Posted 4:47 pm Wednesday, October 03, 2012
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UPDATE: Guilty grandparents sentenced to 25 years
Updated Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 4:47 p.m. CDT
A Whitehouse couple accused of scalding the feet of their 2-year-old granddaughter was sentenced to 25 years with an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon (scalding water) after being found guilty yesterday in Smith County 241st District Court. They will be eligible for parole in 12 ½ years.
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UPDATED Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 11:46 a.m. CDT
The jury now has the case, and is deliberating on the sentences.
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UPDATED Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 9:49 a.m. CDT
Judge Jack Skeen Jr. questioned each of the jurors who convicted Kenneth and Shelley Walker yesterday in his courtroom this morning. Yesterday after the verdict was announced, one of the jurors reported to the court that as he stood outside in the courthouse hallway, that a female Walker family member came toward the group of jurors and told them that "they were a sorry group of people and should be shot."
Skeen asked each juror individually if he or she could be impartial as they deliberate on a punishment for the Walkers. They all responded that they could.
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Skeen asked each juror individually if he or she could be impartial as they deliberate on a punishment for the Walkers. They all responded that they could.
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From Staff and KYTX CBS19 Reports
A Whitehouse couple accused of scalding the feet of their 2-year-old granddaughter was found guilty following a weeklong trial that continued Tuesday in Smith County 241st District Court.
Kenneth Neal Walker, 55, and his wife, Sherry Walker, 60, have been jailed since March, each charged with injury to a child.
Punishment options for the charge range from probation to life in prison, prosecutor Jason Parrish said earlier, with arguments and deliberations expected to continue today.
Prosecutor Jeff Wood is serving as co-counsel with Parrish.
Police responded to the couple's home Feb. 28 after they called authorities to report the injuries, officials said. Both were arrested after authorities noted inconsistencies in their stories.
Closing arguments in the trial, which began Sept. 25, continued Tuesday morning with jurors beginning their deliberations around 11:50 a.m. and wrapping up shortly before 3 p.m.
The toddler was one of three in the care and custody of the Walkers, who had no prior criminal history.
Prosecutors said the child's injuries were intentionally inflicted.
“This is no accident,” Parrish said as he pointed to photos of the little girl's scalded feet during Tuesday's closing arguments. “They charred her feet. Period.”
Photographs of the child's feet, which suffered second-degree burns, showed no signs of splashing, common for accidental scaling situations, according to prosecutors and police.
Tyler Police Detective Michelle Brock testified earlier the evidence was inconsistent with the Walkers' account of the incident, and the explanation changed during subsequent interviews.
In the initial version given to police, Mrs. Walker said she was folding clothes and heard the children screaming in the master bathroom, but she had trouble reaching them because the door was locked and had to call her husband for assistance.
Kenneth Neal Walker, 55, and his wife, Sherry Walker, 60, have been jailed since March, each charged with injury to a child.
Punishment options for the charge range from probation to life in prison, prosecutor Jason Parrish said earlier, with arguments and deliberations expected to continue today.
Prosecutor Jeff Wood is serving as co-counsel with Parrish.
Police responded to the couple's home Feb. 28 after they called authorities to report the injuries, officials said. Both were arrested after authorities noted inconsistencies in their stories.
Closing arguments in the trial, which began Sept. 25, continued Tuesday morning with jurors beginning their deliberations around 11:50 a.m. and wrapping up shortly before 3 p.m.
The toddler was one of three in the care and custody of the Walkers, who had no prior criminal history.
Prosecutors said the child's injuries were intentionally inflicted.
“This is no accident,” Parrish said as he pointed to photos of the little girl's scalded feet during Tuesday's closing arguments. “They charred her feet. Period.”
Photographs of the child's feet, which suffered second-degree burns, showed no signs of splashing, common for accidental scaling situations, according to prosecutors and police.
Tyler Police Detective Michelle Brock testified earlier the evidence was inconsistent with the Walkers' account of the incident, and the explanation changed during subsequent interviews.
In the initial version given to police, Mrs. Walker said she was folding clothes and heard the children screaming in the master bathroom, but she had trouble reaching them because the door was locked and had to call her husband for assistance.
In a second version, Mrs. Walker said she was fixing breakfast as her husband was lying on the couch when they heard screams coming from the bathroom. The girl and her then 3-year-old brother entered the living room with the child crying that her feet hurt, police said.
In court, Detective Brock told the jury that the burns were below the ankles and on the bottom of the feet, indicating that someone had held the child's feet in the scalding water without setting her down in it.
The detective accused Mrs. Walker of lying to cover for her husband.
But defense attorney Cameron Castleberry said Friday the Walkers gave differing accounts of what happened because their grandson had turned on the water and they were trying to protect him.
Attorney Scott Ellis, also for the defense, said it would have been difficult for Walker, who has a history of heart and back problems, to hold a squirming, 27-pound child steady.
Parrish countered the assessment with medical documents from Walker's cardiologist, stating he was “capable of exercising and feeling well.”
Other physician notes refer to Walker as an “intense man,” who found it stressful to live with his three young grandchildren.
Dr. Scott Lawrence, an East Texas Medical Center emergency room physician, testified he believed the girl's injuries were accidental and consistent with someone walking around in hot water.
He said the injuries were possibly caused as the children were playing in the bathroom and one of them turned on the hot water while the girl was in the tub.
When she realized the water was becoming hot, she tried to climb out and could have encountered difficulties maneuvering past the sliding door, he theorized.
Ellis also noted Child Protective Services' decision to allow the Walkers to adopt the two children from their parents was based on an extensive study of them and their home. He said it proved they aren't bad parents.
In court, Detective Brock told the jury that the burns were below the ankles and on the bottom of the feet, indicating that someone had held the child's feet in the scalding water without setting her down in it.
The detective accused Mrs. Walker of lying to cover for her husband.
But defense attorney Cameron Castleberry said Friday the Walkers gave differing accounts of what happened because their grandson had turned on the water and they were trying to protect him.
Attorney Scott Ellis, also for the defense, said it would have been difficult for Walker, who has a history of heart and back problems, to hold a squirming, 27-pound child steady.
Parrish countered the assessment with medical documents from Walker's cardiologist, stating he was “capable of exercising and feeling well.”
Other physician notes refer to Walker as an “intense man,” who found it stressful to live with his three young grandchildren.
Dr. Scott Lawrence, an East Texas Medical Center emergency room physician, testified he believed the girl's injuries were accidental and consistent with someone walking around in hot water.
He said the injuries were possibly caused as the children were playing in the bathroom and one of them turned on the hot water while the girl was in the tub.
When she realized the water was becoming hot, she tried to climb out and could have encountered difficulties maneuvering past the sliding door, he theorized.
Ellis also noted Child Protective Services' decision to allow the Walkers to adopt the two children from their parents was based on an extensive study of them and their home. He said it proved they aren't bad parents.
