Braxton Danker
Judith C. Danker
Khristian T. Martzall
Lincoln Co. prosecutors seek death penalty in child abuse death
By Kim Morava
Shawnee News Star
Lincoln County prosecutors on Thursday filed a Bill of Particulars to have a death penalty option, upon conviction, against two charged in the murder of a Lincoln County toddler.
The toddler’s mother, Judith C. Danker, 19, and her reported boyfriend, Khristian T. Martzall, 27, both face a charge of murder in the first-degree, child abuse.
They are accused in the May death of Danker’s son, Braxton, who prosecutors say suffered “horrendous” injuries.
Pottawatomie/Lincoln County First Assistant District Attorney Adam Panter said this was the worst case of child abuse he’s ever seen.
The death penalty “is the the only true justice for Braxton,” he said.
“Braxton spent his last days of life suffering,” Panter said. “Both of them are responsible...”
Panter said filing the death penalty request, which outlines aggravating circumstances, such as the heinous nature of the crime, gives the jury an option choose whether the death penalty is a possible punishment for the defendants, if convicted.
The child lived with his mother and her boyfriend in Wellston, Panter said, and the mother was reportedly rushing the child to the closest Emergency Room in Edmond when an ambulance met them en route and transported the child, who died a short time later.
“The child had physical injuries all over his body,” Panter said.
Panter called the injuries “horrendous,” and said they included open sores all over the child’s body, including some that were gangrenous. The boy also was covered in bruises, he said, and also had a “serious head injury.”
Both defendants, who remain jailed in Lincoln County, were initially scheduled for preliminary hearings on Thursday, but those have been re-scheduled for November.
Watch for update.
http://www.news-star.com/news/201810...ld-abuse-death
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