Henry Segura


Segura's attorney asks for DNA of Chicago gang member in quadruple homicide case


By Sean Rossman
The Tallahassee Democrat

Henry Segura’s attorney has asked for the DNA of a Chicago gang member to determine if he, and not his client, killed a Tallahassee mother and her three young children in November 2010.

Tallahassee attorney Chuck Hobbs filed a motion Friday to see if Illinois prison inmate Leon Smith’s DNA was found at the scene of Brandi Peters’ Saddle Creek Run home, where she, her twin daughters Tamiyah and Taniyah Peters, and her son JaVante Segura, were found dead on Nov. 20, 2010.

Segura, 35, is facing four charges of first-degree murder in the case and the state is pursuing the death penalty.

In the filing, Hobbs cites testimony presented to the court last week by James Carlos Santos, a former member of the Vice Lords, a Chicago narcotics and illegal weapons trafficking group.

Santos testified that Smith, also a Vice Lord, had ill will towards Peters and threatened her life shortly before she died, according to the motion.

The gang had suspicion Peters was stealing drugs and money from the gang, for which Peters worked from 2004 to 2007, earning several thousands of dollars per month running drugs and guns from Texas, Florida and Atlanta, according to Santos.

Santos said Peters owed the gang around $80,000, and because of that, Smith had mentioned to Santos that his and Peters’ lives were in jeopardy, according to the motion.

Circuit Court Judge Jackie Fulford ruled that Santos’ testimony is not credible and cannot be used at trial, but that does not mean she won’t consider comparing Smith's DNA to the foreign DNA evidence of a man found at the scene.

Fulford did not make a decision on whether she'd accept the motion at a hearing this morning. Instead, she asked Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell, the prosecutor in this case, and Hobbs, to first see if Smith’s DNA is already in a national DNA database.

Hobbs says he made his motion to ensure the court had covered all its bases before going through with taking Segura to trial.

Hobbs says he expects Fulford to make a decision to accept the motion Tuesday.

Requesting DNA would further postpone Segura’s trial date, which is currently set to begin March 31.

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2...nclick_check=1