You Be The Judge...

Derrick Shaw physically and chronically abused Jayla. Either sometime during the evening of May 23 or early in the morning of May 24, she sustained the "final" beating. Whatever he did, Jayla suffered serious internal injuries. Perhaps he didn't realize that Jayla was seriously ill, that she was dying. Perhaps he didn't care. Either way,  he took her to the Murray's home knowing that Shirley Murray was out of town and that he wasn't supposed to have brought her there that day.

Little Jayla's Last Hours

As the Murrays testified, Jayla walked into the Murray home, went immediately to the den and lay down behind a couch. She got up on her own only twice after that. She didn't ask for food, she didn't play. She slept, she sweated and vomited when she tried to eat. R.L. Murray, who was out on an errand in the morning and resting in the afternoon, and his young children, did not recognize Jayla was suffering from internal injuries and shock. As Dr. Norton testified, the lay person will not recognize shock. They knew Jayla was sick, but were unaware of how critically ill she was. Not knowing the extent of her injuries, they gave her Tylenol and put her to bed. Lacresha went in the bathroom sometime around 5:30 and saw Jayla on the bed "shaking real bad." She took Jayla to her grandfather, who had been with Ms. Turner for approximately 10 minutes. Neither R.L. or Ms. Turner had heard anything unusual. They wiped the baby down, took her outside for fresh air, then decided she needed to be taken to the hospital. They got into the van, stopped by a clinic, then proceeded to Brackenridge, where she was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m.

What is the Truth?

The truth is no one yet knows what happened to Jayla Belton, except the perpetrator(s). The unreasonable scenario which the prosecution was unable and unwilling to walk the jury through or prove up did not establish the truth. The lack of physical evidence linking Lacresha or the Murray home with Jayla's death, the unreasonable, if not impossible, chronology of how she allegedly perpetrated the crime in the time allotted, no motive, no history of violence, a pair of tennis shoes that no one, not even the police, can prove were at the scene where Jayla was allegedly attacked, and a statement coerced out of a frightened child unaided by counsel or any concerned adult was all the State had to offer.

The defense, on the other hand, had a reasonable theory and evidence to support that theory . . . which the jury neglected and the media failed to report on. Against all logic and the statistics that show in nearly all child victimization cases, an adult in the child's household is involved, the police failed to investigate a very suspect person: Derrick Shaw, the boyfriend of Jayla Belton's mother.

Who is Derrick Shaw?

According to the evidence presented in court, Derrick Shaw had:

• an inability to maintain employment,
• a history of drug and alcohol abuse,
• a criminal record

Witnesses had seen him neglect and physically abuse Jayla on more than one occasion.

• Shaw first told police he was working on the day Jayla died.
• Later he told them he was unemployed and that he did errands that day.
• On the stand, he testified that he had gone to make a car payment on that day.

His car dealer testified that Shaw had not made a payment that day and, in fact, had not made a payment on the car for months and that the dealer was actually searching for the car to repossess it. Shaw later said he took his car that day to a body shop because of engine troubles – why to a body shop and not a mechanic is an important question.

Most significantly, Shaw's car was reported missing during both trials and when it was eventually found, was never examined for the possible evidence  of an accident.  (Recall both of the prosecution's medical experts' remarks that Jayla's injuries were analogous to those sustained in high impact auto accidents).

After being informed of Jayla's death, Derrick Shaw and Judy Belton came to the hospital. His first question to hospital personnel was where he could get his parking ticket validated. The resident psychologist testified that when shown the body of Jayla, Shaw quickly looked at the baby, urged Judy Belton to kiss the baby and for them to get out of there. The psychologist testified he was shocked at Shaw's manner and that it seemed he could not have cared less. This defense witness was never questioned by the police. Nor was the emergency nurse in charge, Gene Cummings.

Why?