On April 10th, 2017, Thaddious Rice entered the emergency room at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana with his girlfriend’s ten-month-old son. The baby, Jaxon Wheeler, was unconscious, non-responsive, and not breathing. Thaddious told the emergency room staff that the baby was in his car seat and accidentally fell down the stairs outside their apartment. Emergency personnel were able to restore the baby’s heartbeat and he was placed on a ventilator in the ICU. The baby’s temperature was very low, 90.4 degrees, and a CT scan showed he had a severe traumatic brain injury. On April 12th, two days later, the baby died.
Suspicion quickly fell on Thaddious Rice. He was alone with the child when his injuries occurred. His girlfriend, Jordan, was at work at the time of the incident. The single mother had begun dating Thaddious in January of 2017. The young single mother was very close friends with a group of co-workers at the local Texas Roadhouse. One of those friends, Halee Rathgeber, did not approve of Jordan’s relationship with Rice. For one thing, Thaddious had been charged with rape in an incident that occurred over the summer of 2016. Halee’s distrust of Rice grew following the death of Jaxon.
Halee Denise Rathgeber was born December 3rd, 1996, in Evansville, Indiana. She was the oldest of three girls born to her parents, Tharon and Heather. Although her parents split up, Halee maintained an extremely close relationship with both of her parents. Halee graduated from high school with honors in 2015. She went on to attend the University of Southern Indiana, studying nursing. She was finishing up her second year of nursing school, making the Dean’s list every semester. Halee was an employee of Texas Roadhouse throughout her college career and also enjoyed working at the Veteran’s Administration and St. Mary’s hospital.
Halee was known to have an infectious smile and zest for life. She was extremely close to her two younger sisters. She was a dedicated student and employee, managing to maintain excellent grades while working hard. She had a group of very close friends, including Jordan. She often spent time with her colleagues at Texas Roadhouse. She was a reliable and loving friend, family member, employee, and student. After surviving a life threatening blood disorder as a child, Halee became determined to help others by becoming a nurse.
Following the death of Jaxon Wheeler, authorities interviewed Rice several times. First, he said he got the key stuck in the door at the top of the stairwell. In trying to remove the key, he accidentally tripped over the diaper bag. He said he fell down the stairs, which had a landing halfway through the L shaped staircase. He said he blacked out and when he came to, he realized the baby’s car seat was upside down at the bottom of the stairs. In another story, he told the police that he had placed the car seat on the ledge at the top of the stairs and the baby accidentally fell. He decided to take the baby to the ER himself instead of calling 911.
An autopsy was performed on the baby on April 13th. The forensic pathologist determined the baby died from cerebral edema caused by multiple brain hemorrhages. The bleeding was the result of blunt force trauma. The pathologist noted abrasions to the back of the neck and right shoulder and hemorrhages and bruises to the thymus gland, bilateral retina, rib, spine, small intestine, scalp, and buttocks. The cause of death could not be definitively proven to be shaken baby syndrome, but the explanation given by Rice did not make sense. A pediatric child abuse specialist determined that Jaxon’s injuries were a result of abuse. Detectives were building a case against Thaddious Rice.
On April 23rd, less than two weeks later, Halee and her friends at Texas Roadhouse finished up their shift. After work, friends invited Halee out for drinks, but she declined. That was the last time she was seen by her friends. Early the next morning, two women were driving past the Alcoa Soccer Complex when they noticed something in the gravel parking lot. They soon realized that it was the body of a young woman. Police were called and a death investigation was started by Warrick County officials.
At the scene, it was apparent the young woman had been murdered. She had a gun shot wound to the back of her head. Under the young woman, who was laying in a snow angel position, was a blue towel saturated in her blood. The woman had a few tattoos, which detectives hoped would help to identify her. Meanwhile, Heather Collins had read about the discovery of a young female online. She instantly grew concerned about her daughter, Halee, who was not answering her calls or text messages. Halee was normally reliable. A friend of Halee’s went to her apartment at her mother’s request. She found Halee’s vehicle, but Halee was not home.
Heather contacted a friend who worked in law enforcement. The friend messaged her back, asking for pictures of Halee’s tattoos to give to investigators. After sending the photos, the young woman was identified as twenty-year-old Halee Rathgeber. Devastated, her family tried to come to grips with the loss of this amazing young woman. Who would want to kill Halee and why? She was not someone who would typically be involved in any nefarious activities.
The autopsy on Halee’s remains showed that she died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. There were no defensive wounds noted, indicating she did not try to fight back. Most likely, she never saw the attack coming. The autopsy also showed no signs of sexual assault, eliminating that as a motive. Fingernail scrapings and testing of the blood on the towel revealed only Halee’s DNA. Halee’s wallet and keys were not found at the scene, indicating that the motive may be robbery. However, the detectives believed that Halee knew and trusted her killer.
Shortly after the discovery of Halee’s body, rumors began to flood social media. The rumors centered around Thaddious Rice. It was suggested that Halee may have provided information to the police about Thaddious in relation to the death of Jaxon Wheeler, her good friend’s baby. On the night she died, Jordan said Halee stopped by her house at about 10 pm to retrieve her wallet. It was well known amongst the friend group that Halee did not approve of Thaddious. Thaddious was brought in for questioning, but no evidence pointed to his guilt in the murder of Halee Rathgeber.
Meanwhile, another friend of Halee’s contacted the police department and informed them that he was with Halee the night before her body was found. Isaiah Hagan, a twenty-two-year-old co-worker of Halee, said that he was hanging out with another friend when Halee called him. He left his friend to pick Halee up. He said that Halee asked him to drop her off at a dam in Newburgh, Indiana. Isaiah said he felt weird leaving the young woman alone but agreed to do so. He said that was the last time he saw Halee. He said he tried to call Halee later, but she did not answer. The friend who Hagan was with was questioned but provided a solid alibi.
A week after Halee’s murder, the FBI was contacted and asked to get involved in the investigation. The bureau was able to obtain cell phone records to track Halee the night of her death. Halee’s phone records did show a call to Isaiah, as he said, so his phone records were also obtained. To their surprise, Isaiah and Halee’s cell records demonstrated that they were in the same place at the same time. The phone records showed that both Isaiah and Halee were at the Alcoa soccer fields at eleven pm and were not at the dam at Isaiah told police.
Surveillance footage from Halee’s apartment showed her leaving with Isaiah the night before she was found deceased. At 11:25pm, Halee’s cell phone was turned off, as was Isaiah’s. Halee’s phone turned back on at 3:20 am and then turned off for good. Isaiah is seen later that morning on surveillance going through Halee’s vehicle at her house. Halee is not present. Isaiah Hagan became the number one suspect in the case.
The detectives obtained a search warrant for Isaiah Hagan’s home that he shared with his parents. His mother, a correctional officer for Warrick County, and father were very cooperative. They were asked if they owned a gun, which they confirmed. However, when they went to obtain the weapon, it was noted to be missing. The gun would never be found. During the search, police found another towel matching the towel found at the scene.
Records showed that on the night of Halee’s murder, Isaiah’s dad had been texting him about money. As it turned out, Isaiah had written two bad checks on Halee’s account, each for $300. The first check cleared, but the second bounced. His father had covered for him but was expecting his son to pay him back. Further investigation found that Isaiah was known to be a thief, often stealing from friends and roommates and selling the items for cash.
During the second interview with Hagan, he changed his story. He said now that he dropped Halee off at the soccer fields. He said that he later found Halee’s phone in his vehicle and threw it out the window. He then asked to speak with his mother. This conversation was not recorded, but Donna Hagan later said that Isaiah said that he shot Halee by accident and did not mean to kill her. Isaiah Hagan and his defense claim this was not true and his mother was just trying to ensure he didn’t face a murder charge.
Isaiah Hagan was charged with Halee’s murder. His first trial ended in a mistrial after the defense learned a juror had seen Isaiah in a holding cell prior to the trial. He went on trial again in May of 2018. The prosecution presented the phone evidence, which showed Isaiah and Halee were both at the murder scene at the same time. Isaiah’s own admission of discarding Halee’s phone was used against him. The video footage proved Isaiah had been with Halee the night she died and that he had rummaged through her vehicle after her death. Isaiah’s mother testified that Isaiah had made an admission to her, stating it was an accident.
The defense’s case centered around shifting the blame to other suspects that they did not feel had been fully investigated, including another friend of the two and Thaddious Rice. Additionally, the defense claimed that Donna Hagan had fabricated her testimony because, as a person trained in law enforcement, she knew that an accidental shooting would likely not result in a murder conviction. The defense also pointed out the lack of DNA testing of all suspects, but the prosecution stated that DNA testing was not performed because only Halee’s DNA had been found under her nails and on the towel.
In June of 2018, Isaiah Hagan was found guilty of murder and felony murder. The felony murder charge stemmed from the robbery of Halee, which is believed to be the motive. The prosecution offered the defense team a sentence of sixty years in prison, which was accepted to avoid a life sentence. Isaiah continues to claim he is innocent and that his mother lied on the stand. All of his appeals have so far been denied.
In September of 2017, Thaddious Rice was officially charged with Level 1 Felony Neglect and murder in the death of Jaxon Wheeler. In 2020, Thaddious was found guilty of Level 1 Felony Neglect and sentenced to forty years in prison, the maximum for the charges he was convicted of. The jury elected not to convict him of murder.
Thaddious Rice and Isaiah Hagan will spend a majority of their adult lives in prison for the murders of Jaxon Wheeler and Halee Rathgeber respectively. It’s hard to imagine two horrific crimes resulting in deaths affecting the same group of friends within just weeks. It’s hard to imagine that the two are not related, but the evidence demonstrates such. Perhaps Isaiah thought it would be easy to pin the crime on Thaddious. Perhaps the timely was just coincidental. Jordan and the rest of Halee’s friend group have certainly had their fair share of tragedy.
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