KEMARRIOUS MOORE - 2 yo (2008) - Birmingham AL

A Birmingham man has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the 2008
death of his 2-year-old son, avoiding a capital murder trial for which
jury selection was under way.
Members of the jury pool learned Tuesday morning that Jamel Hubbard, 25, had pleaded
guilty Monday evening to felony murder in the death of Kemarrious Moore.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace sentenced Hubbard to 20 years as part of the plea deal.
Hubbard was to be tried on a capital charge that he intentionally murdered a child under the age of 14.
Under the felony murder charge, Hubbard admitted that Kemarrious' death
resulted when the father was committing the felony of aggravated child abuse.
Kemarrious had bruises all over his
back, injuries to his kidney and spleen and a bruise on his genitalia
consistent with having been pinched, doctors at Children's Hospital told
police when the child was taken there on Aug. 17, 2008.
His left arm also had a fresh fracture, his chin was cut to the bone and
blood was leaking in his brain, according to testimony from a prior hearing.
Hubbard told police the newer injuries
were the result of a fall when the two rode down a hill on a bicycle
that crashed when the brakes failed.
"We believe that the closed-head injury came from that," said Cynthia Umstead,
who represented Hubbard with David Simpson.
But when Kemarrious lost consciousness later that day, Hubbard told his
aunt he believed he had hit the child too hard, a Birmingham police
detective testified at Hubbard's preliminary hearing.
Hubbard had been keeping Kemarrious for 10 days, and some of the child's
injuries predated that period, Umstead said. Hubbard, who had a history
of mental illness and never had cared for a child alone before, was
unprepared for the task, she said.
"He may not have understood it was not a good idea to ride a bike with a child on
the handlebars and no helmet," Umstead said. "We felt there was no
intent to harm his child, but it was a very bad decision."

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/03/birmingham_man_pleads_guilty_i_1.html