TEXARKANA, Texas -- A Texarkana man who bit a 9-year-old girl on the back over some missing cake last summer was sentenced Monday to a 10-year term of felony probation.
Trumaine Newell, 21, appeared before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell with Assistant Public Defender Clayton Haas and entered a guilty plea to a charge of injury to a child. Tidwell asked Newell, who has been in jail since July, if he used drugs or alcohol before court.
The question is a standard one posed routinely by judges to help establish that a person is competent to enter a plea when they appear in court.
"Um, I smoked some weed," Newell said.
Tidwell responded with, "Today?"
Newell explained that it had been a couple of days since he last smoked marijuana in the Bowie County jail and Tidwell went forward with the hearing. Tidwell said he reviewed a presentence report and was agreeing to a term of probation because Newell "seems to do fine when your on your medication."
Tidwell ordered Newell to be supervised on a mental health caseload, take all medications as prescribed, complete an anger management class, complete 240 hours of community service restitution and pay a $1,000 fine. Newell is to have no contact with the victim or her family while on probation.
Newell was alone with the girl and her siblings June 24, 2021, while her mother was at work, according to a probable cause affidavit. Newell became angry because the children had taken some cake they were not supposed to have.
Newell took the girl into a room and sat on her head, making it difficult for her to breathe. When the girl screamed for help, Newell whipped her with an orange dog leash. The girl reported that she bit Newell on the arm in an attempt to get him off of her.
Newell responded by lifting the girl's shirt and biting her on her back while shaking his head "like a dog does when it bites," according to the affidavit.
The girl's mother reported the biting assault June 30 to the Bowie County Sheriff's Office. She told deputies she was unaware of the assault until she touched her daughter's back and the girl cried out in pain.
The girl reportedly told a forensic interviewer that Newell has been violent with her and her siblings on other occasions. The ages of the girl's siblings are not identified.
As the hearing wound to a close Monday, Tidwell warned Newell about smoking marijuana, drinking or using drugs while on probation. As Newell was about to be escorted from the courtroom, Tidwell asked him what pod he has been occupying in the jail, presumably to inform jail staff about the marijuana smoking.
Newell was released from Bowie County custody after the hearing Monday.