| Terrance Washington
On December 4, 1996, Nafeesa Howard went to check on her infant son, Abyamoi, and found the child unresponsive and having what appeared to be a seizure. Howard and her boyfriend, 16-year-old Terrance Washington, brought the child to a local hospital, where Abyamoi died the next day. He was 11 months old. Washington was not Abyamoi’s father, but he and Howard had a two-month-old son.
Detective Karen Marsh with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Washington on December 5. Washington said that he had taken Abyamoi to the playground at around 10 a.m. on December 4. He said that they played for a while, until Abyamoi fell from the second or third rung of the slide ladder. Washington said Abyamoi had cried a bit but seemed fine. He said they then returned to Howard’s apartment, where he washed Abyamoi, gave him a bottle, and put him to sleep. Washington said he told Howard what happened at the playground.
Washington said he and Howard began watching a movie. Sometime later, they heard odd noises coming from the bedroom. Howard went in first, then called for Washington. Abyamoi appeared to be having a seizure; he was vomiting, and his hands and feet were turned out. They placed a fork in Abyamoi’s mouth to prevent him from choking on his tongue and took the child to the hospital.
Washington told Marsh that Howard had not shaken Abyamoi in his presence, and he did not say that Howard was alone with her son other than the brief period when she first went into the bedroom after hearing the noises.
Dr. David Stewart performed an autopsy on December 6. His report said that Abyamoi had multiple injuries to his body. He had a cornerstone fracture to his femur. There was swelling in his brain, which likely caused the odd positioning of his hands and feet. Abyamoi’s liver was torn, and there was extensive bruising to his abdomen. His eardrum was ruptured, and he had retinal hemorrhaging.
Washington was arrested on December 10, 1996, and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors indicated they would seek the death penalty.
Washington’s trial in Leon County Circuit Court began on October 13, 1997. No physical or forensic evidence connected Washington to Abyamoi’s death, and the state’s theory was one of elimination; Washington had told the detective that Howard was never alone with her son on December 4 and that he was the only other adult with the child during that time.
Dr. Thomas Truman, the treating physician at the hospital, testified that Abyamoi arrived at the hospital at about 12:30 p.m. He said the child was neurologically abnormal and nearly comatose with bruises on several parts of his body.
Stewart, who performed the autopsy, testified that the cornerstone fracture of the femur was caused by shaking or twisting. He said the injuries to the brain and retina were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) and that a blow to the abdomen most likely caused the liver injury. He said that the brain injury could have quickly caused unconsciousness, meaning that Abyamoi might not have cried.
Dr. Samuel Moorer, a member of the hospital’s Child Protection Team team, said his prior examination of Abyamoi led him to conclude that the child died from battering. He said the brain injury was caused by shaking.
Dr. Logan Brooks, an opthalmologist, testified that retinal hemorrhaging is a characteristic result of violent, rapid, and prolonged shaking of the head, an injury that could not be received from a fall off a playground ladder.
Howard testified that she did not see anything wrong with Abyamoi after he and Washington returned from the playground. She said she left Washington and the two boys for about 35-40 minutes to run some errands, and then she and Washington began watching a movie. She later discovered her son struggling. She said that she did not see Washington harm her son on December 4. She also testified that she never shook, hit, or harmed Abyamoi during this time period.
Howard testified that when she brought Abyamoi to the hospital, she first told the medical staff she had been the only person with her son that day, including at the playground. She testified that she gave a false account because there was an arrest warrant issued for Washington, and she didn’t want to see him go to jail.
Washington did not testify, and his attorney, Randy Murrell, an assistant public defender, attempted to build a defense around Howard as the more likely perpetrator. Murrell also presented evidence that whatever – if any – injuries Abyamoi received at the playground did not cause his death. A defense witness, Dr. Charles Williams, a radiologist, testified that the femur fracture could not come from falling off a slide. He said the boy’s injuries had come from violent shaking and direct blows.
Murrell sought to ask Howard during his cross-examination whether she had ever tired of being a mother or said that she had not meant to kill her baby. But Judge Ralph Smith Jr. sustained the prosecutor’s objections and said Murrell’s questions needed to be limited to “the relevant date.”
Murrell also attempted to introduce the testimony of six witnesses. Three of the witnesses were prepared to testify that they saw Howard either hit Abyamoi or throw something at him. Three others were prepared to testify that they heard Howard say she didn’t mean to kill her son. Judge Smith ruled this testimony inadmissible. He said the testimony about Howard’s alleged behavior didn’t rise to the level of abuse and the testimony about what she said after her son died was hearsay.
The jury convicted Washington of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse on October 17, 1997. Later that day, the jury recommended to Judge Smith that Washington receive a sentence of life in prison without parole rather than the death penalty.
Washington appealed his conviction, arguing that Judge Smith erred in barring testimony about Howard’s actions before her son’s death and statements she made afterwards. Washington also said that Smith should have granted a mid-trial motion for acquittal, because the case against him was circumstantial, and there was no evidence of premeditation to support a charge of first-degree murder. The state argued in its response that Washington’s statement to police was a “de facto” confession, because he said Howard was never alone with Abyamoi that day.
On July 27, 1999, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal threw out Washington’s conviction and granted him a new trial. The appellate court said Judge Smith violated Washington’s right to confront a witness and that Murrell should have been allowed to vigorously cross-examine Howard. The court also said Judge Smith should have allowed the other defense witnesses to testify, because Howard had opened the door to questions about her credibility when she testified that she never harmed her son.
“We are simply unable to conclude that the evidence of Howard's very recent, ongoing violent acts upon the same 11-month-old child would have to rise to the level of aggravated child abuse – that is, cause great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement – before they became relevant to suggest who fatally injured the child shortly,” the court said.
The court said Judge Smith was correct in denying the mid-trial motion for acquittal. It agreed with Washington that the case against him was circumstantial, but that the first-degree murder charge was proper, because premeditation needed only to exist for an instance.
Washington was released from prison on May 5, 2000, and his retrial in Leon County Circuit Court began on August 28, 2001. Howard again took the stand and denied harming Abyamoi. But an acquaintance of Howard testified that after Abyamoi’s death, she overheard Howard tell another woman, “I didn’t mean to kill my baby.”
The jury acquitted Washington on August 31, 2001.
“Deep down in my heart, I knew,” a family friend told the Tallahassee Democrat. “I’m almost certain he’ll bounce back from this ordeal.”
– Ken Otterbourg
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