On this date, May 25, 2012, Brenna
Morgan, a Sunday school teacher and cross-country runner,
was found dead, just five days after graduating from Seaman High School in Topeka,
Kansas. In loving memory of her, we, the VFFDP, will dedicate two Prayers from
the 1662 Book of Common Prayer to her and her loved ones. We will post two news
sources about her first.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2237218/Brenna-Morgart-death-Dustin-Leftwich-charged-raping-murdering-missing-18-year-old-homecoming-queen.html
Walmart worker charged with
raping and murdering missing 18-year-old homecoming queen
- Dustin Leftwich, 21, could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder
- Brenna Morgart was found dead in a field after being raped and mowed down by a car on May 25
- The sports star and Sunday school teacher had graduated from Seaman High School in the Topeka, Kansas, just five days before her tragic death
By Helen
Pow
PUBLISHED: 03:42 GMT, 23 November 2012 | UPDATED:
11:16 GMT, 23 November 2012
 |
|
Killed: A
21-year-old Walmart attendant has been charged with raping and murdering
homecoming queen Brenna Morgart, pictured
|
A
21-year-old Walmart attendant has been charged with raping and murdering a
Kansas homecoming queen then dumping her body in a field.
Dustin
Leftwich could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder in the
slaying of 18-year-old Brenna Morgart.
The
Topeka man was initially charged with premeditated first-degree murder but the
charge was upgraded on Wednesday after new evidence came to light, which added
rape to his long list of indictments.
Ms
Morgart, a Sunday school teacher and cross-country runner, was found dead on
May 25, just five days after graduating from Seaman High School.
Her
family reported her missing at around 3.45pm when she failed to return after
going on a jog about 10am.
Police
said she was killed after being struck by a car on Jennings Road, three miles
from where her body was found.
Besides
the murder and rape charges, Mr Leftwich is also charged with the aggravated
kidnapping of Ms Morgart, aggravated battery and misdemeanor reporting false
information tied to the vehicular accident in connection with her death.
He has
pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping and murder charges, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
If Mr
Leftwich is convicted of capital murder, a jury would decide whether to
recommend the death penalty. The judge would make the final decision on whether
to sentence Mr Leftwich to death or to life in prison without parole.
After Wednesday's hearing,
District Attorney Chad Taylor told the Capital-Journal that his office decided
to file the capital murder charge 'when (it) received further results in the
investigation.' He didn't elaborate on what those results were.
On July 16, the judge had ruled
prosecutors could conduct DNA testing on potential evidence.
The evidence included possible
seminal fluid and blood found on underwear, a rape kit, and finger swipe marks
on the inside of a vehicle trunk.
Mr Leftwich is also facing an
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge stemming from a separate
incident on June 29, 2011 in which he allegedly ran down a 14-year-old girl
with his car.
In 2009, he was convicted of
sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and had 10 days left on his probation
when he was arrested in the slaying of Ms Morgart.
Mr Leftwich lives at home with
his parents and sister and worked at Walmart for about a month before being
arrested, earning $286 a week. He will next appear in court on January 10.
‘18 Great Years’: Brenna Leanne Morgart (1994-2012)
- memorial
- June 18, 2012
- By: Carolyn Cogswell
This
article was originally published in the Topeka Metro Voice, June 2012 edition.
‘Her Death
Has Resurrected All These Hearts’“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
“I have had 18 great years,” she wrote in her journal.
“The most important goal I made was to show kindness and love to those around me every day.” With these words a young woman whose earthly life was cut short penned an enviable philosophy of life. In a few short years, she was a:
• Homecoming queen
• Honor student
• Singer
• Musician
• Writer
• Athlete
• Child of God
The shocking hit-and-run death of Brenna Leanne Morgart, 18, rocked a community over Memorial Day weekend in Topeka. Morgart came face to face with Jesus May 25 as she jogged along the 6600 block of Jennings Road. Northland Christian Church worship leader Mitch Langley and Brad Barr sang a musical tribute they wrote to open the memorial service. The title of the song is “We Wait.”
“Along an old dusty road, we’ll never be the same,
Seeking Jesus with all our heart we’re asking in your name.
“And we wait and we cry,
But we know she’s alive.
And we wait and ask why,
But we know she’s alive.
“For the Father has prepared a place for her.
He said, ‘Well done my good and faithful girl,’
And we know she’s in the arms of her Savior.
“Along an old dusty road, we’ll never be the same.
And we don’t quite understand your ways, Lord,
But we love You the same.”
Her father, Dennis, said she was ready.
“She prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom,” he said. “She went into the banquet to the praise and glory of the Lord.”
From
Friday afternoon, when reports first went out that Morgart was missing, until
Wednesday, when she was laid to rest, a community banded together to mourn her
loss, but also to celebrate her life on earth and her new life with Jesus.
Friends and family began gathering at Northland Christian Church, 3102 N.W.
Topeka Blvd., late Friday night to pray and comfort one another.
During
the visitation hours, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, hundreds thronged the
church, as the line inched toward the entrance. A line of children, teens and
adults weaved around the south side of the building, across the parking lot and
back toward the tennis courts. Church members with pins that said, “May I help
you?” brought little cups of water for the thirsty travellers.
“He
who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water,” Jesus said in John 7:38. The spiritual water flowed
freely along with the literal water. A woman handing out little purple ribbons
for visitors to pin on their clothing held for a long time a teenage girl
pouring out grief deeper than words. Yet, after the memorial service on
Wednesday, May 30, many smiled after sharing highlights of Morgart’s life.
“Her
death has resurrected all these hearts,” Jordie Thonen said.
“She was like this bright light that just shined,” Kristi Langley said of Morgart. “I just hope her light continues to shine.” Kristi is married to worship leader Mitch.
In the old sanctuary, next to Morgart’s graduation gown and Seaman High School band uniform, Kristi displayed a drawing of floral patterns done with black and multi-colored felt-tipped pens. She said the drawing reminded her of Morgart, “because it was so colorful, just like her,” she said.
Northland
Pastor R.D. Cogswell said it was an “amazing journey to see the love of a
community and a church come together.” Cogswell told the Capital-Journal this
included “bringing (the family) food, hugging them or crying with them.”
“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) And the Lord’s spirit was present to comfort on Wednesday.
“She
would not want us to not have a good time,” Cogswell said.
They came together to “navigate through grief and pain but also find healing in the memories and the gift of her life,” Cogswell said. The church, the Seaman community and the Word of God was what was getting them through, he said.
“God
doesn’t make all things happen, but there is a purpose for everything,”
Cogswell told the crowd some estimated at 1,200 to 1,500, filling two rooms,
one receiving the talk by camera.
Cogswell
said he was touched by the way Morgart, a high school student, helped his
homesick daughter Caitlin, 13, when she was in the fourth or fifth grade, stay
at an all-night church camp event. He said he understood Morgart moved her
sleeping bag next to Caitlin, ministered to her, sang to her and stroked her
hair until she thought she could stay the rest of the night.
Dennis,
Morgart’s father said the family found out a lot about their daughter and
sister that they did not know before. One of the gifts she gave her family was
a page in her journal listing all the things she was thankful for the day she
died. The list included “allergy medicine, Chapstick, hairdressers, cook books,
sunshine, sunscreen, being raised the way I was, evenings at home” and “today.”
The audience could see the word “today” had an exclamation point and a heart
beside it.
“She
made the most of every day,” Cogswell said. “She made the most of today. She
would want you to live your life to the full.”
Cogswell
read the eulogies Barb and brother, Reid, had written.
Reid wrote about Morgart’s desire to be an elementary school teacher and said she didn’t know what a good teacher she was. He said that even in her death he learned about the promise that “one day I get to be in heaven with Brenna. The most important lesson she taught me was you only get to be there when you die. Every day I can say I am thankful I am one day closer to being with Brenna.”
Barb
wrote, “God knew about Friday. Today I can say God is in control. Please don’t
go home with a hopeless sense of loss. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of
Brenna.”
Dennis, and sister, Arianna, spoke for themselves. Arianna cried and laughed through her Brenna stories, including one about tying a camera around the cat’s neck and losing the parts as the cat ran around the house and down the stairs.
She
told another one about a “physical altercation” with her sister and shared a
few of her sister’s favorite quotes. She said a sister was like having a
“built-in best friend,” and finally, “I’ll always miss her – and I’ll always
try to love like she did.”
Dennis
was emotional when he read something his daughter wrote: “My dad is my hero. He
loves me, and he knows what’s best for me.” He said he struggled for words to
describe the gratitude he felt for the “unbelievable outpouring of love for our
family in a time of need.”
He said he believed that “God was with her 100 percent throughout the things that happened on Friday. I will not believe anything else.”
Cogswell
stressed that what was special about Morgart was Jesus living within her and
batted plastic balls into the audience to show how Morgart lived her life.
“She swung for the fences every day,” he said. “She didn’t let any pitches go by.” He said that the reason Morgart touched everyone’s life so much was because on Aug. 8, 2004, she made Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior and followed him in baptism. He said everyone there could know what Morgart knew by doing the same thing.
Dozens
of cars had signs that said “WWBD,” or “What would Brenna do?” Cogswell said
more important was, “What would Brenna want?” and emphasized that she would
want everybody to know Jesus the way that she did, and that they could today by
accepting him as Lord and Savior.
Before
closing, Cogswell preached that we were all sinners but that God gave his Son
to save sinners, and invited the audience to talk to someone before they left
if they had never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
“There’s
comfort in knowing where she is and how to get there,” Cogswell said. “She
would never change where she is today, but we have the gift of choosing where
we will be eternally,” he said.
Some of
Brenna’s favorite Scriptures:• Ecclesiastes 3
• Ephesians 3:20
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
• Psalm 34:18
• Psalm 37:4
• Isaiah 40:11
• Romans 8:31-32
• Revelations 7:17
UPDATE:
INTERNET SOURCE: http://cjonline.com/news/2013-02-15/leftwich-gets-life-without-parole-morgart-murder
Leftwich
gets life without parole in Morgart murder
Goal-oriented victim
wanted kids, pets, house in the country
Posted: February
15, 2013 - 11:07am
By Steve Fry
THE
CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Dustin
Leftwich was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of
parole for killing 18-year-old Brenna Morgart, an honors student whose life’s
goals were established to the point of having selected names for the six
children she hoped to have someday.
When
asking Shawnee County District Court Judge Cheryl Kingfisher to impose the life
term without parole and other maximum prison terms, District Attorney Chad
Taylor called Morgart “everything a parent could hope for: intelligent,
beautiful, sweet, caring, giving and kind-hearted.”
Leftwich,
21, pleaded guilty to capital murder Jan. 10, which took the death penalty off
the table.
But
imposing the life sentence without parole, Kingfisher told Leftwich, means
"you will awaken each day with nothing to look forward to, except endless
repetition, restriction, regimentation and isolation."
The judge
told him he wouldn't feel a cool breeze in the hot sun, and he never again
would be free to drive along a country road on a beautiful day.
Leftwich
showed little emotion during sentencing, though he smiled slightly upon hearing
that Brenna already had chosen the names of her children. Leftwich chose to not
speak.
Arianna Morgart,
Brenna's sister, said the sisters planned to be each others' maids of honor.
After
Brenna's death, Arianna found a long "bucket list" among her sister's
things.
"She
wanted to run a marathon, visit exotic places, and have a happy house full of
kids and pets," Arianna said. "Now none of that can ever
happen."
Her
father, Dennis Morgart, said his daughter planned and set goals, even to the
point of naming future children. Brenna knew that whoever her husband would be,
he would be perfect, her father said.
Her
father told Leftwich his religious daughter would want her killer to know that
no sin is unforgiveable if he seeks God's forgiveness.
Dennis
Morgart also said he forgives Leftwich. Brenna also is the daughter of Barb
Morgart.
For the
Morgarts, knowing that God "was with Brenna when she was dumped into that
creek to die, knowing God himself had not abandoned her but rather escorted her
into glory, gives us a peace we can't explain, a peace which surpasses all
understanding," her father said.
Dennis
Morgart thanked the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office, including Detectives Kevin
Kasl, Dustin Carlatt and Jim Mummey, Detective Sgt. Phil McKay, Cpl. Scott
Wanamaker, and Deputy Stephanie Dicken for their work on the case.
Leftwich
pleaded guilty to seven charges tied to the Morgart homicide and the striking
with a car of an unidentified 14-year-old girl in 2011. Morgart drowned when
she was thrown into a creek after being hit by a car driven by Leftwich.
After the
sentencing, R.D. Cogswell, pastor of Northland Christian Church, said the
Morgarts are "very pleased to have the sentences consecutive and that he
was prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Cogswell
spoke for the Morgarts, who are members of Northland Christian Church.
For the
Morgarts to offer forgiveness publicly to Leftwich was a big step for the
family, Cogswell said. The Morgarts hope Leftwich will turn his life over to
Jesus Christ, the pastor said.
During
the Jan. 10 plea, Taylor said Morgart was jogging the morning of May 25 in the
6900 block of N.W. Jennings when Leftwich deliberately struck her with his car,
then forced her into the trunk, and drove her to a creek four miles away in the
6600 block of N.W. Huxman, where he hit her with a tire iron and tried to rape
her.
Morgart
was alive when she was thrown into the creek and drowned.
At 7 p.m.
on May 25, deputies got a phone call from Leftwich’s mother, who told them her
son admitted hitting a female pedestrian, then dumped her body in a creek.
At 7:31
p.m., Morgart’s body was found in the 6600 block of N.W. Huxman.
Morgart
died five days after she graduated magna cum laude from Seaman High School. She
had been a member of the school’s cross country team.
On June
29, 2011, a 14-year-old girl was walking in the 6200 block of N.W. 70th when
Leftwich approached her driving a car at 20 mph. As the girl jumped off the
road, she was struck on the shin by the car.
The girl
ran home through a field.
At the
end of the sentencing, Dennis Morgart approached the parents of Leftwich, spoke
to them and gave each a purple plastic ball symbolizing a story he told about
his daughter's softball career.
A Prayer for All Conditions of Men:
O God, the
Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and
conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto
them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for thy holy
Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit,
that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of
truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in
righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness all those
who are in any ways afflicted or distressed, in mind, body, or estate; [especially
those for whom our prayers are desired]; that it may please thee to comfort and
relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under
their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we
beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
Burial of
the Dead 1662:
ALMIGHTY God,
with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with
whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the
flesh, are in joy and felicity: We give thee hearty thanks, for that it hath
pleased thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries of this sinful
world; beseeching thee that it may please thee, of thy gracious goodness,
shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom;
that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy Name,
may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy
eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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