The End of the Story

Case BackgroundTrial (Updated: 10.16.09)Sentence: Updated: 12.18.09View Sources

Kevin Andre Towles is accused of beating his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son to death in December 2006.

Geontae Glass was the son of Shalinda Glass, also faces charges related to her son’s beating death. Shalinda Glass drove to a gas station and went inside. She then came outside and told people her son had been sleeping in the backseat of the car and the car had been stolen. An AMBER Alert was issued for the child. Police located the vehicle with Geontae’s body still seatbelted in the backseat. The vehicle was located on property owned by Towles. Shalinda Glass told police that Towles had beaten her son to death because he brought home a bad report card.

Towles was supposed to stand trial earlier this year. However, the judge declared a mistrial while jurors were in the process of filling out the questionaires. I am not sure why the judge declared the mistrial. If convicted Towles faces the death penalty. The trial begins on October 5, 2009 with jury selection

Trial 

October 5, 2009

The trial begins today with jury selection.

October 10, 2009

So far the jury has heard that Towles allegedly beat Geontae to death the day he came home with a ‘bad’ report card. The most powerful testimony came from Geontae’s now 10-year-old sister. She testified the last time she saw her brother Geontae walking and talking was on December 3, 200t6when Kevin Towles took him out behind their house. When Kevin returned, she said he was carrying Geontae and he was limp. She said Towles just walked around after that as if everything was normal. During her testimony it was reported that Towles began crying. On another day of testimony, the pathologist said that if Geontae had received medical attention he would have survived his injuries.

October 16, 2009

The jury found Kevin Towles guilty of the murder of 5-year-old Geontae Glass. The jury deliberated for about two hours on Friday to determine whether Towles should spend the remainder of his life in prison or be put to death. The jury recommended he be put to death in a vote of 11 – 1. The judge will sentence Towles on December 15. He can keep with the jury’s suggestion or choose another punishment for Towles.

After reading the reported testimony of Dr. Emily Ward, a forensic scientist from the Huntsville office of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, regarding the severity of Geontae’s wounds observed during her examination I am not surprised the jurors voted for death.

Ward told jurors that Towles beat the five-year-old so badly that the damage went straight to his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the waist down. She says the injuries indicate Towles used no restraint in beating Geontae with a wooden stick. ¹

Not that I have any sympathy whatsoever for Kevin Towles, but it always surprises me when I hear how a defense attorney attempts to keep their client from the gallows. Aside from the usual family members who took the stand and asked the jurors and the court to show mercy on their son, brother, etc., the best Towles’s attorney could do was call a psychiatrist to the stand. Of course he opined that Kevin Towles is not a cold-blooded killer and should not be put to death. He, at one point suggested that perhaps Geontae provoked Towles into attacking him. He also had to admit on cross-examination that Towles has shown no remorse for the killing. Well, I would imagine if the testimony from the forensic scientist didn’t sway all of the jurors, certainly the psychiatrist’s suggestion that the 5-year-old victim was in some way at fault swayed the rest of them to the death side of the fence. This is one of those times when a defense attorney probably wished he could object to his own witness’ testimony.

Sentence 

December 18, 2009

Kevin Towles was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection on Friday December 15, 2009. The sentence was pronounced by Etowah County Circuit Judge Allen Millican who said “all mitigating circumstances had been taken into consideration for the sentence”. There was no comment in the media about Towles’ reaction to the sentence.

Sources 

Car Left Running Stolen with Child Inside, WSMV.com, Last Accessed: October 5, 2009.

Jury Selection Monday in Geontae Glass Case, WAAYTV.com, Last Accessed: October 5, 2009.

WAAYTV.com, Various video updates of the trial, Last Accessed: October 10, 2009.

Kevin Towles Jury Recommends Death, WAAYTV.com, Last Accessed: October 16, 2009.

Katherine Poythress, Towles Sentenced to Death in Geontae Glass Case, The Gadsentimes.com, Last Accessed: December 18, 2009.

1. Carson Clark, Jury Recommends Death Penalty for Kevin Towles, WHNT.com, Last Accessed: October 16, 2009. [↩]

Case BackgroundPre-TrialTrialSentenceView Sources

This is going to be an interesting case to follow once it gets started. William Page is accused of sexually assaulting and then taking his 18-month-old daughter out into the freezing cold, leaving her there to die. He then called police and claimed Nyia was kidnapped from his home.

The twist to this case is during the investigation into Nyia’s disappearance it was determined that a 6-year-old male child living in the home had allegedly been sexually assaulted by William Page a few hours prior to Nyia’s reported disappearance.

The judge on the case has ruled at this point that both cases can be tried simultaneously. William Page faces the death penalty if convicted of the murder of his daughter.

Page’s trial was set to start May 5, 2008. However, on the morning of the trial date Page was granted a continuance until January 2009. His attorney claims he needs more time to work on his client’s defense.

Pre-Trial 

Latest Pre-Trial Update

May 27, 2009: Page to get two trials

William Page is charged with crimes against two separate children. He is charged with the murder and sexual assault of his daughter, Nyia. He is also charged with the sexual assault of a six-year-old boy who lived in his home. That alleged sexual assault is supposed to have taken place the day before Nyia’s murder.

Last year, Judge Cashman had ruled all charges would be heard during one trial. Now Judge Cashman has reversed his decision and there will be two trials – the Nyia Page trial will begin with jury selection on October 13. It is not clear when the trial for the sexual assault against the unnamed male child will be held.

The defense basically argued the charges against Page for the sexual assault and murder are bad enough without adding another sexual assault victim to the murder trial as it would surely prejudice the jury. The defense lost in it’s bid to have Page’s confession thrown out, so it will be presented at trial.

I had been under the impression that William Page had decided to have his case decided by a judge instead of a jury but that is not the case – he will have a jury trial for the Nyia Page murder. The prosecution dropped the charge of aggravated assault for kicking Nyia in the groin. He mentioned kicking Nyia in the groin during his confession. The charge was dropped because on autopsy there was no evidence found regarding the kick to the groin.

Continuance

William Page’s non-jury trial has been continued one more time. His new trial date, October 13, 2009, is set to be heard by Judge David R. Cashman in Courtroom 310 at 9 a.m.

October 10, 2009

I checked this evening to see if Willam Page’s murder trial was going to start as scheduled. I don’t know why I was surprised to see according to court documents that Page’s trial date has been pushed back to February 8, 2010. First Page asked for a non-jury trial and he was granted that request. After that there was a series of continuances resulting in a request for a jury trial. Now, with that trial date set to begin, along comes another continuance. I don’t know why the accused should have so many rights.

Trial 

Sentence 

Sources 

PA Amber Alert: Nyia Page, Missing & Murdered Children.

Comm. v. Page, William Lorenzo, Case Number: CP-02-CR-0002851-2007, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Last Accessed: October 10, 2009.

Daniel Malloy, Braddock Man Accused of Killing Daughter to be Tried Separately in Sex Assaults, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Last Accessed: May 27, 2009.