Grand Rapids, Michigan – February 9, 2007 – United States Attorney Margaret M. Chiara announced that Jeremiah Sims, age 32, of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was convicted following a four-day jury trial of interstate murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire in the brutal slaying of a sixteen-year-old Benton Township girl in 1996. Sims assisted Joshshan Childs in the murder of Chrissy Satterfield, who was shot multiple times with a large-caliber firearm while taking a shower. The firearm was never recovered. Fingerprints were recovered from the outside ledge of the bathroom window; these prints were later identified as those of Childs. The murder was allegedly motivated by jealousy of a drug dealer’s wife, Carolyn Ross, over the affair her husband was having with the victim. She allegedly paid Childs and Sims to commit the murder.

Childs was convicted for his role in the murder on January 12, 2007. Both Sims and Childs face mandatory life imprisonment.

A federal grand jury indicted Carolyn Ross on January 25, 2007, on charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire and interstate murder for hire. She is awaiting trial. An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Ms. Chiara praised the work of the FBI and the Benton Township Police Department for the successful investigation of this decade-old case. She singled out FBI Special Agent Al Debrito and Benton Township Officer Carl Deland, who tirelessly led the investigation.