Convicted robber, witnesses tell different stories

Catrena “Trina” Ingram originally told Danville police that she did not take part in the assault on William Graham at his Henry Street home.

She told Danville Police Detective B.L. Oakes that she was approached by Anthony Jones and Juan Jones and asked to help rob the man.

By the time a warrant was issued to arrest Anthony Jones, Oakes noted in the complaint document, Ingram had said that she and Anthony Jones assaulted and robbed Graham.

Ingram’s story changed again in the statement she made for her sentencing hearing.

In that statement, she claimed Juan Jones told her he had seen Graham at a store with a lot of money, and Anthony Jones asked her if she could get Graham in a back room.

Ingram claimed she turned Anthony Jones down because Graham was her friend. She said she smoked some marijuana with the two men, then went to warn Graham.

Ingram said Graham ignored her warning, and the men arrived. Ingram claimed Anthony Jones beat Graham while Juan Jones went through his pockets looking for money. She claims she screamed at them to stop, then stated, “I didn’t know they were going to beat him or hurt him. If I knew they were going to beat him or hurt him, I never would have went inside to help them.”

Ingram said the money she had when she left Graham’s house wasn’t robbery money, but rather a roll of money Juan Jones gave her to hold before she went into Graham’s house.

Ingram said the rubber band around the roll of money broke, and that’s why the money was falling out of her shirt as she left Graham’s house.

Ingram repeated her testimony about meeting up with the two men later that night to collect $1,500, which she said she knew was from the Graham robbery.

Witnesses told the story differently through written testimony submitted to the court.

One young witness said that she saw Ingram, Anthony Jones and Juan Jones talking when she got home from school.

The young girl saw Ingram go into Graham’s house, then the two men, and after “about 20 to 25 minutes, (Ingram) came running outside … She had money stuffed down her shirt, some in her hand and some down the front of her pants. She was running and laughing.”

The witness also saw three women from the neighborhood, Stephanie Ingram, Rose Gunter and Janice Hairston, go to check on Graham about an hour later. The young witness said in her statement that she saw Graham had a big knot on his temple, another on his jaw and blood on his shirt.

Rose Gunter said she heard Graham had been beaten and ran to his house, where he was sitting on the porch. Rose Gunter said she asked what had happened and Graham told her Ingram “and them” had beaten him.

Whitney Mills testified she was on the porch next door to Graham when she saw Ingram running from Graham’s house, “holding her chest as if she had something in it,” but couldn’t tell what Ingram had.

Mills said a few days later she saw Ingram with new clothing and accessories.

Later in the day, Dana Hairston stated, Ingram arrived at Dana Hairston’s home with “so much money … 100s piled up” and invited her on a “shopping spree.”

Dana Hairston accompanied Ingram on her shopping spree, noting that Ingram spent between $2,000 and $3,000 on clothing and shoes, and “even bought me and my kids things.”

Later, Dana Hairston stated in court documents, Ingram also said she took part in the assault, hitting Graham in the head.