Aaliyah Budgess, 12
Jury weighing death penalty, life sentence for Birmingham man convicted of fatally stabbing aunt, 2 cousins
The jury in the capital murder trial of a 20-year-old man charged in the 2010 stabbing deaths of his aunt and two cousins has begun deliberating whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
The jury announced Thursday afternoon that they had found Dontae Callen guilty of three counts of capital murder: death of two or more people; death of a person under the age of 14; and deaths during the commission of first-degree arson.
Callen was 18 when he was charged in the Oct. 29, 2010, stabbing deaths of his aunt, Bernice Kelly, 59; and his cousins Quortes Kelly, 33; and Aaliyah Budgess, 12, and setting fires in the apartment after the slayings.
The trial, which began Monday before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro, is now in the penalty phase.
Ron Thrasher and Don Colee are representing Callen. Deputy Jefferson County District Attorneys Patrick Lamb and Julie McMakin are prosecuting the case.
Lamb and McMakin argued that the jury should consider three circumstances when weighing their recommendation: Callen intentionally caused the death of two or more people; the offense was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel; and, by setting five fires, Callen knowingly put other residents of the apartment complex and first responders at risk.
"This defendant didn't think of them and didn't think of the neighbors," McMakin said. "He only thought about himself and what he needed to do to get away with this crime."
Colee and Thrasher told the jury they didn't intend to excuse Callen's behavior, but that they should take into consideration his youth, his difficult childhood and his mental and emotional struggles.
"Nothing is going to bring (the victims) back," Thrasher said. "Killing Dontae Callen isn't going to bring them back. If he lives, there may be some kind of redemption that takes place. Executing my client won't do anything except continue the pain and suffering of this family."
A mental health expert who testified for the defense said that after several evaluations, he determined Callen had low intellectual functioning and suffered dissociative episodes and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from fear of abandonment instilled as a child.
Lamb disputed the defense expert's findings, saying they differed greatly from evaluations conducted by other experts.
At a hearing in May, Petro heard evidence from two mental health experts and ruled that Callen is not mentally retarded, making him eligible for the death penalty.
Beatrice Brown, Bernice's sister and Callen's grandmother, testified about her grandson's unstable life, calling him a "lost child" who bounced from home to home after his mother decided she didn't want to raise him and his siblings.
"I've tried and tried to understand what went on," Brown said. "For him to do this, something had to be wrong inside."
Natasha Brown took the stand to speak for some members of the family, describing her mother Bernice and brother Quortes as kind, mild-mannered people who never had a bad word to say about anyone. Aaliyah was "a bright little girl" with a smile that could light up a room, she said.
"We always knew she would make something of herself, but now we'll never see the young woman she would have grown into," Brown said. "We'll never see that smile on her face again."
On Wednesday, jurors were shown video of Callen's questioning with Birmingham police investigator Warren Cotton.
"I'm going to burn in hell," a sobbing Callen told the investigator, saying he didn't know why he stabbed his family members.
Callen told police he was drinking beer with Quortes Kelly while the other two slept in different rooms.
He said he started stabbing his cousin with a knife he had found on the floor and that he also stabbed Bernice Kelly when she awoke and confronted him, then Aaliyah when she woke up.
Callen told police he set fire to some clothing and left the apartment, discarding evidence including knives and bloody bedding along a path from Kelly's Kingston apartment to the Avondale apartment where he was staying.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/07/...enalty_li.html
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