Sister says brother hit her, baby

Testimony continues in second day of murder trial of man accused of beating boy to death

Clifford Gayton and his attorney wait for the trial to resume Wednesday in 102nd District Court at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, Texas. Gayton has been charged with capital murder in the death of 2-year-old Da'Corian Wright, the son of Gayton's girlfriend at the time of the incident. Closing arguments are expected to take place today.
Clifford Gayton and his attorney wait for the trial to resume Wednesday in 102nd District Court at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, Texas. Gayton has been charged with capital murder in the death of 2-year-old Da'Corian Wright, the son of Gayton's girlfriend at the time of the incident. Closing arguments are expected to take place today.

NEW BOSTON, Texas-The fate of a Texarkana man accused of capital murder in the January beating death of a 2-year-old is expected to be in the hands of a Bowie County jury this morning.

Both the state and defense closed their cases late Thursday evening after two days of witness testimony in the trial of 19-year-old Clifford James Gayton Jr. After hearing instructions on the law they must follow from 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart, the jury of seven men and five women is expected to hear closing arguments from the state and defense before beginning their deliberations.

Gayton is accused of beating Da'Corian Wright so severely Jan. 27 that his brain bled and his internal organs were bruised and torn. Autopsy photos displayed Wednesday for the jury depicted a 28-pound body covered in bruises so numerous they ran together. A medical examiner testified Da'Corian's genitals were a target of his attacker as evidenced by swelling, bleeding and cuts that Dr. Tracy Dyer hypothesized were made in a fit of "unimaginable rage."

Witnesses testified Gayton was the only person who had access to Da'Corian and his 1-year-old sister, who also suffered extensive bruising and genital injuries, after their mother, Frederica Lewis, left for work about 3 p.m. Jan. 27 until she returned home that night between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Lewis called 911 at 12:23 a.m. Jan. 28.

Texarkana, Texas, police Detective Scott Sartor, the lead investigator on the case, testified Wednesday under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp as a videotaped interview he conducted with Gayton was played for the jury. In the video, Gayton denies that anyone else had access to the children, including Lewis, and blames the children's injuries on playground activity and roughhousing with each other in their unit at the Town North Apartments in Texarkana, Texas.

Paramedics and Lewis testified Wednesday that Da'Corian's body had already entered stages of rigor mortis when his mother found him cold and not breathing shortly after midnight Jan. 28. In the video played Thursday, Gayton explains to Sartor that he put Da'Corian in a warm bath because he was cold and attempted CPR. When asked why he told Lewis not to call 911, Gayton states that he thought the boy had started breathing.

Throughout the interview, Gayton remains stoic, even when shown photos of the girl's bruised genitals and when Sartor calls him a "murderer" and "cold-hearted."

"Part of the state's theory is that he is a cold-blooded baby killer," Crisp said when Texarkana lawyers Josh Potter and Eric Marks objected to the video outside the jury's presence.

Dr. Dyer testified Wednesday that the injuries to Da'Corian's body were likely inflicted six to eight hours prior to the call for help when considering the body's rigor. Sartor said Gayton was the only person who could have killed Da'Corian. Potter asked Sartor that if Dyer had given a two to four hour window for the time of the fatal injuries as possible, could Lewis be the one guilty of killing Da'Corian.

Several people who saw Gayton and Da'Corian during the day Jan. 27 testified Thursday. Ronnie Hollins, Gayton's brother-in-law, testified Gayton made Da'Corian sit on a child's training toilet for two hours when he was there from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 27.

Derrick Gant testified that he smoked synthetic marijuana with Gayton and Hollins in Gayton's and Lewis' apartment around noon Jan. 27. Gant said Da'Corian was crying because he didn't want to sit on the training toilet.

"He didn't look like that when I saw him," Gant said when Crisp showed him a photo of Da'Corian's bruised and lifeless body.

Gant said Gayton came to his unit in the Town North Apartments twice Jan. 27 to smoke synthetic marijuana. Gant said that when Gayton came around 8 p.m. to buy "synthetic on credit," his demeanor had changed. Gant, who is in state custody in Arkansas for a parole violation, said Gayton seemed troubled.

Potter and Marks elicited witness testimony that appeared to point the finger at Lewis. Hollins and two of Gayton's sisters testified they have seen Lewis strike Da'Corian.

After both sides rested, Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards called Clifford Gayton's twin sister, Charnetta Gayton, to testify about the night she called police Dec. 3, 2015, less than two months before Da'Corian's death, because her brother had assaulted her and her 3-month-old baby. Charnetta Gayton's testimony was so reluctant that Crisp played a video from a body camera worn by former Texarkana, Ark., police Officer Joel Jones when he responded to the call. The jury also heard a recording of Charnetta Gayton's 911 call.

In the video and in the 911 recording, Charnetta Gayton states that Clifford Gayton was upset with a 3-year-old child Charnetta Gayton was watching and that Clifford Gayton became physically violent with her when she intervened. Charnetta Gayton tells the dispatcher and Jones that Gayton smoked "synthetic" and struck her 3-month-old in the side of the face as she was holding him. Gayton was never prosecuted for the alleged assault because Charnetta Gayton declined to press charges.

If found guilty of capital murder in Da'Corian's death, Clifford Gayton faces life without the possibility of parole. The state is not seeking the death penalty. The jury may also have the option of lesser offenses of first-degree murder and first-degree injury to a child, which are punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.

Clifford Gayton is charged with third-degree injury to a child for allegedly causing the injuries to Da'Corian's sister. That offense is punishable by two to 10 years in a Texas prison.

 

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