up the good work,,,IGNORANT is all I can say,,,,do you suppose that the new’s should go talk to the brother in law of the woman that threw his name under the bus so to speak every time she wanted to try to intemedate people with or without a badge??? Maybe people should look into her past an the woman that got busted for emailing the new’s people on Hailey’s parent/parents maybe people should look into her past pretty sure neither of them would want their’s put out there just saying,,,,The bottom line to all this is the CITY OF LONDON has an 11 year old girl gone,an I think any parent or grand parent that is or was ever in Hailey’s place or her parents place would react to something’s thats been done an said the same way,,, Here’s what you all need to do leave this family alone stop talking all like you always do grow up clean off your own back porch..People in glass houses shouldnt throw stone’s judge not less thee be judge first you all get where I’m going with this right? To the Petee family I dont know you nor your daughter but I will say this she was a very beautiful little girl an You as her Mother stand up for her at all cost dont let the ignorance of other’s get to you YOUR PAST is just that YOUR PAST God Bless you all An may your daughter rest in peace
@ GrammarCop,
I think you should have changed your name… EX-CONVICTS you dumb ass. and where is it in your place to call someone white trash. I think everybody that lives in London has been in trouble for something and if ou haven’t that’s just because you haven’t got caught yet. And who the cares what people’s past our. That woman did something that I don’t’ think most would. She went on television and told everyone watching she was in prison. Who cares that she WAS on drugs. IS SHE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO. And for the neighbor where was it any of her business to put Ms. Groce past out there. To me that was a punk move for the neighbor cause she wasn’t getting and attention and she wasn’t on camera. So to the neighbor if you would have minded your own business this wouldnt have happened. I mean really do the hell does that when a family just lost their daughter.
I am another neighbor in the area. I was out walking my dog the other evening when I witnessed a couple yelling profanity at this
neighbors house saying things like, “I found you now [expletive].”, “You’re afraid to come out aren’t you?”, “You’d be smart to pack up and move before I get a hold of you.” Low and behold, guess who it was, I was dumbfounded. If that ain’t bullying then nothing is. How can that family outcry to the community over how bad bullying is and then turn right around to bully their very own neighbors.
Even with their tremendous loss being attributed to bullying???
Now come on, this is just ridiculous, shame on them!
It is London. London equals ghetto. Grieving ghetto folk generally get very violent as logic and reason are not prevalent in such environments. They child is dead and these people point the finger at them so they get mad. At least wait like a month before you mess with the parents of a dead child.
Amen! I agree with u 100%!!!
I cant believe this neighbor actually talked to anyone and told them to look in the mothers past. Who gives a dam if she served time in prison. She dis her time. Does that make her a automatic horrible mother??? Hell no. But to some of these stuck up snobs on london that think there better than everyone else they do think it matters. This neighbor and everyone else in london that is not standing up for hailey and her family should be ashamed of themselves. This family needs all the support they can get not bashing. I moved away from london a year ago after spending 7 years there and moving back to columbus was the best thing i could have done for my kids. Petee family you just hang in there and dont even waiste your time on these people. There a disgrace.
So happy that you moved. We need less of your kind here. By kind, I mean barely literate (that means being able to read and write), and who obviously identify with white trash excionvicts. Being an excon DOES make her a horrible mother. She did three years because she chose drugs and a criminal lifestyle over her children.
I think we found the problem again….bullying in the neighborhood AGAIN.
Dear growup,
How is the neighbor being a bully? Incase you didn’t get the facts straight I will enlighten you. The ONLY thing the neighbor did was let the news network know of the mother previous history. Which the news could have found out all on their own. That is not bullying. That is just passing on facts. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and all the woman did was suggest that it could have been other things besides bullying. The court needs to focus on the threats that Hailey’s mom was saying to the neighbor. She told the woman that she would have no mercy on her, her CHILDREN or her family. As how she just lost a child how could she even think that way? I understand being upset, but threatening her children went way too far. I think the judge needs to put a restraining order on the family and the leave the neighbor alone. She needs to focus on helping her other daughters move past this and stop BULLYING her neighbor.
I know how hard this must be on Hailey’s parents. But Hailey had sisters who lost a loved one. Hailey’s parents need to get off of social media, focus on preserving the family they have left. Their current course of action could lead to those sisters being left all alone, if Hailey’s parents end up jailed for harassment.
I think those girls are grieving enough. Time to focus on what you have right in front of you and love it and charish it.
I totally agree with minding your own business. This neighbor woman should be ashamed. This child was bullied by her as well, and I hope Madison County Judge makes an example out of her. I don’t know the child or the parents but, why would this woman want to continue to cause harm to this family? As far as the mothers past, she served her time. Why was this even brought up by the neighbor? Only to slander the grieving family.
Hmmmmm. This neighbor woman has dug her own hole and like I said, I hope the Judge shows no mercy on her. It’s time this county and London show the people we will not tolerate this behavior, especially toward a child.
And, to you, the bad mouth devilish neighbor….maybe the news station sent the email to the family as more evidence toward the case against you. What you did was just wrong…
To me it sounds like her parents are no better the the the so-clled bulliers.For one your mourning your child,she should be the most important thing to these 2 right now,nor revenge becauce someone called a news sta.,and told they the alleged truth.To when reporting the news I think that these reporters need to get both sides of the story,because now it looks like more of it’s starting to come out that no one has reported,so pity could fall on Hailey’s parents,and if they are being taking to court for threats then what does this tell us as society.
This is what happens when you don;t mind your own business and think you are something special that the news people won;t relay and check the facts. This is what is wrong with London as a whole. People putting their nose where it don;t belong.