Posted on 02/11/2005 12:12:16 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Inmate: Scalding was no accident
Web-posted Feb 11, 2005
Prisoner testifies woman accused in slaying admitted in jail she intended to kill the child
By STEPHEN FRYE
Of The Daily Oakland Press
An Oakland County jail inmate testified Thursday that Letitia Johnson, accused of scalding to death her boyfriend's 21-month-old daughter, asked her for advice on looking remorseful.
"Her mother said she was smiling on TV," the inmate said. "I told her, 'I can't teach you how to be remorseful.'"
The fellow prisoner, who is not being identified at the request of prosecutors, said she came forward because of a complete lack of remorse on the part of Johnson, 27, who is pregnant and has six other children.
"The way she's so happy-go-lucky," the female inmate said explaining why she gave detectives and prosecutors both oral and written statements about Johnson. "She (Johnson) showed no remorse. That's still a baby we're talking about."
The inmate, who is being held on an armed robbery conviction, was the prosecution's key witness in trying to prove Johnson intended to harm Jasmine Lawrence-Phillips when she placed the infant in 148-degree bath water in the evening and did not call for help until the next morning.
In the notes passed between Johnson and the inmate, Johnson admitted wanting to hurt Jasmine and that she "didn't want to take care of nobody else's kid." Later, she answered "yes" when asked by the inmate if she had killed her on purpose.
The scalding occurred in the couple's apartment on Elmhurst Circle in the Waldon Lakes complex in Orion Township.
52nd-3rd District Judge Julie A. Nicholson ruled Thursday at the preliminary examination that there was enough evidence to bind the case over to circuit court. Initially charged with second-degree murder in December, prosecutors changed the charges to first-degree premeditated murder in late January.
Defense attorney Diana Bare briefly questioned the motives of the inmate, and said she will further examine her motives at trial.
"This was an accident," Bare said. "She just handled it very poorly afterwards."
The baby would have likely lived if help had been given immediately after the scalding, testified Deputy Chief Forensic Pathologist Kanu Virani of the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office.
Oakland Sheriff's Deputy Mark Van Lacken testified that, after emergency workers took the baby girl to the hospital, the deputy called the apartment several times, and Johnson never once asked about the condition of the baby. She did not act upset, he testified.
According to Van Lacken, Johnson did not mention the burns when they first arrived, finding the baby not breathing. He immediately gave CPR, and then the ambulance arrived.
Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Chris Wundrech described her demeanor during her initial two-hour interview, saying it was "just like nothing was bothering her... no tears, no crying."
Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Mark Bilkovic said the video-taped interviews are chilling, especially when Johnson is shown pictures of Jasmine's injured legs.
"No emotion at all," he said. "Just totally disinterested, no remorse - nothing. About as cold as it gets."
Johnson, who faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted, will likely be arraigned before Oakland County Circuit Judge Rudy Nichols on Feb. 18.
It makes sense. No one who could feel emotion would commit such an act of evil.
Unbelievable...if the story is accurate, she needs to be introduced to a short rope and a tall tree in short order.
I think she needs a dip in a 148 degree hot tub.
Sumpin' fishy here. I find it hard to believe that "remorseful" is in her vocabulary.
Cases like this demand a return to cruel and unusual punishment.
"Yo! Yo! Yo! I need me some educating on looking remorseful. Not lugubrious, yo! That be too extreme and would not be the demeanor I'm seeking. I ain't no John Kerry doppleganger! Remorseful is what I be. Word!"
LOL!!!!
People in the system get very wise to the vocabulary used in legal cases. Her lawyer could have easily told her that the judge would be looking for remorse. In fact, that she had to ask how to look remorseful could be a sign of ignorance as well as evil.
Welcome to FR. I lurked for a long time before I joined up last December.
OMG...that child died a hideous death.
That is just so disgusting.
May the b*tch who did this rot in hell.
I keep getting error has been logged when trying to post or browse. IE 6 and Firefox.
If all the charges against the suspect are accurate, FRY HER!!!
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