aussiegran
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 979
- Reaction score
- 42
But in what was called a "compromised verdict," he was acquitted of charges of killing two others in 1995.
Roxborough man was convicted yesterday of third-degree murder in the smothering deaths of his two infant boys but acquitted on charges of murdering his two baby girls several years earlier.
Robert Morris, 28, faces life in prison without parole for killing his two sons: Robert Jr., who was slain one month after his 2002 birth, and Jhayden, who was killed in 2003 at 3 months old.
The jury cleared Morris in the 1995 deaths of two baby girls, Shainara and LaShai Payne. Those children, who were born to another of Morris' girlfriends, were smothered on the same night as they slept in separate beds.
Jurors were not available for comment, but Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron and defense attorney Daniel Greene agreed that they had probably reached a "compromised verdict."
"I'm rather surprised," Cameron said. "We all thought that, if it was going to be not guilty, it would have been on the second of the two murders, which the medical examiner had initially ruled as natural deaths. The jury did just the opposite."
Also baffling, Cameron said, was the jury's decision to convict Morris of third-degree murder. The city's deputy medical examiner, Ian Hood, had testified that it would have taken approximately four minutes to suffocate each of the infants, indicating that a killing would have been deliberate and intentional.
"If you're going to convict, it's got to be first-degree," Cameron said. "It doesn't make any sense to me."
The verdict capped a bizarre saga that began June 4, 1995, when police were called to the East Germantown apartment where two baby girls of Morris and Damika Payne, then 17, were found dead in their beds.
The deaths were classified as homicides by asphyxia, and Morris was questioned three times by detectives. However, with three people present in the apartment that night, investigators made little headway and the case went cold.
By 2002, Morris had moved in with another girlfriend, Kerry Longacre, who gave birth to his son, Robert Jr., that autumn.
When the baby died after just four weeks, the medical examiner ruled it a natural case of sudden infant death syndrome. At that point, investigators had no information connecting Morris to the 1995 deaths.
In December 2003, Longacre's second boy died under similar circumstances. The death was ruled a natural case of pneumonia, but a tip from Damika Payne's family allowed investigators to finally piece together Morris' proximity to all four infant deaths.
The medical examiner reclassified the latter two deaths as homicides, and Morris was charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Kerry Longacre was not in court for yesterday's verdict.
Payne was too upset to speak to a reporter. Her mother, Tyne Robinson, broke down in tears after Morris was cleared of killing her granddaughters.
"I don't think justice was served for my family, for my grandkids I don't have anymore," Robinson said. "It's really horrible."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13808094.htm
..........................................
:banghead: 4 of his own babies .What a .I cant believe this story .
Roxborough man was convicted yesterday of third-degree murder in the smothering deaths of his two infant boys but acquitted on charges of murdering his two baby girls several years earlier.
Robert Morris, 28, faces life in prison without parole for killing his two sons: Robert Jr., who was slain one month after his 2002 birth, and Jhayden, who was killed in 2003 at 3 months old.
The jury cleared Morris in the 1995 deaths of two baby girls, Shainara and LaShai Payne. Those children, who were born to another of Morris' girlfriends, were smothered on the same night as they slept in separate beds.
Jurors were not available for comment, but Assistant District Attorney Ed Cameron and defense attorney Daniel Greene agreed that they had probably reached a "compromised verdict."
"I'm rather surprised," Cameron said. "We all thought that, if it was going to be not guilty, it would have been on the second of the two murders, which the medical examiner had initially ruled as natural deaths. The jury did just the opposite."
Also baffling, Cameron said, was the jury's decision to convict Morris of third-degree murder. The city's deputy medical examiner, Ian Hood, had testified that it would have taken approximately four minutes to suffocate each of the infants, indicating that a killing would have been deliberate and intentional.
"If you're going to convict, it's got to be first-degree," Cameron said. "It doesn't make any sense to me."
The verdict capped a bizarre saga that began June 4, 1995, when police were called to the East Germantown apartment where two baby girls of Morris and Damika Payne, then 17, were found dead in their beds.
The deaths were classified as homicides by asphyxia, and Morris was questioned three times by detectives. However, with three people present in the apartment that night, investigators made little headway and the case went cold.
By 2002, Morris had moved in with another girlfriend, Kerry Longacre, who gave birth to his son, Robert Jr., that autumn.
When the baby died after just four weeks, the medical examiner ruled it a natural case of sudden infant death syndrome. At that point, investigators had no information connecting Morris to the 1995 deaths.
In December 2003, Longacre's second boy died under similar circumstances. The death was ruled a natural case of pneumonia, but a tip from Damika Payne's family allowed investigators to finally piece together Morris' proximity to all four infant deaths.
The medical examiner reclassified the latter two deaths as homicides, and Morris was charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Kerry Longacre was not in court for yesterday's verdict.
Payne was too upset to speak to a reporter. Her mother, Tyne Robinson, broke down in tears after Morris was cleared of killing her granddaughters.
"I don't think justice was served for my family, for my grandkids I don't have anymore," Robinson said. "It's really horrible."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13808094.htm
..........................................
:banghead: 4 of his own babies .What a .I cant believe this story .