KRAIG JENKINS - 4 yo (2005) - Jamaica Beach TX

JAMAICA BEACH, Texas — A 56-year-old man has been convicted of
capital murder in the death of a 4-year-old who died after being
wrapped in a sheet with a mesh bag over his head and placed in a hope
chest.
A
jury on Friday convicted Daniel James Gray in the 2005 death of Kraig
Jenkins, the grandson of Gray's ex-wife, the Galveston County Daily
News reported. Gray's conviction carries an automatic life sentence
without the possibility of parole.
Barbara Bawarsky pleaded
guilty in 2008 to murder in the death of her grandson and testified
against Gray. According to court testimony, the state had awarded
Bawarsky custody of the boy because of parental neglect.
Bawarsky
testified she and Gray frequently restrained Kraig with sheets and
stuffed socks in his mouth. She videotaped some of those sessions.
She also testified that she used to cook methamphetamine in the Jamaica Beach apartment she shared with Gray.
Galveston
County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Pustilnik testified Kraig
died of chronic child abuse, blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.
Pustilnik said Kraig also likely suffered panic and terror from being unable to breathe.
Bawarsky
testified that authorities found Kraig dead after wrapping him in a
sheet, putting a mesh bag over his head and placing him in a hope
chest. She testified that she thought Kraig would be safe in the chest
while the couple had sex.
The boy was found unresponsive and the couple tried CPR on him before calling 911.
Gray's
attorneys, Tom Stickler and Jimmy Phillips Jr., claimed their client
was asleep in another room at the time of Kraig's death.
"For the jury, the fact that he was at the apartment at the time of Kraig's death, that was probably enough," Stickler said.