The mother of a murdered 7-year-old cheerleader cried in anguish as she faced her daughter’s accused killer in a Kentucky courtroom Monday.
Timothy Madden, 38, pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy in the death of Gabriella Doolin. The Scottsville girl’s mother, Amy Doolin, held her hands over her mouth and cried as the suspect walked into the court.
Even Allen County District Judge Martha Blair Harrison’s voice seemed to shake with emotion as she read the heinous charges.
Madden, a father of five, showed no emotion and quietly replied “Yes, ma’am” when the judge asked if he understood his rights. He is being held on $1 million full cash bond. A preliminary hearing was set for Dec. 2.
The little cheerleader vanished during a Nov. 14 youth football game at Scottsville High School. About 25 minutes after her mom reported her missing, her tiny body was found in a creek behind the campus.
Madden was arrested Friday by Kentucky State Police. Investigators said his DNA matched that recovered from the child during the autopsy.
However, the former construction worker has proclaimed his innocence.
“I’m sorry for their loss. I feel sorry for them, but it wasn’t me,” he told WDRB in a jailhouse interview. “It’s all bogus. I’m a very innocent man. They can ask anybody that knows me.”
Madden’s mother-in-law, Linda King, said Monday that Madden was shooting a video of the game and that as the father of five children — who range in age from 4 months to 20 years old — there is no way he could have hurt someone else’s child.
“There’s no way this man could have done this vicious whatever because he’s not that kind of person,” King said. “He loves his kids, he loves his family. He would do anything for anybody that asked him.
King described her son-in-law as a devoted family man: he has cared for his wife since she suffered multiple strokes earlier this year.
“Whoever done this is still out there. And if this community thinks they can rest easy, they can’t. Because the monster that done that is still loose,” she said.
Madden went to school with Gabriella’s father, Brian Doolin. The two families are friendly, Madden said: his own daughter cheered on the same team as Gabriella.
But Brian Doolin had harsh words about the suspect on his Facebook page last week.
“This animal should not be walking and breathing,” he wrote.
With News Wire Services
