Posted 5:25 pm Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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UPDATE: D.A. Begins Cross-Examination Of Cargill
TylerPaper.com video added Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 5:24 p.m. CDT
Updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 1:32 p.m. CDT
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham began cross examining Kimberly Cargill on the witness stand this morning about the events of June 18, 2010, the day Cherry Walker went missing.
The defendant, who appeared very tearful, continued to say that the panicked on the night of Ms. Walker's death, and that the victim died before she could get her to a hospital. Ms. Cargill said she was turning from Beckham street onto West Houston to go into the apartment complex where Ms. Walker lived.
“She was banging her head against the window and the windshield. I just wanted to keep her safe,” Ms. Cargill said.
Bingham asked why she didn't get Ms. Walker to a hospital, since she was so close to Trinity Mother Frances and ETMC. She said there was traffic coming in the opposite direction which might block her path, and she was afraid to cause a car accident.
Bingham said she could have stopped in the middle of the road and called for help from someone.
“In hindsight, I wish I had done that,” Ms. Cargill said. “I take responsibility for everything that happened except the seizure.”
At several points in her testimony, Bingham showed the defendant pictures of the victim's dead body. Ms. Cargill would not look at the photos.
Bingham asked the defendant what it was like to light the victim on fire and watch the body burn.
“I don't know,” Ms. Cargill responded.
Cross examination is expected to continue this afternoon.
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Staff Writer
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham began cross examining Kimberly Cargill on the witness stand this morning about the events of June 18, 2010, the day Cherry Walker went missing.
The defendant, who appeared very tearful, continued to say that the panicked on the night of Ms. Walker's death, and that the victim died before she could get her to a hospital. Ms. Cargill said she was turning from Beckham street onto West Houston to go into the apartment complex where Ms. Walker lived.
“She was banging her head against the window and the windshield. I just wanted to keep her safe,” Ms. Cargill said.
Bingham asked why she didn't get Ms. Walker to a hospital, since she was so close to Trinity Mother Frances and ETMC. She said there was traffic coming in the opposite direction which might block her path, and she was afraid to cause a car accident.
Bingham said she could have stopped in the middle of the road and called for help from someone.
“In hindsight, I wish I had done that,” Ms. Cargill said. “I take responsibility for everything that happened except the seizure.”
At several points in her testimony, Bingham showed the defendant pictures of the victim's dead body. Ms. Cargill would not look at the photos.
Bingham asked the defendant what it was like to light the victim on fire and watch the body burn.
“I don't know,” Ms. Cargill responded.
Cross examination is expected to continue this afternoon.
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Updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:01 a.m. CDT
A tearful Kim Cargill took to the stand took the witness stand in her own defense to say that Cherry Walker had a seizure on the evening of June 18 and died. After trying to get help and finding none, Cargill said she tried giving Walker CPR. Walker had stopped breathing and was unconscious.
Cargill said she drove around in a panic for several hours with Walker's body in her car.
"I realized she'd been nonresponsive for several hours. I couldn't do the right thing. I was thinking about how it would look. I was thinking about myself."
Cargill said she drove around for 30 minutes and ended up on Oscar Burkett Road.
"I pulled her out of my car. I knew my tears and sweat were all over her. I burned her shirt to destroy DNA. I had lighter fluid in my car -- used in ant piles."
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Cargill said she drove around in a panic for several hours with Walker's body in her car.
"I realized she'd been nonresponsive for several hours. I couldn't do the right thing. I was thinking about how it would look. I was thinking about myself."
Cargill said she drove around for 30 minutes and ended up on Oscar Burkett Road.
"I pulled her out of my car. I knew my tears and sweat were all over her. I burned her shirt to destroy DNA. I had lighter fluid in my car -- used in ant piles."
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Updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 9:29 a.m. CDT
The defense of accused murderer Kimberly Cargill began this morning in Smith County court with defense lawyers putting Cargill on the stand. More details shortly.
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By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
The mentally challenged woman who was set to testify against a Whitehouse woman in a child custody hearing — and found dead in June 2010 — was a victim of homicidal violence, the coroner who performed her autopsy said Tuesday.
“Someone did this to Cherry Walker,” Dr. Meredith Lann, the coroner at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Services in Dallas, testified in response to questioning from Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham regarding the results of the autopsy she conducted on June 20, 2010.
Dr. Lann, who performed the autopsy on Ms. Walker, no longer works in Dallas, and is now a medical examiner in Alaska, she said.
The state rested its case on Tuesday against Kimberly Diane Cargill, 45, of Whitehouse, after almost seven full days of testimony in the Smith County 241st District Court. The defense will begin presenting its case this morning in the capital murder trial. Ms. Walker had been subpoenaed to testify against Ms. Cargill as she fought her mother and ex-husband for custody of her young son. Ms. Walker's body was found by a man as he made a U-turn in his car on County Road 2161 in Smith County on June 19, 2010. Ms. Walker went missing on June 18, 2010.
Staff Writer
The mentally challenged woman who was set to testify against a Whitehouse woman in a child custody hearing — and found dead in June 2010 — was a victim of homicidal violence, the coroner who performed her autopsy said Tuesday.
“Someone did this to Cherry Walker,” Dr. Meredith Lann, the coroner at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Services in Dallas, testified in response to questioning from Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham regarding the results of the autopsy she conducted on June 20, 2010.
Dr. Lann, who performed the autopsy on Ms. Walker, no longer works in Dallas, and is now a medical examiner in Alaska, she said.
The state rested its case on Tuesday against Kimberly Diane Cargill, 45, of Whitehouse, after almost seven full days of testimony in the Smith County 241st District Court. The defense will begin presenting its case this morning in the capital murder trial. Ms. Walker had been subpoenaed to testify against Ms. Cargill as she fought her mother and ex-husband for custody of her young son. Ms. Walker's body was found by a man as he made a U-turn in his car on County Road 2161 in Smith County on June 19, 2010. Ms. Walker went missing on June 18, 2010.
Dr. Lann said her autopsy findings showed Ms. Walker died of possible asphyxiation before her body was set on fire because of the hemorrhaging in her eye. The doctor said asphyxiation frequently causes that condition, but it can also be caused by decomposition of a body.
The coroner also gave testimony that there were scratches and abrasions on Ms. Walker's nose and forehead. “The scratches are subtle and are not consistent with being dragged, but placed,” Dr. Lann said.
Other reasons the doctor found for the death of Ms. Walker to be suspicious — after conducting the autopsy — were the absence of natural disease, as well as the fact the body was found partially burned, and that the victim had been reported as a missing person.
The coroner also gave testimony that there were scratches and abrasions on Ms. Walker's nose and forehead. “The scratches are subtle and are not consistent with being dragged, but placed,” Dr. Lann said.
Other reasons the doctor found for the death of Ms. Walker to be suspicious — after conducting the autopsy — were the absence of natural disease, as well as the fact the body was found partially burned, and that the victim had been reported as a missing person.
“I believe this was a purposeful act,” Dr. Lann said about the circumstances in which Ms. Walker's body was found.
Defense attorney Jeff Haas questioned the doctor to see if she was able to determine a cause of death for Ms. Walker. Dr. Lann said while she knew the manner of death to be homicide, that there were no bruises around the victim's neck and her trachea had not been crushed.
Haas asked the coroner if an autopsy could determine if someone died from a seizure because of earlier testimony that Ms. Walker suffered from epilepsy and took medication for the condition.
Defense attorney Jeff Haas questioned the doctor to see if she was able to determine a cause of death for Ms. Walker. Dr. Lann said while she knew the manner of death to be homicide, that there were no bruises around the victim's neck and her trachea had not been crushed.
Haas asked the coroner if an autopsy could determine if someone died from a seizure because of earlier testimony that Ms. Walker suffered from epilepsy and took medication for the condition.
“An autopsy may or may not show that a seizure occurred,” Dr. Lann said. She added that she did not think Ms. Walker died of a seizure.
Haas also asked the doctor if Ms. Walker had been found deceased in her apartment and had not been burned, if the doctor would be able to say she died of homicidal violence without further exam.
“I wouldn't be able to say,” Dr. Lann said.
Haas also asked the doctor if Ms. Walker had been found deceased in her apartment and had not been burned, if the doctor would be able to say she died of homicidal violence without further exam.
“I wouldn't be able to say,” Dr. Lann said.
