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Jesse Pitts
911 CALLER ARRESTED

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911 Caller Arrested In 14-Year-Old's Death
911 Caller Says Girl Fell, Hit Her Head

POSTED: 6:27 am CDT September 21, 2007
UPDATED: 7:49 am CDT September 21, 2007
ANDERSON, Ind. -- A man whose 911 call led emergency personnel to find a teenage girl's body in an Anderson park Thursday morning has been arrested in connection with her death, police said.

Jesse L. Pitts, 20, was being held Thursday evening, hours after emergency personnel found 14-year-old Amanda Brinker dead on the bank of the White River at Edgewater Park. She was found fully clothed and face-down, reported WRTV-TV in Indianapolis.

Police said Brinker, an Anderson High School student, appeared to have died of blunt-force trauma. Pitts told investigators he had taken her to the park on Thursday morning and called 911 when she fell and hit her head on something, police said.

That call came at about 8 a.m., and emergency personnel found Brinker's body at about 8:15 a.m., the television station reported. Police said they believe Brinker's death was a homicide and investigators were looking for a weapon.

"(Pitts) was present at the time of death and took actions that we believe contributed to (Brinker's) death," said Anderson Police Department Detective Joel Sandefur.

Sandefur said police found blood spattered on clothing in Pitts' possession.

Witnesses told police that Brinker got into Pitts' car at a bus stop Thursday morning. Pitts told investigators he drove her to the park and that they smoked marijuana, police said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Friday. Police said Pitts would have an initial court hearing Friday afternoon.

Police said Pitts and Brinker knew each other for some time, but the extent of their relationship wasn't clear. Investigators said Brinker had not been sexually assaulted.

"Everybody's in shock at this time," said Brian Golish, a friend of Brinker's family. "Everybody's grieving, but it's just going to get worse before it gets better."

Golish said Brinker was like a daughter to him.

"She really loved animals, and she was really a sweetheart to us," Golish said. "It's going to be a big loss. I just don't understand why someone would do that."