Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 21

Thread: Ricky Lee Blackwell, Sr. - South Carolina Death Row

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    On trial: Man accused of putting 8-year-old in headlock, killing her

    The death penalty trial is underway for a man who is accused of putting an 8-year-old girl in a headlock and shooting her four times, killing her.

    Ricky Lee Blackwell, 55, is charged with kidnapping and murder.

    Deputies said on July 15, 2009, Blackwell's estranged wife, Angela, and Heather Brooke Center, the daughter of Angela's new boyfriend, went to an apartment complex on Ridings Road to take the child swimming. The complex is where the Blackwells used to live and where their adult daughter and Ricky Blackwell still lived.

    Deputies said when the child, who went by Brooke, planned to swim and play with friends at the complex. Witnesses said, when Brooke got out of the car, Blackwell grabbed the child and put her in a headlock.

    Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Blackwell then shot Brooke in the head, and then three more times as she was falling to the ground, and perhaps while she was on the ground.

    "He said something to the effect of, 'Maybe you'll hurt like I'm hurting,' and shot the girl four times," said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright.

    Three other children and a teenager witnessed the shooting, police said.

    Investigators said Blackwell ran a short distance from the scene and into some woods. Moments later, deputies approached him with guns drawn, as he came out of the woods and stood behind his home on Ridings Road.

    The sheriff's office said deputies told him to drop his weapon, but Blackwell shot himself once in the side.

    In February, after testimony from several psychologists, a judge decided that Blackwell's IQ is high enough for the state to seek the death penalty against him.

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 it is unconstitutional to seek the death penalty against someone with an intellectual disability.

    http://www.wyff4.com/news/on-trial-m...#ixzz2vh4Sefen
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  2. #12
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Chesnee man found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old upstate girl

    It took a only 20 minutes for a Spartanburg County jury to find a Chesnee man guilty of murder and kidnapping, Fox Carolina reported March 12.

    It's been five years now since 8-year-old Brooke Center was murdered by the estranged husband of her dad's girlfriend. It was a revenge killing planned by Ricky Blackwell when he set up a visit for his estranged wife, Angela Davis, and Brooke to come to his Chesnee home for a swim on July 8, 2009.

    When Angela and Brooke arrived at his home, Blackwell grabbed Brooke, where he put her in a headlock, held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Davis testified that she offered Blackwell the opportunity to take her and allow Brooke to return home. Blackwell said 'no.'

    Blackwell has admitted that he killed the young girl, but wanted the jury to consider his emotional state when deciding whether or not to give him the death penalty. The penalty phase of the trial begins Thursday at 1 p.m.

    http://www.examiner.com/article/ches...d-upstate-girl

  3. #13
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Jury prepares to decide Ricky Blackwell's sentence

    A Spartanburg County jury was hard at work Saturday as Ricky Blackwell fights for his life.

    With the trial in its sentencing phase, there was a revolving door of friends, coworkers and relatives of Blackwell on the witness stand.

    The defense spent all day trying to show Blackwell as a good man who was under emotional pressure as his marriage unraveled.

    The defense also took time to show old home movies of Blackwell.

    Some of Saturday's witnesses were Blackwell's father, his pastor and Mary Youmans, a former coworker and friend who has known him for 16 years.

    "He did the crime; he needs to pay the time," Youmans said. "I don't think he deserves death, but whatever the jury says."

    Blackwell's pastor testified he met with Blackwell daily before the murder and described him as emotionally disturbed. He also visited Blackwell in jail after the murder and said Blackwell told him he did the shooting, but didn't remember any of it.

    Earlier in the week, the same jury convicted Blackwell in the 2009 shooting of Heather Brooke Center.

    Prosecutors called the shooting revenge because Blackwell's ex-wife was dating the 8-year-old's father.

    The defense wrapped up its case Saturday afternoon, and the jury will receive instructions Sunday before deciding on a sentence of life in prison or death.

    http://www.wyff4.com/news/jury-prepa...#ixzz2w5cgk76U
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  4. #14
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Jury deliberating on Ricky Lee Blackwell Sr.'s fate

    Jurors are deciding the fate of Ricky Lee Blackwell Sr. this afternoon.

    Blackwell, 55, was convicted last week of the kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Heather Brooke Center in July 2009.

    Today was the fourth day of the sentencing phase of the trial. Jurors are deciding whether Blackwell is sentenced to life in prison or given the death penalty.

    In his closing statement, Solicitor Barry Barnette called the assertion that Blackwell is mentally retarded — a contention of his defense team — an insult to the intellectually disabled based on “junk science.”

    Prosecutors also showed jurors photos of Brooke — one of her on the baseball field and one of her fatally shot — side by side.

    In his statement, Barnette quoted Nelson Mandela, saying, “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

    Blackwell's attorney, Bill McGuire, asked jurors for mercy and to let Blackwell's family members keep a son and father.

    “What good can the death penalty possibly do today?” McGuire asked the jury.

    http://www.goupstate.com/article/201...CLES/140319805.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #15
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    SC man sentenced to death for killing 8-year-old girl

    Convicted killer Ricky Lee Blackwell has been sentenced to death.

    Jurors began deliberating Blackwell's fate around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon after Judge Roger Couch instructed them with their duties. The deliberations went through the early evening hours and just before 9 p.m. they came back with their verdict of death and Couch concurred.

    The sentencing closes out the long, arduous chapter in the case of Blackwell, who gunned down eight-year-old Heather Brooke Center on a hot July afternoon in 2009.

    Last Wednesday, Blackwell was convicted of the murder which led to the sentencing phase after 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette, Assistant Solicitor Russell Ghent and Deputy Solicitor Derrick Bulsa utilized testimony from Center's elementary school faculty and staff, medical professionals and others to educate jurors about the person Center was and the horrendous manner of how she died.

    "Ricky Lee Blackwell is a coward who acted out of jealously and anger," said Barnette. "There is no other way to explain his actions. He took the life of an innocent child."

    Prosecutors told the jury how Blackwell planned the murder where he shot Center four times at close range with a handgun. Blackwell took the gun from a lock box and drove to the crime scene where he parked his truck in a garage and approached the girl. She died instantly from the wounds and then later shot himself in the stomach.

    Prosecutors utilized a statement in which Blackwell made to a deputy that he had shot the girl so he could get back at her father for dating his estranged wife.

    "Brooke's tragic death just didn't affect her family," Barnette said. "It affected the school she attended and the community she lived in. I hope people look at today's verdict and realize crimes against children will not be tolerated."

    While prosecutors argued for the death penalty, Blackwell's defense attorney's used emotional defense witnesses, many of which were Blackwell's family and friends, to plea for his life. However, at the end of the day. the verdict ended in a way that many thought was likely.

    As the judge pronounced the sentence, Blackwell's mother sobbed and other family members were visibly upset. Blackwell did not have any noticeable reaction to the decision.

    The fourth day of sentencing started Sunday morning with closing statements.

    The prosecution made their final arguments as to why Blackwell should receive the death penalty. Blackwell's defense attorneys argued that his life should be spared due to mental retardation, an issue which the jury did not agree with.

    Couch sentenced Blackwell to death on June 14 between 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. with his choice of it being by lethal injection or electrocution. However, Blackwell's sentence will go to the South Carolina Supreme Court for review and could end up playing out in the judicial system with appeals for years to come.

    On Saturday, Blackwell's defense attorney's brought forth an expert witness and several of his friends and family members in an attempt to spare him from the death sentence. A psychiatrist for the defense testified about a variety of problems that Blackwell had to overcome, including his upbringing, how he dropped out of school, his low IQ and how he had to deal with bouts of depression.

    Shortly afterwards, Blackwell's mother, father, daughter and cousins, all took the stand and made emotional pleas to jurors to spare his life. Blackwell's mother was especially emotional as defense attorney's played voicemail's he had sent her while he was in jail.

    Family members spoke about Blackwell's loving and caring side and how much he would help others. They stated that he was a gentle person who would always try and help people.

    The defense rested late in the day but the prosecution called a rebuttal witness who testified that he had a conversation with Blackwell's father about locking up guns that Blackwell used in the murder. Blackwell's father, Curtis, did not recall having any conversation of the sort.

    The witness, Reggie Fry, stated that he had a conversation with Blackwell's father about Ricky's ex-wife who he claimed had "tortured" him and that led to the shooting. Fry stated that he had gotten guns from Blackwell because they were afraid that he would do something. He claimed that Blackwell broke in and got the guns and the next day the murder occurred.

    http://www.wbtw.com/story/24993108/s...-year-old-girl
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #16
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    I'm not surprised at the sentence for this crime.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #17
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Capital Region NY
    Posts
    865
    DPIC has this guy listed as having a June 14 X date. Any idea as to why or not?

  8. #18
    Jan
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by MRBAM View Post
    DPIC has this guy listed as having a June 14 X date. Any idea as to why or not?
    Couch sentenced Blackwell to death on June 14 between 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. with his choice of it being by lethal injection or electrocution. However, Blackwell's sentence will go to the South Carolina Supreme Court for review and could end up playing out in the judicial system with appeals for years to come.
    SC is a state where the judge sets an execution date during the sentencing.

  9. #19
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Capital Region NY
    Posts
    865
    Ah, should have read more completely. Thanks Jan.

  10. #20
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    SOUTH CAROLINA v BLACKWELL

    Court: South Carolina Supreme Court

    Opinion Date: May, 31, 2017

    A jury convicted Ricky Lee Blackwell of kidnapping and killing eight-year-old Heather Brooke Center ("Brooke"), the daughter of his ex-wife's boyfriend, and recommended a sentence of death. After twenty-six years of marriage, Blackwell's wife, Angela, entered into an adulterous relationship with Bobby Center. Blackwell was devastated when Angela left him. Following the breakup, Blackwell attempted suicide, suffered financial problems, and was forced to turn to his parents for support. A confrontation with Angela ended with Blackwell grabbed Center’s eight-year-old daughter and held a gun to her head. Blackwell ignored Angela's pleas for him to release the child. Instead, Blackwell stated that Angela had "pushed this too far," that she "did this," and that she could let him know "what Bobby thinks of this." Blackwell then fatally shot Brooke. Following the shooting, Blackwell fled into the woods behind his daughter's home. When law enforcement surrounded him, Blackwell shot himself in the stomach and was taken to the hospital. While being transported to the hospital and waiting for treatment, Blackwell gave inculpatory statements to the law enforcement officers who questioned him. Blackwell appealed, contending the trial court erred in: (1) finding him eligible for the death penalty despite evidence of mental retardation; (2) failing to disqualify a juror for cause; (3) denying his "Batson" challenge; (4) prohibiting him from cross-examining a State witness using privileged statements the witness made to a mental health counselor and declining to accept the proffer of the mental health records as an exhibit; (5) declining to admit notes of two hospital chaplains as evidence that he was remorseful; and (6) failing to correctly instruct the jury regarding a finding of mental retardation during the penalty phase of the trial. The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Blackwell's convictions and sentence.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •