- www.texas-justice.com
- The Dallas Morning News ) Associated Press; 08-28-1997
- Copyright 1999 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
- RENAE MERLE, Associated Press Writer
- Texas Child Killer's Guilt inDoubt.
- AP Online, 01-16-1999.
Texas Child Killer's Guilt in Doubt
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- When Lacresha Murray was 11, she told police she might have dropped little Jayla Belton and accidentally stepped on her. Twice, juries convicted her of killing the 2 year-old, and locked her away in a reform school.
Now Lacresha has a growing number of supporters, including a New York Times columnist, who say an 11-year-old girl never could have delivered the devastating blows Jayla apparently suffered.
Instead, they say, Lacresha was herself a victim -- of police who coerced an inaccurate confession, of a prosecutor with political ambitions, of a racially biased justice system.
``Lacresha Murray is innocent. That's the bottom line,'' said Barbara Taft, who quit her job as a legal secretary to devote herself to People of the Heart, an organization she created to help overturn the verdict. She claims to have 100 members.
Now 14, Lacresha is serving a 25-year sentence and waiting to see whether another appeal will free her. Dozens of protesters gather at least once a month outside the courthouse where the case is pending.
``It's really hard being away from my family. I've never gotten used to that,'' she said in a recent interview.
Shirley Murray, Lacresha's grandmother and adoptive mother, said of the girl: ``She's not bitter, which is more than I can say for myself.''
Prosecutors shocked Austin in 1996 when they charged Lacresha with murdering Jayla, a little girl at the illegal day care center Mrs. Murray and her husband, R.L. Murray, a church deacon, ran in their home.
Lacresha allegedly slipped into where Jayla was sleeping and beat her. Prosecutors speculated that Lacresha lashed out at Jayla because she was angry at having to baby sit.
Medical authorities said Jayla had broken ribs, 30 bruises -- some in the shape of a shoe -- and a fatal blow to her side that ruptured her liver.
Police questioned Lacresha. Almost 40 times, she denied beating Jayla. Finally, she agreed with a detective that she may have dropped the girl and stepped on her.
Her attorney, Keith S. Hampton, contends Lacresha's confession was coerced. Prosecutors deny that.
Prosecutors also point to the testimony of the medical examiner, who said Jayla's fatal injuries were inflicted when only Lacresha was with her. His testimony was supported by two other medical experts.
At Lacresha's first trial -- in which her court-appointed attorney was given only $300 for her defense -- she was cleared of murder but sentenced to 20 years for negligent homicide and injury to a child.
The judge threw out that conviction, questioning whether she was adequately defended. But a second trial, a year later, ended with another conviction on the same charges and the 25-year sentence.
Lacresha's story has attracted attention as far away as England, where her case has been compared to that of British au pair Louise Woodward.
Bob Herbert of The New York Times has published several columns arguing that the supposed facts of the case don't add up.
``There was no legitimate evidence against her, just a `confession' that even prosecutors have acknowledged would not have accounted for the injuries that killed Jayla,'' Herbert wrote in November.
``There were no witnesses and no murder weapon, and police investigators who scoured the premises where the killing supposedly took place could find no forensic evidence of any kind.''
Other critics say District Attorney Ronnie Earle sought a conviction to help his re-election campaign or was biased against a black defendant. Earle is white.
``If Lacresha Murray had been white and from a good side of town, the police department wouldn't have stopped her,'' Mrs. Taft said. The district attorney ``wanted a headline at time when politicians were standing up all over the country and being tough on juvenile crime.''
Earle countered: ``Twenty-four citizens have considered all the evidence and have concluded that Lacresha Murray did in fact kill Jayla Belton. That is sad and tragic but inescapable fact.''
If her appeals fail, Lacresha could stay in a youth detention center until she is 21. If she is still considered dangerous then, she could be transferred to an adult prison.
Lacresha dreams of being home and restarting her life by summer. If nothing else, she said, her case has inspired her: ``I want to be a lawyer, so I can help people so they won't be in situations like me.''
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved
RENAE MERLE, Associated Press Writer, Texas Child Killer's Guilt in
Doubt. , AP Online, 01-16-1999.