Diena sees murder suspect for first time
GREEN COVE SPRINGS Diena Thompson kept her composure long enough to take her first, in-person look at the man accused of abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering her 7-year-old daughter last fall.
Thompson had been waiting for more than a month to see the face of 24-year-old Jarred Harrell, who was charged March 26 with premeditated murder, sexual assault and performing a lewd and lascivious act on a child younger than 12. Harrell already was in custody on multiple counts of possession of child *advertiser censored* after he was arrested and subsequently extradited from Meridian, Miss., in February.
Harrell has pleaded not guilty of the murder of Somer Thompson, who disappeared Oct. 19 on her way home from Grove Park Elementary School in Orange Park. Her body was found two days later in a South Georgia landfill.
Harrell was led into a Clay County courtroom in shackles on Wednesday, April 28, for a pre-trial hearing that had been postponed two days earlier. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Diena Thompson,
who sat between her parents, Phillip and Debbie Bowling, remained silent but wary throughout Wednesdays 45-minute hearing that saw Circuit Judge John H. Skinner deny three motions made by Harrells defense team. But she spoke directly -- and with conviction -- afterward.
Hes so much of a coward that he can't even turn around and look at the mother of the child that he murdered, she said.
Harrell did not make eye contact with anyone behind him, but appeared to fidget on and off as he listened to his public defenders request that prosecutors preserve as evidence any text messages, instant messages or e-mails that might have been exchanged during Harrells extradition.
The defense also requested that any notes written by investigators prior to formalizing the murder and sexual assault charges be preserved as well; and for the judge to issue a protective order to minimize public communication about the trial.
All three requests were denied after prosecutors argued that the first request was based on speculation, and that case notes basically were irrelevant and would not change the truth about mounds of evidence that already has been provided to the defense.
Thompson saw Skinners decisions as a step forward in a long and painful process that wont pick up again until Harrells next pre-trial hearing on May 20.
I hope the whole trial goes as well as today went, said Thompson, who has vowed to stay in Harrells face until a verdict is reached.
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