ANTONIO SANTIAGO - 13 months - / Accused: Demarquis Elkins, 17 - Dominique Lang 15yo - Brunswick, GA

My major point was were where the black community outrage of the public execution of a little boy. White or not, does not matter. He was executed. Innocent and helpless he was. There were no riots, no protests, no public anger. There is a difference between justice and revenge. These people want revenge on Zimmerman not justice. Whether we disagree with the results justice has been done. It's sad that two young boys are dead, color not with standing. William

Many people don't seem to understand why there was a public outrage about the murder of Trayvon Martin.  It is because nothing was done.  Zimmerman wasn't investigated, wasn't given a tox screen, was given a pass until the public out roar could not be ignored.  Just as in the past, his daddy got him out of trouble. 

Zimmerman could have done as he was told and stayed in his truck.  He should have stayed in his truck.  Trayvon ran away from the man following him and hid, but it didn't do any good.  He chased Trayvon down, when Trayvon tried to fight back he shot him point blank.

Trayvon was not engaged in any illegal activity the night he was murdered.  He was just a kid walking home, talking on his cell.  Very typical.

The poor little baby who was murdered is entirely different.  Those criminals were arrested as soon as they were identified.

There are no similarities in the two cases.

Both are tragedies.

The system has spoken, Zimmerman is a free man.,  The two criminals who murdered the baby will never be free again.

There are no similarities in the two cases.

Both are tragedies.

Teen 'who shot baby in the face while robbing his mom counted down from five before he pulled the trigger'

The teen accused of shooting a toddler between the eyes during a robbery attempt counted down from five before firing, his alleged accomplice testified today after pointing him out as the shooter.

Dominique Lang testified that he ran into De'Marquise Elkins on the morning of the March 21 slaying. A short while later as the two walked together, they saw Sherry West with a stroller.

Lang says Elkins walked to West and demanded her purse before pulling out a gun. When West refused to hand the purse over, he hit her in the face with it and threatened her baby.

'The baby was in the stroller screaming,' Lang said.

Alleged accomplice: Dominique Lang points out defendant De'Marquise Elkins during testimony on Thursday, August 22, as the shooter of a 13-month-old baby

In court: De'Marquise Elkins is charged with murder, child cruelty, attempted armed robbery and multiple counts of aggravated assault in connection to the March 21 shooting

Murdered: Baby Antonio was shot in the head as he slept by two boys who attempted to rob his mother

Elkins shot Sherry West in the leg with his .22 caliber handgun, he testified, and then shot the 13-month-old baby Antonio Santiago.

De'Marquise Elkins is charged with murder, child cruelty, attempted armed robbery and multiple counts of aggravated assault in connection to the March 21 shooting.

If convicted, Elkins will not face the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the killing, too young under Georgia law to be executed.

Prosecutors have also accused Elkins of shooting Wilfredo Calix Flores outside a local church ten days before the child was killed.

The killing this spring in the port of city of Brunswick, close to vacation spots like Jekyll Island, drew national attention, and the trial was moved to the Atlanta suburbs because of the extensive publicity the case received locally.

In opening statements, Johnson told jurors that both shootings started off as robberies.

'When it didn't happen immediately, as Mr Elkins thought it should, his reaction was to shoot,' Johnson alleged.

'The young man took the gun and aimed it at Antonio's head and shot him right between the eyes,' Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson told jurors.

Sworn in: Lang says Elkins walked to West and demanded her purse before pulling out a gun. When West refused to hand the purse over, he hit her in the face with it and threatened her baby

The prosecutor said Elkins and Lang stopped the mother and child as they returned home from the post office.

Johnson said that Elkins pointed a small .22-caliber revolver at West and demanded her money. West did not immediately hand over her purse and the child was shot.

Bystanders and rescue workers were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lang is also charged as an adult with murder but will be tried separately. Authorities said Lang identified Elkins as the shooter.

Defense attorney Jonathan Lockwood suggested that Antonio's parents were somehow involved in his death, though he did not provide a precise motive or further explain that theory.

He said that no one in the neighborhood saw or heard anyone fleeing the scene of the shooting.

He also questioned whether police focused their investigation too soon on the wrong suspects. He said that West tried to collect on a life insurance policy shortly after her son's death.

'The police were under a great deal of pressure to see that the matter was resolved as vacation season was not far away,' Lockwood said.

On trial for murder: De'Marquise Elkins, 17, appears in court on Monday over the death of a 13-month-old baby who was shot dead in Brunswick, Georgia

Lockwood said the child's parents both had gunshot residue on their hands. A report filed earlier by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that gunshot residue can wind up on shooting victims.

The child's father, Louis Santiago, said during an initial court hearing that he touched the bullet wound on West's leg before his hands were swabbed.

Prosecutors said information from Elkins' mother and sister led investigators to a pond where they found a .22-caliber revolver.

Elkins' mother, Karimah Elkins, is standing trial alongside her son on charges of evidence tampering and lying to police. Elkins' sister was also charged with evidence tampering.

An attorney for Karimah Elkins, J. Wrix McIlvaine, said police had violated her rights and that she was not involved in the killing.

McIlvaine said, 'None of these people had anything to do with the shooting of a child.'

Conspiracy: The defense has suggested that the baby's parents killed him to collect his life insurance

Incriminating: West's 21-year-old daughter told a TV station that her mother called her after Antonio's murder wondering how long it would take to receive a check from the life insurance company

Spared: Because of his youth, Elkins will not be facing capital punishment, if convicted

Elkins was last a student in the system in October 2011 when he left Ombudsman, an outsourced alternative school program, Weidhaas said.

Both prosecutors and Elkins' defense attorneys declined to comment before the trial, citing a gag order by the judge. The boy's mother also declined to talk.

In 2008, West's 18-year-old son was stabbed to death in an altercation in New Jersey. Prosecutors said the stabbing was self-defense and did not file charges.

History of violence: Prosecutors said Elkins shot somebody else 10 days before the toddler was killed

Family: Elkins' mother and sister provided information that led police to a pond where they found a .22 caliber revolver

Defense attorneys also pointed to lab tests by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that found traces of gunshot residue on swabs taken from the hands of West and the boy's father, Louis Santiago.

Reports filed in court stated the GBI found a single microscopic particle of gunshot residue swabbed from the father's hands, while more than five particles showed up in swabs from West's hands.

The GBI report cautioned that gunshot victims can end up with residue on them. During a preliminary court hearing, Santiago said he touched the bullet wound on West's leg before his hands were swabbed.

In a court filing on Wednesday, District Attorney Jackie Johnson argued that Elkins' defense lawyers have made ‘false, inflammatory and misleading statements’ about the case.

While the toddler's mother identified Elkins as the shooter in a photo lineup, police said much of their evidence against the teenager came from his own family and the younger teen charged as his accomplice.  

Grief: Antonio's father Luis Santiago tries to comfort Ms West at her apartment on Friday

Horror: Demarquis Elkins, 17, allegedly threatened Sherry West then shot her infant son when she didn't give him any money

Investigators have testified that Lang told police he and Elkins were trying to rob a woman pushing a baby in a stroller when Elkins pulled a gun and shot them both.

Lang's aunt, Debra Obey, told police her nephew and Elkins came to her for a ride the day of the slaying. She said Elkins ducked down in the back seat of her car, as if he was hiding.

Four days after the shooting, police said information from Elkins' mother and sister helped lead investigators to a pond where they found a .22-caliber revolver.

Both women were charged with evidence tampering. Elkins' mother, Karimah Elkins, also was charged with lying to police.

Prosecutors say Elkins' mother and an aunt gave police conflicting alibis for his whereabouts at the time of the shooting. Karimah Elkins is scheduled to stand trial alongside her son.

Tragedy: Little Antonio Santiago's stroller stands empty after the 13-month-old was shot in the head during a botched robbery

Tearful: West is devastated that she will never see her son grow up - or even learn to speak her name

Scene of the shooting: Antonio's upturned stroller still lies on its side in the residential area of Brunswick

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400509/Antonio-Santiago-shooting-Georgia-teen-DeMarquise-Elkins-counted-shot-baby.html

Typical defense, blame it on everyone else but the defendant.  You can just look at his face and see he is evil.  Death for a death, I don't care if he was slightly underage.  He knew it was wrong to steal and kill.  William

This is hard to believe.  Dear God, counting down from 5.  

This just gets worse and worse. 

The mother and aunt lied and lied that this kid was with them and could not have been involved.  Now, he's revealing gruesome, disgusting details.  

They can't be executed because of their ages but they should never walk free again.  Ever.

Teen Guilty of Murdering Georgia Baby in Stroller

MARIETTA, Ga. August 30, 2013 (AP)

An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia despite the defense's attempt to cast guilt upon several others, including the child's parents.

Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty of 11 counts, including two counts of felony murder and one count of malice murder in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted of lying to police.

De'Marquise Elkins faces life in prison when he is sentenced at a later date. At the time of the shooting he was 17, too young to face the death penalty under Georgia law.

His lead defense attorney, public defender Kevin Gough, vowed to appeal the verdict. A judge denied his request for the teen to be out on bond during the appeal.

"Marky Elkins and his family are confident that he will receive another trial in which he will be able to present fully his defense," Gough said. "Mr. Elkins will eventually be exonerated."

Karimah Elkins' attorney, Wrix McIlvaine, said he would talk to his client and that they would likely appeal.

Sherry West testified that she was walking home from the post office with her son the morning of the killing. A gunman demanding her purse, shot her in the leg and shot her baby in the face after she told him she had no money, she said.

Prosecutors, who declined comment after the verdict, said during the two-week trial that De'Marquise Elkins and an accomplice, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, are the ones who stopped West. Prosecutors say the older teen pointed a small .22-caliber revolver at West and demanded money. When West refused several times to turn over the money, Elkins fired a warning shot, shot the woman in the leg and the baby between the eyes, prosecutors said.

The killing in the port city of Brunswick drew national attention, and the trial was moved to the Atlanta suburb of Marietta owing to extensive publicity locally.

Prosecutors have said information from Elkins' mother and sister led investigators to a pond where they found the revolver. Elkins' sister also was charged with evidence tampering.

Lang, who was a key prosecution witness in Elkins' trial, is set to go to trial at a later date.

West told The Associated Press that she didn't want to say too much following the verdict because there are still other trials pending in the case and she will be a witness and she will testify at Elkins' sentencing.

"I knew why I was there and I knew that I didn't have my baby anymore," she said. "In the beginning I was in shock. Now things are kind of really setting in. But I'm hanging in there."

West spent hours on the stand during the trial and was grilled by the defense on her personal and medical history.

"I was a little nervous up on the stand and just being asked so many personal questions by the defense attorney," she said in a telephone interview. "It was embarrassing."

The defense tried throughout the trial to prove that the investigation was flawed and that police refused to consider other leads or investigate further once they had Elkins in custody the day after the killing.

"They finished their case in 25 hours. Everything else they did after that they just sugarcoated," defense attorney Jonathan Lockwood said.

The prosecution's witnesses — many with criminal histories and some drug users — lied repeatedly and changed their stories throughout the investigation, Lockwood said. The defense also said several law enforcement agents backtracked in their testimony to make sure what they were saying fit the state's version of the story.

West made different identifications of the suspect and behaved strangely after the shooting, occasionally joking and laughing while being questioned by police and making other bizarre statements, Lockwood said. The baby's father, Louis Santiago, was in the vicinity when the shooting happened and showed no warmth toward the child's mother afterward, Lockwood said.

Lang testified that Elkins is the one who asked West for money and fired the shots, but admitted lying repeatedly, Lockwood said. And Lang's cousin, Joe Lang, was in the area on the day of the shooting and fits the description of the shooter.

But police never really investigated the baby's parents or the Lang cousins, Lockwood said.

The defense had strongly suggested in pretrial motions that the baby's parents were the killers. Gough made several suggestions to the same effect during the trial. But much of his questioning that seemed to be heading in that direction — including attempts to bring up details about the backgrounds of both of the baby's parents — was blocked by the judge after the prosecution objected.

Prosecutors said the defense presented a lot of theories and speculation but that the evidence and facts in the case proved Elkins' guilt.

Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson showed jurors a string of still images pulled from video cameras around Brunswick during her closing argument. They all showed Elkins in specific locations at specific times the day of the shooting.

Johnson also reminded jurors of the testimony of two young women — one who said Elkins walked her to school at 8:45 a.m. the day of the shooting and another who said she spent the night before with Elkins and ate with him later that morning, which was backed up by video stills of them at a convenience store.

The only person whose story didn't match the evidence in the case was Elkins, Johnson said.

Johnson also rejected the accusation that police stopped investigating once they arrested Elkins, noting that they pulled video from various cameras around town and went diving in a pond to recover the gun the following week.

Johnson also slammed the defense for picking on West and her behavior following the shooting: "Does anyone know what the protocol is for how you're supposed to act when you've just watched your child get shot in the face?"




http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/closings-set-begin-ga-baby-killing-trial-20115581

Life sentence for teenager who shot dead a 13-month-old baby after the boy's mother refused to hand over her purse

A Georgia teenager convicted of shooting dead a baby was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, with no parole.  

Baby Antonio's mother had asked the judge to punish 18-year-old De'Marquise Elkins for 'taking the love of my life'.

Her 13-month-old son was shot in the head in his stroller, as Elkins tried to rob Antonio's mother, Sherry West, in March.

Ms West, and a younger teenager charged as an accomplice, both testified that Elkins had killed the baby after his mother refused to hand over her purse.

Elkins' trial was moved more than 300 miles away to the Atlanta suburbs because of pretrial publicity.

He was spared the death penalty because he was only 17 when the killing took place, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is too young to face capital punishment.


Innocent victim: Antonio was 13 months old when he was shot between the eyes in his stroller

Under Georgia law, the only possible punishments for Elkins were life with or without a chance of parole.

His defense attorneys told Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley that life without parole was too harsh for such a young defendant.

They introduced court documents from the past seven years showing Elkins had been neglected by his mother who struggled with drug abuse and sometimes left him home alone without food.

The judge not only gave Elkins the maximum possible punishment for his murder conviction, but also sentenced him to 105 additional years in prison for other counts including aggravated assault and attempted armed robbery.

That included 30 years for shooting and wounding a pastor outside his church 10 days before Antonio was shot.

'We're definitely disappointed with the ruling,' defense attorney Kevin Gough said. 'Life without parole for a juvenile, our position remains, is cruel and unusual punishment.'

Mr Gough said he plans to appeal the verdict and the sentence. Elkins would have been eligible for parole in 30 years had that been allowed as part of his sentence.

Ultimately the judge sided with prosecutors who spoke of the brutal circumstances of the crime and because Elkins avoided facing the death penalty only because he was a few months shy of his 18th birthday.

'He aimed that gun right between that baby's eyes and shot that baby,' district attorney Jackie Johnson said. 'I don't know of a more inhumane act or wantonly vile act ... than to aim a gun at a sleeping baby in a stroller and take that baby's life.'

At trial, prosecutors said Ms West had been pushing her son home from a post office when two teenagers approached her just a few blocks from her apartment.

Dominique Lang, 15, testified at trial that he was with Elkins when the older teenager pulled a gun and demanded Ms West's purse.

When she refused, Lang said, Elkins twice threatened her baby and counted down from five.

Ms West testified that she pleaded with Elkins that she had no money and tried to cover her child with her arms as he fired a warning sho into her leg before shooting her baby.

She told the judge Elkins deserved 'a life in prison'.

'The love of my life was taken away,' she said. 'All I can do is cry and wonder when I'm going to die.'

Elkins' mother, Karimah, stood trial alongside her son and was convicted of tampering with evidence after helping to dispose of the gun. His sister and aunt have also been charged with trying to help him avoid prosecution.

Police recovered a .22-caliber revolver from a pond, and prosecutors said it matched the gun used in the killing.

Lang is also facing murder charges but no trial date has been set.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2419756/Life-sentence-teenager-shot-dead-13-month-old-baby-boys-mother-refused-hand-purse.html

I left out a number of pictures, sorry.  Busy.  Click on link for full article.  Death penalty laws need to be changed.  He was old enough to know it was wrong to steal and kill and should pay with his life.  William

Sister of teen who killed 1-year-old pleads guilty
Sabrina Elkins admits to helping get rid of gun used to kill boy

Author: News4Jax.com Staff, webteam@wjxt.com
Published On: May 22 2014 10:39:18 AM EDT  
Updated On: May 22 2014 07:37:08 PM EDT

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -  The sister of a teen who shot and killed a 13-month-old boy last year has pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence.

Sabrina Elkins admitted to helping get rid of the gun her brother, De'Marquise Elkins, used to shoot Antonio Santiago.

She agreed to the plea in Glynn County Superior Court on Wednesday.

Sabrina Elkins faces up to 10 years in prison. No sentencing date was set.

Santiago was killed while on a neighborhood stroll with his mother, who was shot in the leg.

De'Marquise Elkins was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

His mother, Karmiah Elkins, is serving 10 years for lying to police and hiding the gun.

Dominique Lang, 16, is awaiting trial on a murder charge in the case.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/georgia-news/sister-of-teen-who-killed-1yearold-pleads-guilty/26117650

Aunt of toddler's killer guilty of lying to authorities

First Coast News, news source
6:02 p.m. EDT October 3, 2014

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- The aunt of a Georgia man who was convicted of fatally shooting an infant in the face while trying to rob the child's mother will spend five years in prison for lying about where her nephew was when it happened, according to the Glynn County District Attorney's Office.

Katrina Elkins, 35, was convicted Friday of making a false statement when she provided police with a bogus alibi for De'Marquise Elkins while they were investigating him for the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in March 2013, prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty and avoided a trial that was set to go to jury selection Oct. 13.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley sentenced Elkins to five years in prison.

De'Marquise Elkins is already serving a life sentence in prison plus 105 years for shooting and killing Santiago when the child's mother refused to hand over her purse while walking with her son in his stroller on March 25, 2013.

When questioned, Katrina Elkins told investigators her nephew had been over at her home, eating breakfast and playing video games on the morning of the shooting.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/crime/2014/10/03/aunt-toddler-killer-convicted/16663113/