JAZMINE JERKINS - 3 yo -(2010) Atlanta GA

Chilling details were revealed in a Fulton County courtroom Friday as detectives described how a young child died at the hands of her mother and a man.Detective J.D. Stephens said he has seen a lot of murders during his 22 years on the force but the killing of 3-year-old Jazmine Jerkins stunned him."I've been a cop for 12, homicide for 12 years. I've handled seven baby cases. This is the worst I've ever seen,” Stephens testified during the preliminary hearing for Jazmine's mother, 23-year-old Shuntae Battle, and Battle's boyfriend, 30-year-old Juan Johnson.Battle and Johnson face murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children charges in connection with the Aug. 12 beating of Jazmine. They stared straight ahead, showing no emotion, as they listened to testimony in the case.Stephens testified Jazmine died from blunt force trauma to the head and stomach.He said her injuries were so severe, "even the nurses at Scottish Rite were upset."Stephens testified Johnson told him he was the one who pulled a handful of hair out of the 3-year-old's head. Family members of the defendants and people in the courtroom gasped during the explanation, according to Jones.Police said Battle initially told them the little girl fell off a portable toilet and that's how she suffered her injuries.Detectives who interviewed the couple said that's when the story began to change.Stephens said Battle eventually admitted to disciplining the child seven times the day she died.“She said that on the last time that Mr. Johnson disciplined her child, the beating was so bad that she had to get up and leave the room and go to another room because she couldn’t watch it.”Stephens said he asked Battle why she didn’t stop him and she said she didn’t know.A court document uncovered by Channel 2 Action News indicated Battle disciplined Jazmine for telling her 1-year-old brother she would "beat his (behind).”Stephens testified Johnson told him his girlfriend inflicted most of the punishment, except when he hit the child last. “He said he hit her with a closed fist with the back of his knuckles into her stomach," Stephens said.When Jazmine fell unconscious the couple began to race her to the hospital by car. Eventually a 911 operator instructed them to stop and wait for paramedics. Jazmine died at the hospital.Jones said people in the courtroom inhaled and held their breath in shock when a detective described what 3-year-old Jasmine Jerkins went through right before she died. The detective himself also had to hold it together while he was on the stand.The judge found probable cause to move the case forward.Battle’s attorneys said the evidence will show that his client didn’t physically cause her child’s death and that testimony from the detective indicates that Johnson was the aggressor. Johnson's attorney told Jones that Johnson is not the monster prosecutors are making him out to be.Elizabeth Rogan said Battle has lied to police about her involvement and is lying about her client's involvement too. "It was clear that she was lying to the police in order to protect herself. I believe he was not criminally responsible for what happened in the death of this child," Rogan said outside of court.

An Atlanta woman has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison
for the beating death of her 3-year-old daughter, Fulton County
prosecutors said.
A jury on Thursday found Shuntae Battle guilty of malice murder,
felony murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children in the first
degree in the death of Jazmine. A trial is pending for Juan Johnson,
Battle’s former boyfriend, for the child’s death.

When Battle, then 23, brought Jazmine to the hospital for treatment
on Aug. 12, 2010, the child was covered in bruises and suffering from
massive head trauma and internal injuries to her liver, according to the
Fulton District Attorney’s Office.

The girl was flown to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite but died shortly after arriving there.

A preliminary autopsy indicated the child died of blunt force trauma.
Battle and Johnson were arrested by Atlanta police and initially
charged with aggravated assault, but those charges were updated to
murder.

Battle testified that she and Johnson took turns “disciplining” the
child using a leather belt. Experts believe the abuse occurred over
several months, prosecutors said.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/mother-gets-life-in-1146516.html