Whisper
#byefelicia
I came across this while searching info on the other Randy Atkins story
http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=434563#post434563
And decided to look it up after reading 1 sentence of why hes on Death Row
Theres alot more at the link but to much to post
http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=434563#post434563
And decided to look it up after reading 1 sentence of why hes on Death Row
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1185092.htmlSTATE v. ATKINS[....]
STATE of North Carolina v. Randy Lynn ATKINS.
No. 9A94.
-- October 09, 1998
Defendant was indicted on 12 April 1993 for first-degree sexual offense and for the first-degree murder of his eight-month-old son, Lyle James Atkins. On 18 November 1993, defendant entered into a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to the first-degree murder charge and the State agreed to dismiss the pending sexual offense charge and not to submit any evidence pertaining to this or any other sexual assaults purportedly committed by defendant. Following a capital sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death for the murder of his infant son. Judge Saunders sentenced defendant accordingly.
[...]
Lyle's mother, Ms. Colleen Shank, testified that on the morning of 16 March 1993, she asked defendant to watch Lyle while she washed some clothes. Ms. Shank stated that she heard a “bang.†Following the “bang,†Ms. Shank heard Lyle begin to cry, and she rushed to the living room. Ms. Shank testified that she then observed defendant hitting Lyle's head against the trailer wall a “few times.†She testified further that she saw defendant “swing him [Lyle] very strong†and that “Lyle hit the wall very hard.†Ms. Shank tried to comfort Lyle and attempted to lay the child down to rest. However, Lyle soon began to cry, and Ms. Shank noted that he was turning blue. The mother administered CPR and requested that defendant go to a neighbor's home to call 911 for emergency assistance.
Defendant then went to the home of a neighbor and called 911. The 911 operator testified that defendant responded to her questions concerning medical history related to Lyle's emergency by replying “it [Lyle] may have been sick two or three days, but no other.†Lyle's mother testified that while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive, defendant told her, “Don't say anything, because I will hurt you too.â€
Following the arrival of emergency medical personnel, Lyle was transported by helicopter to Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville. Upon admission to the hospital, Lyle was noted to be limp, not moving, and exhibiting a slow heart rate. The admitting physician noted numerous injuries to the small child, including bruising on both sides of his head, an older bruise on his left elbow, bruising on his right wrist and right hand, a deformation of his pelvis, and an improperly healed fracture of his right lower leg.
A detective from the Woodfin Police Department questioned defendant and Ms. Shank in the waiting room of the hospital. Defendant initially told the officer that Lyle had stopped breathing “because of the Ker-O-Sun heater.†Defendant responded to the officer's further inquiry by adding that “a couple of days ago I was holding him, and he slipped and fell, and he hurt his arm.†The officer subsequently arrested both defendant and Ms. Shank and transported them to the Buncombe County jail. Later that day, while in police custody, defendant issued a written statement in which he admitted the following:
Today Lyle was crying as I was holding him, and my temper and patience snapped again, as he was crying and crying no matter how soothing and gentle I was. He just kept crying, and I couldn't handle him any more, and I started hitting him on the side of his head and trying to get him to stop crying, and he wouldn't. I kept telling him to stop it, and he wouldn't, and I kept on hitting him with my hand on his head.
Despite aggressive medical efforts to save Lyle's life, he died at Asheville's Mission Memorial Hospital on 18 March 1993. Following Lyle's death, defendant was indicted for the first-degree murder of his infant son. Defendant entered into a plea agreement dated 18 November 1993, consenting to a guilty plea to first-degree murder. As a condition to the plea, the State agreed to dismiss the first-degree sexual assault charge pending against defendant.
[...]
Theres alot more at the link but to much to post
http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/public/sc/summary/009-94-3.htmSUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA Docket#: 9A94-3
Summary Docket Sheet
Last Updated: 10/02/2002
State v Randy Lynn Atkins Completed: Yes
Docketed: 03/13/2001 Acquired: 03/13/2001
Appeal Type: PC-DEATH - Post-conviction petition in Death Case
Has Been Denied on 03/27/2001
Case Type: Criminal(Death)
Petition Cite(s): 353 N.C. 382
http://hilltop.mhc.edu/033108/prejean/legalpanel.aspFrontline Lawyers Tell of Trying Capital Crimes
Ron Moore has been the elected District Attorney in Buncombe County for 18 years. Nearly 100 students came to Belk Auditorium on March 25 to hear Defense Lawyer Sean Devereaux and District Attorney for Buncombe County Ron Moore discuss the death penalty.
[...]
Moore discussed a specific case of Randy Atkins. During the week of the blizzard in March 1993, he got a call from his assistant who deals with sexual assault, sexual abuse, and child abuse cases telling him that he needed to make a visit to the hospital. Upon arriving he found a 9-month old baby on life support with bruises, broken legs, and more importantly, a crushed skull. A second brain scan found that the baby was brain dead. "The nurses and doctors were torn up about that baby," said Moore. So was he. An autopsy was conducted, and he knew that it was a case that he wanted to try.
[...]
That Friday night he visited the funeral home. About 20 people were there. There were three sets of flowers, two given by Moore and his assistant. The mother and father could not come because they were both in jail. Moore helped carry the baby's coffin to the grave through two feet of snow.
At the trial, Atkins' excuse for his crime was his alter ego named Craig.
The mother decided to testify against her husband. She said she had seen Randy Atkins hit the child against their trailer. With a baby doll she showed the jury, audience and the judge what she had seen. Grabbing the baby doll by the ankles, she paused for nearly a minute. Then she raised the baby doll and slammed it against the confession booth. After the demonstration, everyone watching began to cry in horror, imagining what it must have been like to be there watching the baby die.
Atkins was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to death. Moore said he still sometimes thinks about that baby. "That is a case that I can never get over."
Randy Lynn Atkins was indicted on April 12, 1993, for first-degree sexual offense and first-degree murder of his 8-month-old son, Lyle James Atkins.
On November 18, 1993, Atkins plead guilty to the first-degree murder charge in a plea deal if the State would dismiss the sexual offense charge. Atkins was found guilty of the murder of his infant son and sentenced to death.
On November 18, 1993, Atkins plead guilty to the first-degree murder charge in a plea deal if the State would dismiss the sexual offense charge. Atkins was found guilty of the murder of his infant son and sentenced to death.