KELYN PINSON - 2 yo (2008) - Tyler TX

The jury in the capital murder trial of
Demontrell Miller found him guilty of murdering 2-year-old Kelynn
J'Davion Pinson on Wednesday night after almost five hours of
deliberation.

The punishment
phase of the trial will be at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. According to an
eye-witness, Miller showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Miller
was found guilty by a jury in the Smith County 241st District Court,
with Judge Jack Skeen Jr. presiding after almost three weeks of
testimony. The state was seeking the death penalty in the case, but
Miller could also receive life in prison.

The child died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen and brain swelling after the beating on June 1, 2008.

During closing arguments, Smith County
District Attorney Matt Bingham showed the jury a large photo of Kelynn
as he appeared in life. He said he didn't think Kelvin Arterberry or
Ceola Pinson were ideal parents, but they did love Kelynn.

“What
a monster someone would have to be to beat him to death,” said Bingham.
“This picture represents Kelynn as he was in life — and that life was
taken from him.”

History, he said, is critical when death is
not immediate. Bingham questioned Galveston County Medical Examiner Dr.
Stephen Pustilnik's assertions that Kelynn would not have felt pain and
would have behaved normally for a time after he experienced a torn
mesentery.


“It is ridiculous to say that a 2 year old might consider getting into a pool to relieve discomfort.”

Bingham
asked the jury to use their common sense. Three of the doctors who
testified, he said, came to the same conclusion about the cause and
timing of Kelynn's death, even though they had never spoken to each
other. Dr. Pustilnik, who was a witness for the prosecution, did not
agree with the others, said Bingham.

Defense Attorney Melvin
Thompson said in his closing arguments that he did not think the state
was correct. “This boy is innocent — he didn't do this crime,” he said,
while pointing to Miller.


He said
he agreed with Bingham that the crime committed was a heinous one, but
that his client was not capable of such an act. “There was a lot of
stuff here that's not logical and doesn't fit,” said Thompson about the
case. He told the jury that if the facts don't sound logical, they
cannot force a “round peg into a square hole.”

Thompson accused the state of bending the facts to suit their needs.

On several occasions, Bingham objected during Thompson's closing argument, saying he had his facts incorrect.

When
Smith County Assistant District Attorney April Sikes took the podium,
her anger at what Thompson had said was evident. “Talk about twisting
the facts to suit your case,” she said.

Kelynn Pinson is more
than a punching bag — he was filleted like a fish because of what he
did to him,” she said pointing to Miller.

It has been an emotional trial, dragging on for over a month now,
but late Monday afternoon, a jury sentenced Demontrell Miller to the
death penalty. He was found guilty of capital murder in the beating
death of two-year-old Kelynn Pinson.
In court, moments of grief and anger going over Kelynn's violent death last year.
"Can you imagine the pain when his shoulder was hurt or his back or
his arms or his hands?” said April Sikes, the Smith County Assistant
District Attorney. “Can you imagine when he did all he could do and put
his hands up and only to be kicked and hurt again? Can you imagine?”

Next to his picture, prosecutors hung-up the toddler's blood-stained shirt,
hoping the jury would not forget or forgive.
"When that first kick came to him, what did he think?” said Sikes.
“’Stop hurting me. What did I do wrong? I'm sorry!’ Can you imagine the
type of character it takes to let a two-year-old baby lay in the floor
until he dies? My God! What kind of person does that? And, I don't care
if he's mannerable or not. That's what makes him a monster. That's what
makes him sinister. He's a baby killer."
The defense has always argued that Demontrell Miller loved the
little boy and his mother. And, his death was an accident. Monday, his
attorneys asked for mercy.
"I would also submit to you that this is Demontrell Miller's day,”
said LaJuanda Lacy, Miller’s attorney. “He, too, is seeking justice in
this case. No matter what we do as it relates to this case, no matter
the outcome of this case, it will not give Kelynn Pinson new life.”
"Don't you dare let them put that guilt on you,” said Sikes. “You
know who affected lives in this court room? He did it. He did it to his
own sorry self and to every other person in here. He did it. It is his
conduct. He beat that baby to death."
Miller will be killed by lethal injection. Kelynn's father wrote a
victim-impact letter, calling Miller a coward. When the verdict was
read in court, there was no reaction from Miller or anyone else in the
court room.