MililaniBuckeye said:
I wonder what that litle girl's parents think about an effort to "save" this guy. .
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7779875.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Mother of Lionel Tate's victim wants him to accept responsibility
Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The mother of Lionel Tate's victim said Friday she is not disappointed that it appears he will get out of prison soon, but said the teenager needs to accept responsibility for murdering her 6-year-old daughter.
Deweese Eunick-Paul said that Tate's supporters are "making light" of her daughter Tiffany Eunick's death when they say the 1999 slaying was an accident. Autopsy reports showed the girl was beaten to death, suffering a lacerated liver and at least 35 other injuries.
Tate, who was 12 when he killed Tiffany, originally said he accidentally killed her while imitating professional wrestling moves he had seen on television. He now says he leapt from a staircase and accidentally landed on her chest. The girl was at his Pembroke Park home, being baby-sat by his mother.
"The psychologist that testified on his behalf said it was a homicide," Eunick-Paul said during an appearance on NBC's Today show.
She has never supported a life sentence for Tate, but has long demanded that he accept responsibility for her death.
She declined further comment to The Associated Press through her attorney.
Tate, who turns 17 on Jan. 30, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday to finalize an agreement he signed earlier this month that would see him plead guilty to second-degree murder. In the deal, Tate will be sentenced to three years in prison - most of which he has already served - plus one year of house arrest and 10 years probation. He could be released after a Monday bond hearing.
He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison without parole, but an appeals court overturned the conviction last month, saying he had not been properly screened to see if he was competent to stand trial.
Prosecutors then re-offered the deal that Tate and his mother rejected before the trial and he accepted it.
Tate's attorney Richard Rosenbaum said that according to a statement from prosecutors, Eunick-Paul had agreed to the terms of the plea deal. The offer does not require Tate to reverse his claims that he accidentally killed Tiffany.
Attorney Ken Padowitz, who prosecuted Tate and is now in private practice and representing Eunick-Paul, told the AP his client has a "big heart" for allowing Tate "a second chance." He called the claim that Tate accidentally killed Tiffany "a fantasy," saying even a defense expert testified that the death was a homicide.
"It's time for Lionel Tate to do the right thing when he pleads guilty to second-degree murder, Padowitz said in a telephone interview. "The right thing is to acknowledge his responsibility for a murder, not an accident. ... If Lionel Tate does not accept responsibility at this point, then shame on him."
He also criticized Tate's mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, for blocking his acceptance of the original plea deal.
"It's amazing that the person who is a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a mother who took on the responsibility of supervising and baby-sitting for this little first-grade girl would leave them unsupervised," he said, adding that she did not have the "moral authority" to interfere in the case.
Tate's mother does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment. Her attorneys did not return several phone messages seeking comment.
Bishop Thomas Masters, a child activist who has long called for Tate's release, said in a phone interview Friday that he didn't think prosecutors would have offered Tate a plea deal if doubts existed over whether the death was accidental.
"It's clear to me that this was not intentionally afflicted upon this child," he said.
