NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County jury recommended a life sentence Thursday for a Texarkana man accused of felony murder in the death of his former girlfriend's toddler son.
Michael Darius Moore, 26, was the only adult with access to KaDerious King when the boy suffered severe head injuries Nov. 21, 2015, at the home on Waterall Street where he lived with his mother and 3-year-old sister. Thursday morning, the jury heard testimony from Dallas County Medical Examiner Tracy Dyer.
Photos of KaDerious' lifeless body, covered in bruises, were in stark contrast to a cellphone photo shown to the jury that had been snapped by his mother the day before his death. It showed a healthy youngster grinning from ear to ear.
"Two years, nine months and 10 days. That's all that KaDerious had," Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter said in closing remarks, referring to KaDer-ious' age on the day of his untimely death. "His entire head, ladies and gentleman, was beaten, beaten at the hands of Michael Moore."
First Assistant Public Defender Will Williams argued that KaDerious' death is the result of a tragic accident, not a physical attack. When Moore first spoke to police and first responders, he claimed the child had stuffed too much pizza into his mouth and started vomiting. Moore claimed he placed KaDerious in a bath because the vomiting continued and the child seemed hot. Moore claimed he slipped and fell repeatedly while holding the wet child after removing him from the tub.
Carter and First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd argued that the evidence simply didn't support Williams' theory. Puddles of vomit photographed by a crime scene analyst had the appearance of well-digested material, not recently chewed pizza. Dyer testified that the vomiting and ensuing respiratory and cardiac distress KaDerious experienced were the result of his head trauma, making it difficult to reconcile Moore's claim that the boy was throwing up before he accidentally hit his head against a wall during a fall.
"The saddest thing that we heard today from Dr. Dyer is that 2-year-old KaDerious suffered," Shepherd said in closing remarks. "He had 24 separate blunt force injuries from the neck up. There would have been a period of crying, then lethargy, then vomiting, respiratory distress and then cardiac arrest."
After hearing closing arguments and instructions on the law from 202nd District Judge John Tidwell, the jury deliberated less than two hours before returning a guilty verdict.
Bowie County Public Defender Shoaib Daredia called several members of Moore's family to testify in support of him during the punishment phase of trial. The jury learned that Moore has a history of assaultive offenses, which began when he was a juvenile.
Carter told the jury she and Shepherd agree a life sentence is appropriate given the circumstances and the jury concurred.
"We are very pleased that the jury saw Michael Moore for what he is, a dangerous killer," Shepherd said. "He took the life of an innocent child, and we hope the victim's family will now have closure."