A Winston-Salem man could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing his girlfriend's 14-month-old son three years ago.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin announced in Forsyth Superior Court yesterday that prosecutors intend to pursue the death penalty against Edward Matthew Montrell, 28, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Michah Gibson Jr. in October 2007.
Martin called the killing "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel," one of 11 aggravating factors under state law that allows for the death penalty.
According to Martin, Montrell was baby-sitting Michah at a house on Piedmont Memorial Drive in Winston-Salem. He was dating the boy's mother, who had recently regained custody of her son from foster care, she said.
Martin said that the child was injured sometime during the 24-hour period when Montrell was baby-sitting. During that time, she said, he sent text messages to Michah's mother, telling her that the baby was having problems and asking her if Michah had ever had seizures.
The mother then came to Winston-Salem to pick up the child, and she and Montrell got into an argument about their relationship, Martin said. She stayed in Winston-Salem for an hour before going back to Greensboro and taking her son to Moses Cone Hospital, according to Martin.
Martin said that Michah was brought back to Winston-Salem to Brenner Children's Hospital. He was put on life support and died two days after he was injured, she said.
An autopsy showed that the child died of blunt-force trauma to the head, she said. He had suffered a massive blow to the head, and his skull was cracked, Martin said.
Immediately after Michah was taken to the hospital, Montrell talked to authorities and told them that Michah had fallen and had hit his head, Martin said, and Montrell's story wasn't consistent with the baby's injuries.
Montrell left North Carolina before the child died and was arrested in May 2009 in New Orleans by the Violent Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service. He was extradited to Winston-Salem, where he was charged with first-degree murder. Martin said that Montrell declined to give any statement after he was arrested.
Richard Ramsey, Montrell's attorney, pointed out that there were text messages between Montrell and the mother in which Montrell told her that the child was having problems. He also pointed out that the mother did not immediately take the child to the hospital.
Montrell, who is black, has filed a claim under the state's Racial Justice Act, which allows death-row inmates and people facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to prove that racial bias played a role in their death sentence.
Martin, Ramsey and Montrell's other attorney, Marie Hutto, agreed that the Racial Justice Act claim won't be heard unless Montrell is convicted and is sentenced to death.
No trial date has been set.
mhewlett@wsjournal.com
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