NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County jury deliberated less than an hour before finding a Texarkana man guilty of beating a toddler to death in January.
Gayton, who stands more than 6 feet 3 inches and weighs more than 200 pounds, received an additional 10-year sentence for injury to a child, the maximum. The jury also assessed a $10,000 fine in the girl's case.
"This was a very troubling case. Any time you have the death of a young child-and a brutal assault on another-it affects all of us in law enforcement," Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said. "The family members of the victims will always have to deal with the loss and aftermath of these violent crimes. We thank the jury for the careful attention they gave to the evidence and their reasoned determination that Clifford Gayton intentionally murdered Da'Corian and viciously attacked his 1-year-old sister."
At trial the medical examiner who performed Da'Corian's autopsy testified she had never seen injuries to a child's genitals such as those found on Da'Corian. Dr. Tracy Dyer theorized at least some of Da'Corian's injuries were caused by stomping because of swelling in his penis and torn skin on his scrotum.
Photos shown to the jury of Da'Corian's lifeless body showed he was covered virtually head to ankles in bruises, scratches and cuts. The boy suffered massive head injuries and blunt-force trauma so severe it bruised his lungs and heart and tore his liver.
Da'Corian's mother, Frederica Lewis, left her children in Gayton's care when she went to work about 3 p.m. Jan. 27. She testified she peeked in at the youngsters when she returned home before 10 p.m. and again shortly after midnight. When she looked in on Da'Corian in the first hour of Jan. 28, she noticed he hadn't moved and investigated further. After finding Da'Corian cold to the touch and not breathing, she woke Gayton, who told Texarkana, Texas, Detective Scott Sartor he'd been asleep for 10 minutes.
Gayton told Lewis not to call anyone and placed the boy in a bathtub. Lewis took the dead child from the tub, placed him on the living room floor and called 911. When paramedics arrived, Da'Corian's body had already entered a state of rigor mortis, which led Dyer to estimate he had been deceased six to eight hours before the call for help.
Texarkana lawyers Josh Potter and Eric Marks argued that someone else could have caused the fatal injuries to Da'Corian and the large bruises and cuts seen on his sister's body and genitals. Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards argued that Gayton not only was the only person with access to the children the day they were harmed, but that he had a history of violence toward children. Police were called by Gayton's twin sister just eight weeks before Da'Corian died because Gayton became physical with her and two children, ages 3 years and 3 months.
"He doesn't care how old they are as long as they're smaller and weaker than he is," Richards argued in closing remarks. "I can't imagine what those kids went through, the suffering at the hands of Clifford Gayton."
At the end of the trial, Da'Corian's grandmother gave a victim impact statement.
"You have brought so much grief to my family and to your family. But it's going to be alright. Justice was served because God got involved," Roshanda Black said. "I'm just glad you'll never be on the streets to hurt anybody again."
Black stood at the podium and looked Gayton in the eye as he rocked back and forward, chewed his lips and mumbled.
"I'll be back," Gayton said, seconds before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart ordered deputies to take him away.
Lewis said she is grateful for the jury and those who saw the case to a just end. Da'Corian would have turned 3 last week. His sister turns 2 today.
"She's doing well now," Lewis said of her daughter. "But our lives will never be the same."