TARQUEZ WOODSON - 4 yo (2002) - West Palm Beach FL

Testimony in the first-degree murder case against D'Andre Bannister was
halted this morning after one of Bannister's defense attorneys, Gregg Lerman,
had a family medical emergency and had to leave for the hospital.
Testimony is set to resume Thursday morning.
Before the abrupt ending, prosecutors called to the stand the emergency
room doctor who treated 4-year-old Tarquez Woodson on Aug. 7, 2002 when he
arrived at the ER with no vital signs and bruises and welts all about his body.
Dr. Roman Pena told jurors of the multiple injuries on the child and his
conclusion that they were not the result of a fall from a tree. Jurors
saw diagrams of the Tarquez's body, where his injuries were recorded.
On that day when the boy's mother, Pameka McNeal, asked what happened to
the child, Bannister told her Tarquez had told him that he had fallen from a tree.
Defense attorneys for Bannister are arguing a new theory at trial, that
Tarquez had fallen from a very tall tree in the couples' yard onto a
concrete slab, and not from the four-or-five-foot cabbage palm that
detectives had focused their investigation on.
Under cross examination by defense attorney Ronald Chapman, Pena said he
was thinking of the lower tree, the cabbage palm, when arriving at his conclusions.
Bannister is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse
and two counts of kidnapping for allegedly trapping McNeal and Tarquez in their
home and not letting McNeal call for help or seek immediate medical attention for the child.
He faces mandatory life in prison if convicted as charged.

West Palm Beach FL ---- After hours of deliberating the jurors
in the case against D'Andre Bannister could not reach a decision and will try again Thursday.

Bannister is accused of beating his four-year-old stepson to death in 2002.

For 8 years the family has been waiting
for justice. While the prosecution painted an ugly picture of child
abuse at the hands of Bannister the defense says he made a mistake by
not supervising the child whom he claims fell from a tree.

"The child has been in that bed slowly dying for several hours," said
Assistant State Attorney Terri Skiles.

In the courtroom there was
emotional testimony from both the prosecution and the defense.

"He did whatever he could to entertain himself and unfortunately on August
7th he fell," said Bannister's attorney Gregg Lerman.

Bannister listened as prosecutors told the jury of 14 how he beat four-year-old
Tarquez Woodson to death in August 2002.

"His mother is desperate to get this child held and he says no," Skiles said.

Bannister's attorney, Gregg Lerman fired back saying his client didn't get help
because he was scared he'd go to jail for not watching the child as he
played outside.

"Because he didn't do one thing he didn't pay attention to his child," says Lerman.

Bannister told police during his 3 hour statement that the little boy fell from a tree onto
the concrete. The defense says those injuries ultimately led to his
death something prosecutors say jurors shouldn't buy.

"All the injuries are consistent with falling from a mango tree except the
injuries on the back," says Lerman.

"Does that really matter in the scheme of things, no, does that mean this child wasn't beaten to
death no."

Woodson was rushed to the hospital for his injuries and later died from blunt trauma to his body.

"All the evidence presented to you today indicates this child never fell from a tree," the
prosecution countered.

If convicted Bannister faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury will continue
deliberations Thursday morning.

A South Florida man has been convicted of fatally beating his
4-year-old stepson in 2002.A Palm Beach County jury found
28-year-old D'Andre Bannister guilty Thursday of second-degree murder,
aggravated child abuse and kidnapping. He had been charged with
first-degree murder.Prosecutors say Bannister beat Tarquez
Woodson to death in August 2002.


Bannister's attorney says the child was injured when he fell from a
tree at the family's home.A medical examiner concluded that the
child's injuries could not have been caused by such a fall.A
sentencing date has not been set.

For the death of 4-year-old Tarquez Woodson, so injured his pancreas was nearly severed, the child's stepfather was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum penalty possible.

D'Andre Bannister, 28, will spend life in prison, two times over.

One life sentence was for the second-degree murder of the child; the second for kidnapping him, as Bannister prevented the child's mother from immediately seeking help for her critically injured child.

So ended one of the longest-running murder cases in Florida. Tarquez died more than eight years ago and prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but the case languished as judges and prosecutors changed and a former defense attorney saw no benefit to her client in pushing it to trial.

The pain was still raw, though for the child's mother, Pameka McNeal, as she directed a statement to Bannister Tuesday.

McNeal recalled the last time she saw Tarquez's eyes open wide, his smile "big as day."

"How could you do that to such as innocent, precious, lovable, defenseless human being?" McNeal asked, sobbing. "Then for you to sit there ... and have no remorse makes me sick to my stomach."

McNeal asked that Bannister be sentenced to life in prison, as did a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detective, Sgt. Phyllis Kearney, who investigated Tarquez's death.

Another mother whose son was murdered had a different view.

The oldest son of Bannister's mother, Janice Johnson, died after being shot in the head.

When defense attorney Ron Chapman asked her what would be a fair sentence for her son, Johnson hesitated before answering, saying she knew the pain of losing a child. Johnson said she had urged that her son's killer be given a chance to have a chance at life and and asked the same for her son.

Testimony in the case included Bannister's struggle in school, his IQ bordering on retarded, the death of his brother, his alleged fathering a child at 14. Defense witnesses said that the crime of beating the boy was so out of character for him.

Bannister also testified, politely thanking Circuit Judge John Hoy for a fair trial. He said he loved Tarquez and in his heart he knows he's not the type of man to do such a thing.

"That's not me," Bannister said.

His lawyers argued at trial that the child was injured after falling out of a tree at his Riviera Beach home in 2002, but Bannister made no mention of that Tuesday.

Prosecutors Terri Skiles and Cheryl Caracuzzo, who won a conviction after his trial in June, sought the maximum sentence. Skiles spoke to jurors of Bannister's guilty behavior, his blocking McNeal from seeking help for her son, then dropping her off at the hospital while he hid in a hotel room, and the handprint found on the child — which she believes was imprinted as Bannister held down Tarquez while beating him.

At the end of the emotional testimony, Hoy didn't hesitate in imposing the life sentences.

Defense attorney Gregg Lerman said he wasn't surprised and had prepared Bannister for that sentence.

And, Lerman said, he still believes in Bannister's innocence.