Posted 12:29 am Thursday, December 04, 2008
Henderson Pair Charged With Capital Murder
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
HENDERSON - They claim they were trying to drive the demons out of the 13-month-old, but law enforcement officers say the bottom line is a Rusk County couple bludgeoned the little girl to death with a hammer and other objects and bit her more than 20 times in the most grotesque murder the seasoned officers can remember.
Staff Writer
HENDERSON - They claim they were trying to drive the demons out of the 13-month-old, but law enforcement officers say the bottom line is a Rusk County couple bludgeoned the little girl to death with a hammer and other objects and bit her more than 20 times in the most grotesque murder the seasoned officers can remember.
Blaine Keith Milam, 19, and Jesseca Bain Carson, 18, both of Henderson, remain jailed on $2 million bonds each. They are charged with capital murder for the Tuesday morning death of Carson's daughter Amora Bain Carson.
Lt. Reynold Humber said Rusk County Sheriff's Office dispatchers received a 911 call from a home at 13717 County Road 2125 shortly after 10:35 Tuesday morning that a child was not breathing.
"When the first deputies arrived, Champion EMS was on the scene, and they told the deputies the child was deceased and there were suspicious circumstances," Humber said during a press conference Wednesday at the RSCO just moments after the couple was arraigned on the charges.
When the detectives entered the residence, they found Amora on the floor in a bedroom and they immediately knew they had a homicide.
Humber said the couple told detectives multiple stories of how the child suffered the injuries, including a fabricated auto accident and then a story of how the child was attacked by the family's dogs. The couple then told investigators they had left the child unattended and someone else must've gone into the home and harmed the child. Carson and Milam even said the child beat herself in the head with the hammer.
"They had multiple stories they went through before they told us they had beaten the child to death," Humber said. "It is their version of the truth."
Humber said the couple then told deputies the child was possessed and they were trying to rid her of demons.
An arrest affidavit states Milam performed an exorcism of the demons possessing their child. The affidavit continues to state after Milam killed the child with Carson looking on the couple "drove to Henderson to pawn some items to pay for an exorcism."
Officials said Milam and Carson told detectives they decided to hire a priest after the exorcism went badly.
However, Humber said there was no information of any clergy being called to the home.
As the couple waited for arraignment on the charges, Carson crossed her arms and silently sobbed. Milam casually looked around the courtroom then occasionally looked back at his hand where he had a visible bite mark.
Milam was sentenced in August of this year on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child and received a probated sentence. According to records, his victim was 14 years old and his last appearance with authorities was Nov. 14, when he reported as part of sex offender registry. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety's sex offender registry, Milam's risk level is classified as high. He also has been arrested on charges of causing a disturbance and assault/family violence.
Humber said Carson graduated as an honor student last year and she seemed very intelligent and added she had not been in any trouble with police in the past.
When asked if he bought the couple's story about what happened, Humber replied, "The child had been beaten so much we couldn't tell how many times it was hit and then there were more than 20 bite marks on her body. The bottom line regardless of any stories is that they killed that sweet little innocent child."
