Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 13, 2006 20:55:46 GMT -5
Like her older brother Davontae, Destiny Williams was disciplined in the family's east Arlington apartment. If she did something wrong, she was spanked with a belt, hanger and sometimes an extension cord.
But for "Tae Tae," as she called him, punishment was mean, the 8-year-old testified Monday during the capital murder trial of Lisa Ann Coleman, who is accused in the 2004 starving death of Davontae Williams, her lover's 9-year-old son.
If convicted, Coleman could face the death penalty. Davontae's mother, Marcella Williams, faces her own capital murder trial later.
Today would have been Davontae's 11th birthday.
An articulate Destiny, who was 6 years old when Davontae died, told the jury in state District Judge Everett Young's court Monday that Coleman, whom she called "Pig," lived with the family and tied up Davontae.
"Was anybody mean to Tae Tae?" prosecutor Mitch Poe asked.
"Yes sir," she said.
"Who was mean to Tae Tae?"
After a long pause, she said, "Pig."
Are you scared right now? Poe asked.
Destiny nodded. She then began crying and rubbing her eyes.
Then Poe squatted next to the stand and asked, "How was she mean?"
After another long pause she responded, "She tied him up."
Poe finished his questioning by asking Destiny to point to the person she called Pig.
"You don't have to look if you don't want to, but can you point at her?" he asked.
Destiny, with a frown, turned her head and pointed at Coleman. After she stopped pointing, she continued to stare in Coleman's direction for several seconds.
Destiny, along with her younger sister, who was 3 years old when Davontae died, now live with adoptive parents.
Under cross examination, Coleman's defense attorney, Michael Heiskell, asked Destiny whether she knew that her mother was in jail and if she still cares for her.
In her soft-spoken voice, she said, "Yes, sir."
After questioning, Destiny walked toward her adoptive mother and reached for her hand while looking back at Coleman.
Jurors also heard testimony Monday from Child Protective Services
caseworker Jennifer Deible. She said she interviewed Coleman shortly after Davontae's death. In that interview, Coleman told Deible about the last time she disciplined Davontae.
In February 2004, five months before his death, Coleman hit Davontae on the buttocks with a belt. She said she may have gone too far because the beating left some bruises.
Deible said Coleman then told her that she talked to her mother, Patricia Coleman, about the incident.
"She said her mother told her to leave the disciplining up to Marcella and not to put her hands on him again," Deible said.
Coleman went on to tell her that whenever someone asked where Davontae was, the response was always that he was with his mother's relatives, "but actually, he was in the apartment."
Deible also asked Coleman about specific injuries, and at one point Coleman responded, "as God as my witness" she did not know how he got the injures.
"I told her: 'No, God does know.'"
(source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
But for "Tae Tae," as she called him, punishment was mean, the 8-year-old testified Monday during the capital murder trial of Lisa Ann Coleman, who is accused in the 2004 starving death of Davontae Williams, her lover's 9-year-old son.
If convicted, Coleman could face the death penalty. Davontae's mother, Marcella Williams, faces her own capital murder trial later.
Today would have been Davontae's 11th birthday.
An articulate Destiny, who was 6 years old when Davontae died, told the jury in state District Judge Everett Young's court Monday that Coleman, whom she called "Pig," lived with the family and tied up Davontae.
"Was anybody mean to Tae Tae?" prosecutor Mitch Poe asked.
"Yes sir," she said.
"Who was mean to Tae Tae?"
After a long pause, she said, "Pig."
Are you scared right now? Poe asked.
Destiny nodded. She then began crying and rubbing her eyes.
Then Poe squatted next to the stand and asked, "How was she mean?"
After another long pause she responded, "She tied him up."
Poe finished his questioning by asking Destiny to point to the person she called Pig.
"You don't have to look if you don't want to, but can you point at her?" he asked.
Destiny, with a frown, turned her head and pointed at Coleman. After she stopped pointing, she continued to stare in Coleman's direction for several seconds.
Destiny, along with her younger sister, who was 3 years old when Davontae died, now live with adoptive parents.
Under cross examination, Coleman's defense attorney, Michael Heiskell, asked Destiny whether she knew that her mother was in jail and if she still cares for her.
In her soft-spoken voice, she said, "Yes, sir."
After questioning, Destiny walked toward her adoptive mother and reached for her hand while looking back at Coleman.
Jurors also heard testimony Monday from Child Protective Services
caseworker Jennifer Deible. She said she interviewed Coleman shortly after Davontae's death. In that interview, Coleman told Deible about the last time she disciplined Davontae.
In February 2004, five months before his death, Coleman hit Davontae on the buttocks with a belt. She said she may have gone too far because the beating left some bruises.
Deible said Coleman then told her that she talked to her mother, Patricia Coleman, about the incident.
"She said her mother told her to leave the disciplining up to Marcella and not to put her hands on him again," Deible said.
Coleman went on to tell her that whenever someone asked where Davontae was, the response was always that he was with his mother's relatives, "but actually, he was in the apartment."
Deible also asked Coleman about specific injuries, and at one point Coleman responded, "as God as my witness" she did not know how he got the injures.
"I told her: 'No, God does know.'"
(source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)