DEVIN OWENS - 2 yo (2007) - Joliet IL

In three short years, Gilbert Knowles went from being the best man at
his friend Bryan Owens' wedding to being accused of the 2007 beating
death of the groom's 2-year-old son, which Joliet police have described
as one of the worst cases of child abuse they've seen.In between,
Knowles divorced his wife and had an affair with Owens' wife, Julie,
according to court records and family members. He moved into Julie's
Joliet home shortly after the birth of her third child, a girl, Julie
Owens testified, that Knowles may have fathered.A bench trial in
the murder case against Knowles, who is free on $1 million bail, began
Tuesday, with prosecutors painting a picture of what they said was "the
systematic abuse of Devin Owens" in the months before the boy with a
bright smile was found allegedly beaten to death in his bedroom.Knowles,
35, has denied any involvement with the boy's death. His attorney,
George Mueller, said his client was a good father who fell prey to
"shockingly bad" work by police investigators and the coroner's office.
On Sept. 18, 2007, hours after eating a snack of leftover chicken and
macaroni and cheese and reading some books with his mom, Devin was
found wedged upside-down between his bed and the wall near two large
bloodstains, according to testimony and records.An autopsy found
that Devin had suffered a broken jaw, fractured skull, swollen brain and
numerous bruises. A shirt found in the woods near the Wilmington pool
company where Knowles worked had traces of his DNA and the boy's blood,
prosecutors said. Michael Smith, an FBI
forensic examiner, testified that a pattern of bruising on the back of
Devin's head matched the pattern on a white, oval plastic mat recovered
from the family's bathtub.The boy was alone that night with his
two young sisters and Knowles, who had returned home from a night of
drinking at a Crest Hill bar to celebrate his Sept. 17 birthday and was
taking a shower when Julie Owens went out.Julie Owens said she
didn't return home until about 3 a.m., except briefly about 1 a.m. to
retrieve marijuana from Knowles' car. She cried and said no when
Assistant State's Attorney Steve Platek asked if she had checked on her
children after putting them to bed about 9:30 p.m.Julie Owens
identified injuries, which she said ranged from black eyes to a split
lip, documented in six photos of her son, and testified that Knowles had
told her Devin hurt himself falling down the stairs and out of his
crib, and once sliding down a hot slide.
"There was an explanation for everything," she said sarcastically.
Knowles cautioned her, after she took her son to the hospital twice in the
summer of 2007, not to continue to take Devin for treatment because she
could lose custody of him, Julie Owens testified.When the months
of alleged abuse came to light shortly after her son's death, Julie
Owens was charged with endangering the life of a child. No mention of
the charge, which was dropped in 2008, was made Tuesday.
The trial is set to continue Wednesday with testimony from the boy's father, Bryan Owens.
"We're just glad the trial has finally started," said Devin's grandmother Pat
Owens outside court. "I think (Knowles) will be behind bars for a very long time."

A former Joliet man was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder
in the brutal beating death of his former best friend's 2-year-old boy,
who was found in 2007 wedged upside down between his bed and the wall
above two puddles of blood.Gilbert Knowles, 35, was immediately
taken into custody. Family members from both sides sobbed in the packed
courtroom as Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt read his verdict.In
three years, Knowles went from being the best man at Bryan Owens'
wedding to having an affair with Owens' wife, Julie; moving into Julie's
Joliet home; and then allegedly beating Owens' son Devin to death after
months of abuse. Prosecutors speculated that Devin may have been
murdered because he reminded Knowles of his betrayal.For Owens, Thursday's verdict was no victory, calling it a loss for both him and Knowles' family.
"It's like I've been standing
still for three years waiting to see what happens," said Owens, who
thanked police and prosecutors for their work. He and other family
members planned to visit Devin's grave at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in
Joliet after the verdict.Knowles' attorney George Mueller argued
that Devin's death could have been an accident, but Schoenstedt found
that the two pathologists who testified it was a homicide and the 30 to
35 injuries Devin suffered to his head showed otherwise.Knowles
was also the only adult in the home at the time of Devin's death. "It is
well past the comprehension of any reasonable person that this was an
accident," Schoenstedt said.On the day Devin was murdered,
Knowles was on edge after his dump truck broke down at work, prosecutors
alleged. He drank numerous beers, did a line of cocaine to celebrate
his birthday and was irritated that Julie did not provide "birthday
sex."Knowles still seemed fixated on the topic during the trial,
repeatedly bringing up a conversation he had with Julie about birthday
sex until Schoenstedt admonished him to simply answer Mueller's
questions.Prosecutor Steven Platek said he was pleased by the
judge's decision and said the case involved some of the worst
allegations of child abuse he had seen. The boy suffered a broken jaw,
broken skull and bruising to his brain and intestines."It was difficult to deal with some of the evidence," Platek said.Knowles, who faces up to 100 years in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26.

A Morris man faces 52 years in prison for beating to death his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son.
Gilbert Knowles, 36, was found guilty by Circuit Judge Richard Schoenstedt on two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Devin Owens on Sept. 17, 2007. Schoenstedt, who presided over a bench trial that concluded in August, sentenced Knowles on Wednesday morning, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced.
“This pitiless deviant viciously murdered an innocent child who had no ability to protect himself,” Glasgow said. “After carefully examining the evidence that my prosecutors presented during trial and finding the defendant guilty, Judge Schoenstedt today guaranteed no other child will suffer such terrible harm at the hands of Gilbert Knowles.”
On the night of the murder, Knowles returned to the Joliet home he shared with his girlfriend after an evening of drinking and using cocaine. He was left alone to watch Devin and his two young sisters. The next morning, the boy’s mother found Devin’s body wedged between his bed and the wall.
The boy suffered more than 30 injuries to his head alone during the severe beating he sustained, including bruises, a fractured skull and a torn lip. Bruises on the back of his head matched patterns on a bath mat investigators seized from the house.
A forensic pathologist testified the child died in the roughly two hours after Knowles was left alone in the house with the children.
Detectives also located a shirt in the woods behind the Wilmington business where Knowles worked. The shirt had traces of both the defendant’s and Devin’s DNA on it.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Steve Platek and Anna Rossi argued during trial that Knowles attempted to hide the shirt in the woods after committing the murder.