DAIDON MURRAY - 10 Weeks (2007) - Bartow (SE of Lakeland) FL

Bartow FL ---- Khristyne Hoffman told jurors Wednesday that she watched as her
boyfriend fatally abused their 10-week-old son, and she did nothing to stop it.
Hoffman testified Desmond Murray squeezed, punched, knelt on and threw their baby because the boy
wouldn't stop crying.
She said she picked up the child after Murray had thrown him, but he
demanded she give the baby back to him.
"I knew if I didn't, there would be consequences for me, too," Hoffman said.





Murray, 27, of Winter Haven, is accused of then suffocating his son, Daidon
Murray, on March 1, 2007, by stuffing a washcloth into his mouth and
securing it with tape. He faces manslaughter and aggravated child abuse
charges.
Prosecutors finished presenting evidence Wednesday. The defense is expected to
present its case today.
Hoffman and Murray lived together for a short time in a studio apartment at
Sailwind Apartments, 360 24th St. N.W. in Winter Haven.
Hoffman, 22, who is now married and lives in Georgia, had the last name Barkley when she was with
Murray. She testified that Murray told her to get a roll of tape so he
could secure a rag in the child's mouth as a muzzle.
Hoffman said her boyfriend put the baby in a car seat and stuck him in a closet.
She said he forced her to watch television with him, and he threatened that if she didn't pay attention he would beat her.
She later checked on the baby and found him cold to the touch, she said.
The couple originally told investigators that the child died because a blanket accidentally became
wrapped around his neck.
Hoffman said after she separated from Murray that she wrote to family members, and she accused
Murray of killing the baby. A relative contacted police, who then interviewed Hoffman.
Hoffman said Murray had physically abused and manipulated her to the point that she "shut down."
She said the abuse began when she was four months pregnant, and it included
slapping and punching as well as pinching her breasts and genitals.
Murray once made her sit in a tub filled with cold water and flammable liquid for more than an hour,
she said. He threatened to set fire to her, she said.
She also described Murray beating her with a coat hanger and a telephone.
"I was terrified of him," she said.





Hoffman said her ex-boyfriend would use a gag as a routine method of quieting the infant's cries, and
sticking him in the closet when he was "being bad."
The baby eventually began to use his tongue to spit out the rag so Murray used tape, she said.
Assistant State Attorney Cass Castillo asked Hoffman why she didn't take her baby and leave if Murray
was abusing them.
"I was too scared to so I didn't give any thought to it," she said.
Hoffman doesn't face any criminal charges in the case.
Under cross-examination, Assistant Public Defender Amy
Thornhill asked Hoffman whether she should be considered guilty of
aggravated manslaughter for doing nothing to protect her son.
Hoffman replied that there was nothing she could have done. "He would do what he wanted to do anyway,"
she said.
Thornhill pressed Hoffman about whether she ever put a rag in the baby's mouth.
Hoffman agreed that she had done so once about a week before the child's death.
"Desmond had instructed me to do it," she said.
Hoffman testified that she didn't put the rag "all the way" in the baby's mouth for a reason.
"I figured if I did it wrong he would get mad, and I wouldn't have to do it," she said.
Jurors also listened to a telephone conversation secretly recorded by police between Murray and
Hoffman during the investigation.
Hoffman confronted Murray, but he denied her allegations
of abuse and accused her of trying to set him up.
One witness testified that Murray told her that
Hoffman was responsible for stuffing a rag in the boy's mouth.
Murray is accused of manslaughter and aggravated child abuse under the theory that he was
responsible for putting the gag into the child's mouth.
If convicted of those charges, he could receive up to 45 years in prison.
A third charge accuses Murray of aggravated manslaughter of a child under the theory that he failed to protect the
child from "abuse, neglect or exploitation by another person."
If convicted of that charge, he could receive up to 30 years in prison.

A Circuit Court jury convicted Desmond Murray of aggravated
manslaughter of a child for not protecting his son.

He faces up to 30 years in
prison in the death of his 10-week-old son, Daidon Murray.
Murray, 27, of Winter Haven was
aquitted of the charges of manslaughter and aggravated child abuse under
the theory that he was responsible for putting the gag into the child's
mouth.
If convicted of
those charges, he could have received up to 45 years in prison.
On Wednesday, the baby's mother,
Khristyne Hoffman, told jurors that she watched as her boyfriend
fatally abused their son, and she did nothing to stop it.
Hoffman testified Desmond Murray
squeezed, punched, knelt on and threw their baby because the boy
wouldn't stop crying.
She
said she picked up the child after Murray had thrown him, but he
demanded she give the baby back to him.
"I knew if I didn't, there would be consequences for me,
too," Hoffman said.
Murray
was accused of then suffocating his son on March 1, 2007, by stuffing a
washcloth into his mouth and securing it with tape. He faces
manslaughter and aggravated child abuse charges.
Hoffman and Murray lived together for a short
time in a studio apartment at Sailwind Apartments, 360 24th St. N.W. in
Winter Haven.
Hoffman, 22,
who is now married and lives in Georgia, had the last name Barkley when
she was with Murray. She testified that Murray told her to get a roll
of tape so he could secure a rag in the child's mouth as a muzzle.
Hoffman said her boyfriend put
the baby in a car seat and stuck him in a closet.

Desmond Murray was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison for failing to
protect his 10-week-old son, Daidon, from being suffocated.
Prosecutors say the boy died three years ago because a washcloth was
stuffed in his mouth and secured with tape.The 27-year-old Winter
Haven man insisted the child's mother was responsible for the boy's
killing.Circuit Judge Michael E. Raiden said there is a burden on
parents to intervene and protect their children."When they don't
do that, basically, in the eyes of the law, they are just as guilty,"
he said.The 30-year prison sentence is a hefty increase in
punishment for Murray.In April 2008, he took a plea deal for a
10-year prison sentence, but later rejected the deal and went forward
with a trial.Daidon Murray died on March 1, 2007. An autopsy
report concluded the boy suffocated and listed his death as a homicide.The
report also stated there was a bruise on the child's head as well as
old rib fractures that were healing.On the day of the boy's
death, Murray and the child's mother, Khristyne Hoffman, were inside
their studio apartment at Sailwind Apartments, 360 24th St. N.W. in
Winter Haven.Prosecutors argued the apartment's cramped layout
made it impossible for one parent to not know what the other was doing.The
couple originally told investigators that the child died after he
accidentally became wrapped in a blanket in his crib.Hoffman
later separated from Murray and told relatives that he killed their
child.Prosecutors agreed to not charge Hoffman if she testified
truthfully at trial. She testified that Murray was solely responsible
for the abuse that killed their son, and she did nothing to stop it.Hoffman,
22, who is now married and lives in Georgia, testified that Murray beat
her and the child.She said he would use a washcloth gag as a
method of quieting the infant's cries.She said she had put the
rag in the baby's mouth once before but only because Murray instructed
her to do so.Hoffman testified that the child died after Murray
became upset because the baby wouldn't stop crying.She said he
squeezed, punched, knelt on and threw the baby.She said he told
her to get a roll of tape so he could secure a rag in the baby's mouth,
and he put the boy in a car seat and stuck him in a closet.She
said she was so physically abused and manipulated that she emotionally
"shut down" and didn't think to take her baby away and leave him.But
a jury found Murray not guilty May 20 of killing Daidon by stuffing a
washcloth into the baby's mouth.Instead, jurors found Murray
guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child by not protecting his son
from "abuse, neglect or exploitation by another person."Murray
said the jury's verdict means Hoffman was responsible for the killing.Murray
told the judge that he should consider that Hoffman isn't facing
sentencing in their son's death."Mr. Murray, you might be
surprised to hear this," the judge said. "I have thought about that.
Frankly, I wish both of you were standing here to be sentenced."Raiden
said he didn't think Hoffman told "the complete truth" during the
trial. The judge said he didn't think either parent was blameless when
it came to harming the child, but there is no way to tell who did the
most harm."There are only two people alive that know what the
real truth is in this case," Raiden said. "I don't know who did what."