From Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

Schedule Change:

As often happens with breaking news, Haleigh Cummings has now been delayed for breaking news Thursday night, Aug. 26, on HLN’s Nancy Grace Show, which is set to focus on the sad case of the missing cheerleader.

Art just got an e mail from her New York producers to let us know, but in this bidness, last minute change is a given…Hey, if something else breaks in the case, he could be called back…Yep, it’s happened before. One night, show producers called at 7p to see if he could make the 8 p show.

Luckily, he wasn’t far from CNN Center studios in Atlanta. Whew.

By Art Harris, The Bald Truth, © www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

With Tommy Croslin claiming his Tennessee cousin strangled Haleigh Cummings in the trailer where she was staying with his sister, Misty, in Satsuma, Florida, we pressed his defense team to explain, what did he see and when did he see it?

The Bald Truth has now learned that Tommy Croslin elaborated he actually saw Joe Overstreet holding five year old Haleigh Cummings “with his arm around her chest” inside the bedroom of the trailer where his sister Misty Croslin was babysitting Feb. 9, 2009.

At that point, he claims Haleigh wasn’t moving, that she appeared limp as a ragdoll. His lawyer, James Werter, says Croslin came clean with the details in April, when he told investigators he drove to the trailer with Overstreet—who denies any involvement in the missing child —to “borrow” a machine gun Ronald Cummings showed off one night over beer.

Croslin claims it was Overstreet who aimed to steal it; he just wanted to use it to shoot deer at night after catching them frozen in the car headlights, a true Satsuma sportsman.

Now it’s Croslin who could be a deer in the headlights of the tangled web of a missing and presumed murdered five year old his sister was babysitting that night, along with Haleigh’s brother, JR.

“Joe picked up Tommy from his house to borrow the gun to shoot deer at night,” Werter tells The Bald Truth. “He sat on the couch while Joe looked for it.”

When he couldn’t find it because Ronald had taken all the guns out of the house, Misty says “Joe went crazy,” her lawyer told me, pulled out his knife, threatened and sexually groped her, and warned he’d kill her and her family if she told.

She’s also told investigators she heard Haleigh screaming after Joe grabbed her and she dove under the covers and held her little brother tight.

Meanwhile, her brother, Tommy, heard the commotion, says his private investigator, Steve Brown, a former FBI agent, in an exclusive interview with The Bald Truth. That prompted him to get up off the couch in the living room and “look around the corner” into the bedroom.

“That’s when he saw Joe holding Haleigh with his arm around her chest,” Brown told me. “She wasn’t moving then, and she wasn’t moving (later) when he looked over his shoulder after Overstreet put her in the van and she was lying in the back.”

No blood was found in the trailer, says Brown, and Misty heard Haleigh stop screaming before they left the trailer. “That tells me and lead Tommy to believe she was strangled in the trailer,” Brown told The Bald Truth.

According to Werter, any slight conflicts in stories between Misty and Tommy can be accounted for by “the various viewpoints” where each saw the violence unfold.

Friday night, Werter was fuming at remarks by other attorneys claiming he’d admitted his client had perhaps implicated Croslin as an accessory to murder by saying he’d helped Overstreet get rid of the body by holding the door open as he loaded Haleigh into the van. He specifically mentioned Alex Sanchez, a criminal defense lawyer on the Nancy Grace Show. We found that exchange.

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: …Tommy Croslin`s attorney revealing that Tommy Croslin was there and held the door open — he may have helped build a case against his own client!

GRACE: He really did. But the problem is, you can`t ask a client if they take the stand — you cannot ask the defendant about statements their lawyer made to the press.

SANCHEZ: No. No. But the lawyer could be called as a witness against his own client. ‘Did your client tell you that he was there that night and helped escape with the body?’”

“Tommy did not hold the door,” Werter told The Bald Truth later, “and that in no way makes him an accessory after the fact. He was just following orders from Overstreet to get in the van. He’d threatened to kill him and his family. He was afraid of Overstreet…He stayed in the van while Overstreet dumped the body” in the river.

Overstreet denies any wrongdoing and says he’s a convenient scapegoat for the guilty parties. He’s been interviewed by investigators but not arrested or charged in connection with the missing child.

Croslin has told police, according to his lawyer, that he sat in the van, head in hands, high on Xanax, and did not help Overstreet dump the body.

Later, Misty’s lawyer tells me she’s told investigators she was walking with Tommy near the river and asked what happened that night, and he said, ‘Cousin Joe threw Haleigh off the dock.’” Robert Fields told The Bald Truth.

The Bald Truth has also obtained contents of a letter Misty wrote her sister in law, Chelsea Croslin, with similar details.

” We were walking by the boat ramp by our house and I said, “Tommy, did Joe tell you what happened that night to Haleigh?” He said, “Joe threw her in the river.” He didn’t say which one so I thought it was the one by our house. ”

It was that confusion that lead police to bring Misty Croslin down to the docks on the river to see if that was the dock Tommy pointed out to her, The Bald Truth has reported.

In another excerpt from the same letter to Chelsea, Misty writes, “ …I am telling the truth. Tommy is the one that took them to that spot and said that Joe killed her. I said it was Joe from the start but no one would listen to me. But like I always said the truth would come out. No, Haleigh did not OD. I don’t know why people keep saying that. Joe took her. That is what happened. Ya’ll don’t understand what he has done to me. You don’t know how bad I feel.”

From Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

Out of the chute, Nancy Grace quizzed us on Misty Croslin’s brother saying he believes Haleigh was strangled.

GRACE: Bombshell tonight. A lawyer for Misty Croslin`s brother reveals COD — cause of death. He says little Haleigh was strangled.

GRACE: As the public now demanding a public hanging for Misty Croslin, do we finally know the true COD — cause of death? Out to Art Harris, investigative journalist, Artharris.com. Art, what do we know tonight?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, for the first time, Tommy Croslin has revealed the cause of death, says that the night he was at the trailer, his cousin Joe strangled Haleigh. That`s what his lawyer says Tommy Croslin, his client, told police in April. Now, it`s just coming out officially by his lawyer, but that raises a whole new — a whole new chapter…

GRACE: Hold on. Put Harris up! It raises a whole new what?

HARRIS: It raises — it opens a whole new chapter, Nancy, in this…

GRACE: Well, I`ll tell you…

HARRIS: … in this very sad tale.

GRACE: … what it raises to me, a big red flag that he`s waited this long to tell it, if it`s the truth! That`s what I don`t get about this whole bunch. They`re all, in my mind, lying. And another thing. What can you tell me about the allegation that Misty Croslin slept every night with a gun under her pillow?

OK, you know what? I will analyze that with a shrink later.

HARRIS: I can tell you, Nancy, that…

GRACE: But assuming it`s true, why didn`t she shoot the hell out of the guy that was hurting the baby?

HARRIS: Well, Nancy, I`m going to report on Artharris.com, Misty slept with this pistol under her pillow. But that night, she didn`t have it. She told her grandmother, Flora Hollars, and her lawyer that had she had it, she would have shot Tommy, and that would have been…

GRACE: Oh, really. Why that night…

HARRIS: Well, if you believe that…

GRACE: … Art? Why that night of all nights? What was different about that night?

HARRIS: Well, that night — apparently, Ronald had gotten his guns out of the trailer. Once his pistol had been stolen by cousin Joe. That was the story the family told me. And then Joe got it…

GRACE: Now, I`m worried about you. I`m worried about you, Art, because I really think, after all the stories you`ve covered, the big reporter with “The Washington Post,” blah, blah, I think you`re starting to believe these people! I really think you`re buying into their BS!

HARRIS: Nancy, you know, since you don`t have the criminal lawyers or defense lawyers here, I`ve got to tell you what they said on the record. Now, that`s — that`s for your viewers. This is what they are saying, the key suspects are saying, Nancy. And it`s going to be a very important turn of events. Werter — Jim Werter says he didn`t — you know, he didn`t let Tommy speak any further to investigators because he didn`t get a proffer of immunity. He thinks that Tommy might have revealed more.

GRACE: Hey, so now, still with no proffer of immunity, he just blurts it out? That doesn`t make sense. That doesn`t make sense, especially for the lawyer. I could see an inmate behind bars blurting something out, not thinking. But the lawyer to blurt it out when he says he didn`t say it before because he didn`t have immunity for his client, but now he blabs it to a reporter? Uh-uh! No! Something smells.

And another thing, Art Harris. Let`s nail it down. If this is the COD — cause of death — when did the strangling happen?

HARRIS: It would have happened, according to Tommy, right at the trailer after he busts in. Misty reports that Joe manhandles her sexually, gropes her, then looks for the — can`t find the machine gun he`s there to try to steal, grabs Haleigh. She hears her screaming, and then there`s silence, Nancy, and…

GRACE: So you`re saying right then, before she leaves the home. And so…

HARRIS: Before she leaves the home…

GRACE: … Tommy Croslin says after he strangles the baby, he just rides shotgun? He just hops in the van and goes along?

HARRIS: And he holds the door.

GRACE: Who wants to be in a car with a dead body?

HARRIS: He holds the door, Nancy, and that`s…

GRACE: OK, right there — you know what? I almost can`t take it anymore because it`s such BS. If I didn`t want to find out what happened to Haleigh, I wouldn`t even hear it. But everything they say, Art, leads us to another clue. So you`re right, we do have to report it. We do have to find out about it because in the end, we`re going to piece this thing together.

From Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

She’s got a few weeks to think about her looming sentencing day in Putnam County…

But Misty Croslin is hanging tough, claiming she’s told all she knows…

How many times have we heard that?

By Art Harris, The Bald Truth, © www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

The Bald Truth has learned Misty Croslin usually slept with a gun under her pillow for protection inside the trailer she shared with Ronald Cummings and his two children while he worked nights outside Satsuma, Florida.

But on Feb. 9, 2009, the day after she returned from a three day party binge, she claims it wasn’t there when Tennessee cousin Joe Overstreet barged in to steal her boyfriend’s prized machine gun, then snatched Haleigh instead.

“She said, ‘I would have shot Joe if I’d had the gun,’” Flora Hollars, her grandmother, tells The Bald Truth exlusively. Misty Cummings lawyer Robert Fields, also confirms she told him she slept with a gun Ronald Cummings gave her –just in case there were intruders.

But Cummings had taken his guns out of the house, she said, including a vintage World War II machine gun, a weapon he never registered with the ATF as required for automatic weapons, sources tell me.

He kept the machine gun in the bedroom closet, but that was gone, too, says Misty Croslin, when cousin Joe came calling Feb. 9, 2010 with stealing on his mind. “But Tommy wasn’t there to steal it, he just wanted to use it to go shoot some deer at night,” says James Werter, his attorney. That’s called “poaching,” among the favorite illegal sports in rural Putnam County.

In fact, deer blood was found in the van the boys were driving that night when it was taken in for forensic testing, sources close to the case tell me, but not Haleigh’s blood, even though Tommy Croslin claims Joe laid her out in the back seat, where he assumed she was dead because she wasn’t breathing, says Werter.

Then, Croslin says Overstreet drove them to the St. John’s River, as Croslin told police in April, when he also claimed no role in the body disposal, that he sat in the van, high on Xanax, and watched Joe Overstreet, take the five year old’s body down to the end of the dock. He didn’t see him toss it, or a splash, he says, but Overstreet came back empty-handed. Tommy Croslin also believes Haleigh was strangled in the house before they left.

Why didn’t Tommy or Misty do anything to stop him? That’s the big question. Fear, intimidation. That’s what they say Joe Overstreet inspired, threatening to kill them and their families if they breathed a word, that despite his pipsqueak size and demeanor, he’s a pint-sized piece of rage on wheels.

But Ronald had put him down a week earlier, humiliated him in front of family, accusing him of stealing a handgun, Hank Croslin, Sr. told me. “I had to keep them apart,” he said.

He said Overstreet vowed to get even, and that Cummings sloughed it off after Chelsea and Misty found the gun where he believed Overstreet hid it, in a culvert that runs in front of Tommy and Lindsay’s house on Tyler Street, or the drainage pipe that ran under the driveway. In March 2009, the family showed me the spot, before I sat down to interview Lisa and Lindsay.

Investigators have interviewed Overstreet, who remains free, and maintains his innocence in the missing child case. He says he’s the Croslin family scapegoat, blamed to cover up the guilt of others.

Like Ronald Cummings, he also had a thing for guns, and his My Space page featured a shot of a smirking Overstreet aiming a handgun. As for Cummings, we’ve learned he often shoved what looked like a Beretta in his wasteband, and kept an M 16 in a closet–the same gun the Texas Equusearch director reported Ronald put in his mouth and threatened to pull the trigger on one visit to his house. And three ex live-ins tell The Bald Truth when he was high and acting crazy, angry or depressed, often hurling curses and threats…he liked to make a point by putting a gun barrel in his mouth and playing Ronald Roulette.

But why would he take away the gun he gave Misty? That Sunday night before Haleigh vanished, they’d been up all night talking. Misty was back from her three day weekend adventure with a girlfriend and Greg Paige, aka White Boy Greg, a light-skinned African American (first interviewed on The Bald Truth) who sources tell us passed a police polygraph. Misty galpal Nay Nay Prevatt told us Misty was angry Cummings had roughed her up, rolled her into a little ball and booted her out four days earlier, but they’d made up.

Why would he take her back? “I just love her,” he told me over dinner at MeMa’s in Palatka at the time… But there was a Haleigh motive, too. If she left, he’d lose the only person who knew what happened. “You keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” Cummings told me.

So, was hed rightfully paranoid Misty might misuse his gun, maybe steal it and sell it for drug money—or use it on him? When Overstreet was in town, he’d accused him of stealing a handgun a week before Haleigh vanished, but found it. Over beer at his trailer, he’d also showed Tommy and Joe his WWII machine gun.

Misty’s lawyer tells me that’s why he believes Joe needed a bag Misty claims she saw him use to put Haleigh in.

“If he came looking for a machine gun, wouldn’t he need something to carry it out in, concealed, like a black bag?” Robert Fields asked in an exclusive interview with The Bald Truth.

After Joe exploded when he couldn’t find the gun, Misty claims he groped her sexually, manhandled her, and threatened to kill her. With no handgun, and paralyzed with fear, she claims she dove under the covers with Jr, frightened after she says Joe threatened to kill her with a black handled knife, as her lawyer says she told police in January.

From where she says she was hiding, Misty has told investigators she heard Haleigh scream, then a house door slam, then a car door that sounded like the mini van her brother drove. Only Overstreet was driving that night, said Tommy, and headed for the St. John’s River, with a child’s body on the backseat, then took her to the edge of a dock.

Tommy believes she was dead by then, telling his lawyer that he believes Overstreet strangled her at the trailer.

By Art Harris, The Bald Truth, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

Tune in Nancy Grace Friday night (just switched) at 8 and 10 p on HLN when we’ll be discussing the latest revelation in the mystery of missing and presumed murdered Haleigh Cummings: Tommy Croslin’s claim his Tennessee cousin, Joe Overstreet, strangled her in her father’s Satsuma, Florida where he dropped by to steal a prized machine gun Ronald Cummings had showed off a few days earlier.

Overstreet denies any involvement, but Croslin’s lawyer, James Werter, said that’s what his client told law enforcement in April. “He didn’t actually see it,” Werter told The Bald Truth Thursday night, “but that’s what he speculated happened,” based on being there and riding to the river with Overstreet.

He said Overstreet was bossing around his very stoned client, high on Xanax, and because “he held the door for Joe, police threatened him with accessory to murder charges” if he didn’t reveal more information.

Werter believes Tommy might have coughed up other details had that threat not been made–and prosecutors offered his client immunity. But no deal was on the table, so he ordered his client to be silent unless he was present for interviews.

The Bald Truth has reported Croslin rode in the van with Haleigh’s body, and Overstreet driving only after cousin Joe threatened to kill him and his whole family, including wife and children, Misty and even his grandmother, Flora Hollars. That’s the only reason he went along, said Werter, who denied Croslin helped the alleged killer in any way, except to hold the door open.

Werter said Putnam County investigators taunted Croslin he’d get convicted of accessory to murder charges, and get strapped down for a lethal injection if he didn’t reveal more. That’s why he ordered him silent.

“My advice to him is, ‘Don’t talk,’” Werter told News4Jax. “They’re threatening felony murder charges. How can I let him talk if he says he held the door open for Joe when they carried Haleigh’s body out of the house. I can’t make him an accessory after the facts of these little threats.”

Werter told me he believed prosecutors could have gotten more details from Croslin had he been offered immunity, as requested. But no deal was on the table. One source tells me, however, he may still have a chance to cough up more before he goes off to prison to begin serving 15 years on a recent drug trafficking conviction and argue he’s provided substantial cooperation.
————-

Croslin’s family has told The Bald Truth Overstreet was fuming after they pulled Cummings off him one night, after he accused Joe of stealing another gun that was recovered, which turned out to be the gun Misty kept under her pillow. “I had to get between them,” Hank Croslin, Sr. told The Bald Truth months ago. “Joe swore he’d get even.”

At the time, Joe denied he’d stolen the gun, and Cummings seemed to forget about it when Croslin’s family found it outside her parents’ house. Chelsea Croslin, her sister in law, tells The Bald Truth, she and Misty actually found it in the yard all muddy, but Tommy pointed out a drainage pipe that runs under the driveway of his parents former house, claiming that’s where Joe planted it…Joe denied he stole that gun.

As for the machine gun, an automatic weapon, Cummings loved to show it off as part of his swamp gangster arsenal that he usually kept secret. It was his pride and joy, friends tell The Bald Truth. Over beers with Tommy and Joe a few days earlier, he pulled it out of a bedroom closet to show off.

Sources close to to the case tell me investigators have recovered a machine gun resembling the one Cummings had, but the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office denied any machine gun owned by Cummings was in their possession.

“That’s news to me,” Lt. Johnny Greenwood told The Bald Truth several weeks ago. My sources speculated that had it been recovered and Joe Overstreet’s prints found on it from that night of beer and bragging, it would have shored up Tommy and Misty’s credibility, at least a tiny bit.

By Art Harris, The Bald Truth, ©artharris.com, all rights reserved

At four, his son, Ayden, is a tough cookie, fighting bad guys like his Dad, FDLE special agent Jason Jolicoeur, a fearless gang buster praised for tackling the violent Crips and Bloods in Flagler County, Florida, and mopping up their mean streets.

Only in Ayden’s case, the bad guy is cancer, a rare and aggressive childhood type called Glioblastoma that made him sick while on family vacation in April. In May, he was diagnosed with the rapidly spreading disease; doctors removed a tumor and urged a pricey treatment called proton therapy and chemo.

“As a Dad, I’ve got to wake up every day and know that beast is in his back,” agent Jolicoeur told First Coast News, a father who watches his son smile every day, then excuses himself to go into the bathroom to “cry my head off.”

FDLE Agent Jolicoeur kudos<

Glioblastoma…

As a key player in what has become, in effect, a joint local and state Haleigh Cummings task force, Jolicoeur (a French name softened to sound like Jal-iker) has kept relentless pressure on Misty Croslin and family as part of a strategy law enforcement hopes will make someone crack and cough up who killed the missing five year old—with evidence to prove it.

But the only way he can hope to make his son’s cancer crack is to raise funds to cover the astronomically expensive proton therapy detailed at www.cure4ayden.com. How bizarre that a state police agent who has devoted his career to helping other people’s children can’t just snap his fingers and cure his own.

That’s why friends from St. John’s County and beyond have sponsored spaghetti dinners, golf outings, fun-runs and a more to contribute thousands of dollars to fund a cure for Ayden.

According to his website, after the spinal surgery, Ayden lost sensation in his right leg, and now requires regular physical therapy to restore mobility in his leg. Ayden has been undergoing physical therapy to get strong enough to handle powerful –and pricey–cancer treatments.
—————————-
The Ayden website says any donation, no matter how small, will help the family with the climbing costs of Ayden’s medical treatment and travel expenses, and turn heartache into hope. The Jolicoeur family extends their thanks to all for continued prayers and support during this difficult time.
—————————–
Help Find A Cure For Ayden (and other kids): www.cure4ayden.com

From Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

The Putnam County Sheriff’s office took a swipe at Misty Croslin’s attorney Tuesday for revealing what his client told investigators happened inside Ronald Cummings trailer the night she reported his five year old daughter missing: that her Tennesee cousin had come looking for a machine gun and when he couldn’t find it, got angry, “roughed up Misty, sexually groped her,” then tossed Haleigh into a black bag and left.

The black bag was a new detail that Robert Fields described exclusively to The Bald Truth that expanded on earlier public comments.

“Attorney Fields made a statement to media outlets that after Misty Croslin’s arrest, she informed investigators what happened the night Haleigh Cummings went missing, and what happened to Haleigh Cummings,” said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, Putnam County Sheriff’s spokesman in a press release designed to throw water on a media firestorm. He declined all requests for official comments reacting to Croslin’s account, nor would he confirm or deny their accuracy.

“Since the onset of this investigation, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has been asked to comment on information obtained during the investigation,” said the release. (But) the PCSD “has always taken the firm stance that any information obtained in this case is not to be released, and any investigative strategies will not be discussed. The Haleigh Cummings investigation is far too important to be jeopardized by releasing this type of sensitive information.”

In an exclusive interview with The Bald Truth, Robert Fields elaborated that Misty was so frightened, she clutched Haleigh’s little brother and hid under the sheets, cringing, peeking out for only seconds to glimpse Joe Overstreet, 21, throw the tiny five year old into a black bag before pulling the covers back. She heard Haleigh scream, he said, then a car door slam.

One investigative expert suggested that if Overstreet, say, had indeed used a black bag to transport the child, that detail might have been used to shore up Misty’s shot crediblity as a witness and provide enough probable cause to make an arrest, but only IF Cousin Joe had volunteered seeing or carrying a black bag that night, even if presumably to steal Cummings’ machine gun.

Overstreet has denied any involvement; detectives have interviewed him at least twice, but no charges have been filed in connection with the missing child.

Fields said Misty has been telling that same story since she first told police when they interviewed her following her arrest on drug trafficking charges. But Greenwood declined to address any specific claims; investigators maintain they believe Croslin is holding key information that could solve a murder and bring Haleigh home.

PCSD “will not be participating in any formal interviews or providing statements regarding this…at this time. The main concern of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is finding Haleigh Cummings and returning her home to her family,” wrote Greenwood.

—————————————-
PCSD RELEASE:

Date: August 17, 2010

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has received numerous requests for an official comment regarding a statement made earlier today by Attorney Robert Fields. For those outlets not aware, Attorney Fields is legal counsel for Misty Croslin.

Attorney Fields made a statement to media outlets that after Misty Croslin’s arrest, she informed investigators what happened the night Haleigh Cummings went missing, and what happened to Haleigh Cummings.

Since the onset of this investigation, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has been asked to comment on information obtained during the investigation. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has always taken the firm stance that any information obtained in this case is not to be released, and any investigative strategies will not be discussed. The Haleigh Cummings investigation is far too important to be jeopardized by releasing this type of sensitive information.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will not be participating in any formal interviews or providing statements regarding this morning’s events at this time. The main concern of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is finding Haleigh Cummings and returning her home to her family.

Lieutenant Johnny Greenwood

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office

It’s the same story The Bald Truth reported weeks ago from sources close to the case— Misty Croslin telling investigators she held Haleigh Cummings’ little brother tight, cringing under the sheets as the five year girl old screamed in the next room, allegedly carted off by an angry Tennessee cousin. That was the last night she saw Haleigh alive.

“She says she saw Joe Overstreet come to the trailer looking for a gun, and when he couldn’t find it, turned on Misty, roughed her up, groped her sexually, then grabbed Haleigh and tossed her into a black bag,” her attorney, Robert Fields tells The Bald Truth in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

“She was scared and dove under the covers with Ronald, Jr to hide,” he said.

Fields also tells us that Misty recalls Overstreet take Haleigh from Ronald Cummings trailer in “some kind of black bag. She’s not sure if it was a garbage bag, or a suitcase. She just peaked from under the covers and saw that much.”

The next thing she heard was “a door slamming” that sounded like the van her brother, Tommy, drove, he says.

Overstreet has denied any involvement, and has not been charged in the case of the missing child.

Tommy’s lawyer, James Werter told The Bald Truth Tuesday that Tommy Croslin was with Overstreet the night he went to the trailer, but had no involvement, in taking Haleigh, just tagged along in the van as Joe drove her down a dirt road to the St. John’s River, where his grandmother reports she was tied to a cinder block with a yellow rope and tossed.

Sources say Tommy Croslin he told law enforcement he watched Cousin Joe take the little girl to the end of the dock. He didn’t see her actually go in the water, according to Werter. Tommy claims he was high on Xanax and sat in the van with “his head in his hands,” private investigator Steve Brown told me.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department issued a release that said it would not comment on any aspect of the investigation and refused to confirm Fields’ account.

Fields tells The Bald Truth Misty told this story to detectives within days after she was arrested and charged with eight counts of drug trafficking. “She waived her right to call me and spoke directly to detectives,” he said.

Croslin plead no contest to her eighth count of trafficking today in St. John’s County, where she was busted with confidante Donna Brock earlier this year.

She could receive up to 240 years if she’s not recognized as a youthful offender and the maximum minimums of 30 years are applied.

No one has been charged with what police are calling the murder of Haleigh Cummings, but Lt. Johnny Greenwood tells us the investigation is still very active.

Misty Croslin had “no choice” but to plead no contest today to seven drug trafficking charges in Palatka, Florida, the Putnam County seat, her attorney tells The Bald Truth.

It’s the same plea Robert Fields says he plans to enter Tuesday in nearby St. John’s County, as well, where an 8th drug charge awaits the former babysitter for a missing five year old girl Haleigh Cummings. “The evidence was overwhelming,” Fields told me in an exclusive phone interview after court we discuss Monday night on HLN’s Jane Velez Mitchell.

“There was no room to maneuver. It was check and checkmate. They had Misty in their sites. Nothing else we could do.”

As for Misty, at 18, she could face up to 240 years in prison, according to the state attorney’s office. That’s eight counts times 30 years each if mandatory minimums are applied.

In court, Fields told Circuit Judge Terry Larue that a “landslide of evidence” against Croslin, including undercover drug sting videos showing her counting pills, wheeling and dealing with ex husband, Ronald Cummings and his cousin, Hope Sykes lead to the no contest plea, which is tantamount to guilty. Sykes drew 15 years on one trafficking count. Same for Misty’s brother, Tommy. Cummings awaits confirmation of a possible 15 year plea deal.

Judge LaRue patiently explained Croslin’s options and asked if she understood the charges against her. She said she did. “Ultimately it was her decision,” said Fields. “Before court, I explained what the outcome of a possible trial would be, and it wouldn’t have made any difference in her sentence.”

Legally boxed in, Fields is grappling with whether to pitch Croslin as a youthful offender come Judgment day comes in October and her court date to be sentenced. Under Florida law, he can try for that plea only once, which could mean as little as six years—if the judge allows it.

But even if Judge LaRue, elected in 2002 and known for his patience and calm demeanor, did okay that status, she’s still vulnerable to a 30 year sentence in St. John’s County on the one remaining charge. “The youthful offender statute is tricky,” Fields tells me.

“What hurts her is she has cases in two different counties,” he goes on. “So even if she could get it in Putnam, she would be prevented in St. John’s if previously designated a youthful offender. A convicted felon is disqualified as well.”

With sentencing scheduled for October, Fields says he’ll need three hours to bring witnesses and lay out Misty’s story. He says she’s revealed everything she knows about missing Haleigh Cummings, though investigators don’t buy it.

One reporter noted she was the only female inmate in court, with no family to offer support. “Most of them are in jail,” said Jessica Clark, reporter-anchor for First Coast News out of Jacksonville. Indeed, parents were recently busted for allegedly buying crack cocaine, and a brother, Tommy, was just sentenced. Another brother and sister in law are in Massachussetts.

Fields tells me she hasn’t been able to speak with Hank or Lisa Croslin because inmates are forbidden contact.

Hands shackled, hair cut short, her face pasty white, a plumped up Croslin stood before the judge and politely answered “Yessir” or “No sir.”

She laid out her education—7th grade—and work experience: restaurant hostess and babysitter. “She looked very somber,” Clark told The Bald Truth, as everyone stared at what some might consider a local true crime celebrity. “It’s not celebrity in a good way. Everyone knows who she is because she’s infamous.”

“I really like Misty now,” Fields told me. “I see nothing more than a girl who has lead a sad and unfortunate life A lot of people outside this bubble are venting and acting vicious. They want to spit at her, throw stones. They make frivolous comments, then retreat to their private lives. She’s been demonized. It reminds me of the Salem Witch Trials.”