Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Crime Judies singer Warren Ullom gets 20 years in murder plea deal
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 4:56 PM
Fulton DA Paul Howard has just announced that Warren Ullom, lead singer of local rockers The Judies, accepted a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter and has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a woman's fatal heroin overdose.
Ullom, 24, had originally been indicted on murder charges in the June 2008 death of Rachel San Inocencio, 32. According to prosecutors, Ullom and the victim had met only a few days before her death. The two were shooting heroin in Ullom's apartment when San Inocencio OD'd.
The DA's press release has the morbid details (concluding after jump):
The victim suddenly became critically ill from the drugs, but Ullom refused to seek medical attention on her behalf. He instead called a friend to bring some cocaine over, and as the victim lay unconscious for hours, he injected her twice with cocaine in an attempt to revive her from the heroin overdose.The friend who brought the cocaine over eventually left and called 911 to summon help for the woman since Ullom refused to do so. However, the friend gave an incorrect address and the ambulance was unable to locate her. Ullom then sent a text to his friend stating, “She is better. No Ambulance.” The victim died approximately 30 minutes after Ullom’s text — prompting him to finally call 911 for an ambulance. He then placed the remaining cocaine baggies in the victim’s purse, and asked the police to remove her purse from his apartment. The investigation later revealed that Ullom also stole the victim’s diamond earrings and pawned them just three days after her death.
The Judies released their first — and now possibly last — CD only last month.
(Photo by Skylar Reeves)
Note: Some of the comments in the thread below have been removed because they violate our comment policy.
Comments (38)
Showing 1-38 of 38
like
dislike
Nice to know he enjoys cock-caine injections. He'll be getting plenty in the ass.
Met him at a club at another band's show once. He was a jerk anyway, with a real stuck up attitude.
If you don't know him, you should probably keep your comments to yourself. This isn't what his family and friends need to be reading right now. He's a bright, exceptionally talented and sweet-natured guy who warms my heart everytime we speak. Too bad this article is obviously biased . . . where's a statement from the defense?
wow, he's defiantly not built for doing time , i know this guy,so the whole stealing a dead persons ear rings for more drugs that you killed some one with blows my mind of what people can sink- but i guess as humans we are always a few bad decisions away from being real f'd up
@Me: AMB is correct. I don't often take issue publicly with readers' comments, but I must say I'm continuously amazed by how some folks can be so confused about the concept of bias. Ullom pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter; that makes him a convict, not a defendant. In other words, he longer has a "defense." Perhaps these facts make you unhappy, but they are facts nonetheless.
I've made some piss-poor decisions in my life but never did I refuse to call medics because my own ass would be on the line. Did he really pawn her earrings? That is why the State gave him such a long sentence because his actions aggravated the crime. Nobody is likely to confuse a musician with a doctor but giving someone coke to reverse heroin is about the dumbest shit I've read all week. You give Naltrexone, the opioid antagonist, not coke which is a speed-ball. It's not murder but it's damn shady.
Sorry, sweetheart, but the definition of media bias is taking a statement from one side only. There are no hard and true facts concerning the earrings. The article in the AJC is slightly better than this one.
Isn't it fun to pass judgement when you only have one side of the story! What the state did not mention in their press release was that the name on the pawn ticket was not Warren Ullom. In fact the theft charge was dropped and Ullom pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. People make bad choices whilst on heroin. It effects the decision-making center of the brain. The thing to remember is that the woman who died made a choice, and as often happens when people choose to do heroin it did not end well. There is no happy ending to this story for anyone. If you want to see the defense attorney's response, you'll have to look for it somewhere else... AJC or Fulton County Daily Report.
The girl probably did take the heroin willingly yet she did NOT ask to be injected with cocaine TWICE after falling unconscious from it. And of course he did not use a real name when pawning her earrings though he did admit to doing it. You should get YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT MR. TWO SIDES. The City had more than enough evidence to convict this douche of murder. He is lucky to only get manslaughter.
I guess stealing the sound of a lame pseudo-emo band isn't the only crime Ullom committed. The pawned earrings are in question but his actions are not... and that is according to his own "defense" as 'me' is stating. Let me just say 20 years isn't really gonna take away from this guy's productivity and will actually protect Atlanta from mediocre music.
You can read some statements from the defense here: http://www.atlawblog.com/2010/06/judies-front-man-gets-20-years-in-heroin-overdose-plea/
@Scott- Me's point was that the only statement present is that of the D.A.'s and is bias. He left out the part where he dropped the thief charge because that horrible crime was committed by another. He left out the part were a clean repentant Warren went to the police to assist them in going after the drug dealer. He also left out that Ms. Inocecio was already on a cocktail of drugs (unknown to Warren) when she arrived at his house seeking of her own free will to shoot up. This D.A. is out for career advancement not justice!
If you think for one second the punishment fits the crime. YOU are wrong. If you think for one second you know Warren - YOU DON'T. This punishment DOESN'T fit the crime. Was there some wrong doing and poor judgment? Absolutely. Should he go to jail at all? NO WAY. I am ashamed at the way people think they know but don't have a clue. This young man made some poor choices now his life is being interrupted by a bad accident followed by a bad choice. This is why you ALL need to VOTE. This Prosecutor was appointed by people VOTED into office. Let me say the prosecutor should be thrown in JAIL WELL BEFORE WARREN. MANSLAUGHTER? MURDER? NEITHER. SHAME SHAME SHAME on all you RIGHT WING MANIACS.
Hopefully he took his "dobro" and keyboard with him to the jail because i'm sure his fellow inmates would love to hear a song or two...oh wait, i forgot - most of them probably aren't gay. He'll sure be treated as gay, though. His band sucked and he looked like a woman
So sad to read this. Most of you don't know Warren. I do think jail time is required because if nothing else he was found on illegal drugs, but a full manslaughter charge? Not sure about this one. Drugs interfear with your judgement, and the girl put herself in that situation. I don't think you can be fully judged for your actions after that point, you just need help. 20 years in jail will not fix anything.
@sink: so you think heroin is some sort of shield to legal responsibility? so you can do heroin and not be held accountable for your actions? when ullom depressed the plunger of that syringe full o' coke, he might as well have lowered a gun to her head and pulled the G0d damned trigger. In your world, though, that's cool because he was riding the horse with no name. nonsense.
and one more thing...all you ppl saying that "H" affects your judgment - one thing's for sure, every single one of yous is ridin' the white dragon and you don't wanna be held accountable when your time comes. Do us all a favor, put down the spoon full of dope and get a job! stop having heroin cook parties and get busy! it's likely ullom was your hook-up until yesterday and now you're sore. go back to little 5 and leave us alone.
It's not like any words from the defense lawyer would be unbiased, either... The defense lawyer is the father of the Judies manager.
These are facts, not opinions: The charges at trial were as follows: Theft by Taking Distribution of Heroin Distribution of Cocaine Felony Murder Felony Murder Felony Murder Voluntary Manslaughter Ullom entered a plea-bargain, agreeing to plea guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for dropping the rest of the charges. The result was a 20-yr sentence as opposed to a life sentence.
The true measure of a man is not how he treats his friends, but how he treats strangers.
you say "oh you didn't know him" i've encountered Warren numerous times in the lil 5 points neighborhood. a lot of times while he was at work, java lords. sometimes when he was with his band, the judies. he was always a self centered prick who thought no one could touch him, a huge dickhead, you know? maybe YOU didn't really know him. maybe YOU'RE an idiot and in denial because you lost your hookup to score some good shit, man. i don't know? but get your head out of your ass and take a look around. people shouldn't act like him. is he really a good person? doing heroin? injecting cocaine into a person who has overdosed? not calling the cops/ambulance when said person is overdosed? pawning off her jewelry? i hope we don't ever meet in real life because you're probably just as fucked as he.
If heroin affects your judgment is the argument, then I have this as a rebuttal: Don't do heroin. He cannot be pardoned by law or by opinion because he was on a drug that affects his decision making ability. For those of you who wish to condemn the girl for her decision to take drugs...please consider this; the difference between her and him was that she made decisions only for herself. He made decisions for himself as well as her. He knew enough of what was to befall him should the police find out which led him to the decision to try other means outside of what was right to revive her. He has plenty of decision making ability. Certainly the ability to think of himself. Were you a member of this girl's family, would you feel indeed as though she brought this on herself? What a tragedy. Let us not forget also, that he chose his sentence. If he was so inclined to feel his own innocence, he certainly could have plead not-guilty and fought the good fight. Instead, he took the easy way out. Seems his way. I saw him perform once. I don't know him. It does not negate my ability to judge the situation. In fact, I think it's the most impartial judgment to offer. I neither liked nor disliked him.
Warren is a friend of mine He is not the monster portrayed in this article. He made dumb assed a mistake that's it. Let me tell you a few things you may not know. He kicked heroin over a year ago He admitted to every thing he was convicted for, He was not convicted for theft by taking and, he was willing to go to trial to prove that. The DA dropped the theft charge. Warren owned up to his mistake and he is now paying the price for it. It makes me sick to see people kick him when he's down. When I read this trash it tells me more about you than it ever could about Warren. It tells me what small petty people you really are. I'm a middle aged guy with a family and I look back on my life and think about the mistakes that could have gone horribly wrong I'm sure you all can do the same. Remember when you have something to say about Warren you're talking about someones son brother and friend. He fucked up and he's paying the price. Now you can stop being an asshole.
While I understand the notion that you are his friend and feel for him, please consider the words "dumb mistake" in the context of it being your own child he injected cocaine into. Just for a moment. And, unfortunate as it may be to endure the scorn of people who feel that he did not make a dumb mistake but an incredibly grave decision is the lot someone must own for the actions they take.
@ girl, you are correct and he is now paying the price for it. The last thing I want to do is demonize the girl who died but it could have just as easily been Warren who overdosed. He got the better end of the deal. My problem is not with you its with people who have responded to this thread under the cover of anonymity saying things they would never have the balls to say in person. I put my real name up because I stand by what I say. This is not a spectator sport!!
Sad all around. Quite a few people taking needless potshots. Grow up you pseudo hipster douchebags. Quit griping because Warren shagged your gf/nightly target. Oh he had a bit of an ego and was often bombastic when on drugs/alcohol? Sounds like 70% of those in the 'rock' biz. All things the same, Warren was a "friend" of mine. Not that we went out, but was usually nice when i saw him out and about, and extremely talented to boot. And yeah he could be a prick, but I'm guessing that he's not the only one guilty of that. However, I think 20 yrs is appropriate (Really more like 10 w/parole). Even if it only make sense in the mind of a frequent drug abuser, He thought the coke would revive her. He likely thought he and her could get in trouble for calling 911. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. HOSPITAL 911 CALLS FOR OD'S ARE PRIVILEGED. YOU WONT GET IN LEGAL TROUBLE FOR CALLING 911. The truly sad part is that it takes a case like this for the DA to send that message. Instead they'll put another 300 paid ads for "don't do meth" or "pot is bad for kids" on the air, that likely have little effect. If instead they put an ad on saying "call 911 for an ambulance and you won't go to jail, if not you likely will [fade in pictures of Warren w/ headlines of the case]" they might actually save the next drug addict from a similar fate. I've never done H, but I imagine it's hard to know exactly how that warped his decision making at the time. FWIW here is the text of the atlawblog, which gives a much fairer review of the facts in this case. "‘Judies’ front man gets 20 years in heroin overdose plea 3:09 pm, June 8th, 2010 Warren Ullom, the lead singer for the Atlanta pop-rockers The Judies, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of a young woman who died after overdosing on heroin at the apartment Ullom shared with his girlfriend two years ago. Ullom, 24, was a heroin addict when he and 32-year-old Rachel San Inocencio went to his apartment June 6, 2008, to get high, said his lawyer, Guy E. Davis Jr. Davis said that after Inocencio overdosed, Ullom tried to bring her around by pouring water on her and performing CPR, said Davis, “but she kept going back out.” “He’d always heard that cocaine would reverse the effects, so he called this coke dealer to bring some over,” said Davis. But injections of cocaine failed to revive Inocencio, and the cocaine dealer called 911 when he left, as did Ullom, said Davis. Ullom was not originally charged in Inocencio’s death, Davis said. But in October, when agents from the Atlanta Police Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency interviewed Ullom as they investigated the heroin supplier, Ullom admitted that he had had some heroin in his apartment, said Davis. Ullom was later charged with felony murder and distribution of cocaine and heroin. He was also charged with theft by taking, related to some diamond earrings that Ullom and his girlfriend tried to pawn some days after Inocencio’s death. Davis said the girlfriend told Ullom she had inherited the earrings and that he did not know they came from the dead woman. Facing trial on charges that could send his client to prison for life, “rolling the dice was not an option,” said Davis. Ullom agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a 20-year sentence. Davis spoke highly of Senior Assistant District Attorney Lance Cross, who prosecuted the case along with Deputy DA Leigh DuPre, as “very professional throughout the case.” Even so, he said, “it was very difficult even to get a plea. Why they wanted to exact a pound of flesh is beyond me. These are two folks doing drugs together and one dies. It’s a tragedy, but failure to call 911 is not a crime.” “The facts of the case speak for themselves,” said Fulton County DA Paul Howard in a statement. “As a result of those facts, Defendant Ullom chose to enter a guilty plea and accept responsibility for his actions. This was a senseless loss. Hopefully, the disposition of this case will provide some measure of closure for the victim’s family and afford them the opportunity to move forward with some degree of dignity following this tragic event.”
yea the injecting of the cocaine is what did him in . If he had not done that he would have had a better chance of beating it or at least getting a lot less time! Seriously he should have just the called the ambulance and hid his stash somewhere the cops were not likely to find it and just sweated it out. A simple shot of Narcan would have probably saved her.
Wow! This is very shocking! We were suppose to seperate and meet back up at the top. Not a great way to come off of my birthday weekend and Father's Day.... knowing that a father has lost his daughter and a WOULD be father missed the oppunitunity to become a young one. So unfortunate! uNBELIEVLIABLE Save us all....
UNO
HEY "ME"... this article is supposedly BIASED is it? Really? I was one of the victims best friends - this is exactly what happened! These are the FACTS! The only reason he took the plea deal is because he didn't want it going to TRIAL where he would possibly get LIFE!!! There was even more evidence that wasn't even mentioned in this article... it pointed right to Warren. Maybe you're a fan or a good friend - whoever you are, you need to open your eyes and see that good people do not just watch someone DIE. They help them. I bet you didn't know that in the state of Georgia the law is that if someone is OD'ing one can NOT be charged with drug procession because the purpose is to SAVE A LIFE!!! Warren didn't even attempt at saving my girl's life. He could've called 911 way earlier than he did. He was a scared little punk who was only thinking of himself! Yeah, biased! You need to open your eyes!
BTW - FACT: Warren Ullom may have used a different name when pawning Rachel's earrings, but he was also on CAMERA!!! This may not be in the press but it is on police records... as I said, there was a enough damming evidence to put him away for LIFE if it went to trial. But they gave him a plea bargin and he gracefully accepted because he KNEW what he did was wrong. He could have chose to reach out for help but instead he purposely killed my friend. If you think he used bad judgment, then maybe he shouldn't have been doing drugs to begin with. Oh! And the only reason he "kicked" his H or drug habit after Rachel died is because he F'd up! None of your guys were there. I had friends who were in that apartment who had to retrieve her things the next day who called & told me the details. Just imagine how it feels to hear what your best friend was put thru. Regardless of her cocktail decision... her family nor her friends deserved to lose such an amazing daughter, sister, girlfriend, best friend, human being!!!!!
Oh, and one more tidbit of information: He left her UNCONCIOUS for 7 HOURS before he even called his drug dealer friend to pump more drugs in her body! If you're doing drugs and the drug causes a reaction to where you OD, the last thing you do is give a person more drugs while they are unconcious. It wasn't her descision to shoot up cocaine... HE INJECTED HER TWICE AGAINST HER WILL!! What sort of person does that?!?!??? That's the most inhumane act of kindness I've ever witnessed! She could've had a chance!
I know Warren. As having been sober for two years now, I also know how addiction will take over every part of your life, your thinking, your soul.
I hate this for him but I hate this for her.
He is a good kid... very lost but good... who unfortunately made a horribly drug addicted decision.
He allowed her to die when he had every opportunity to save her life and he is now receiving the punishment that I'm sure her parents feel is not enough to bring their baby back.
“Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead. Freedom of mind is the proof of one's existence.”
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
Handel slams Planned Parenthood in sitdown with — who else? — Fox News 7
Says to think she had sole authority over funding decision is 'absurd'
-
Kemp says Obama will remain on ballot, makes birthers cry 2
Secretary of state puts halt to conspiracy theorists' plans
-
Karen Handel resigns from Komen over Planned Parenthood debacle 14
Former Georgia politico says politics played no role in controversial decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood
- More »
Author Archives
-
AJC leads pack in online innovation — in 1993 2
The AJC was once a leader in online media
-
First Slice 2/2/12: General's shadow not visible
- More »
