Lumpkins sentenced 24 years for second-degree murder
Lumpkins' attorney will likely file for an appeal later this month.
Published Oct. 6, 2009
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Keyonda Lumpkins bows her head, crying, during prosecuting attorney Dan Knight's final statement at her trial Monday in the Boone County Courthouse. Lumpkins was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of her 2-year-old son, Cortez Johnson.
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Keyonda Lumpkins was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday for the murder of her 2-year-old son, Cortez Johnson.
Lumpkins' defense attorney, Kevin O'Brien, will most likely file for an appeal sometime this month, he said.
"We feel like there was some error in the trial," O'Brien said.
He declined to specify the errors.
Boone County Circuit Judge Gene Hamilton presided over the sentencing hearing, which took place in the Boone County Circuit Courthouse in Columbia.
Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight asked for a life sentence.
"This is a horrible crime," Knight said. "(Cortez) died a horrible death. She showed Cortez no mercy and she deserves none from this court."
O'Brien called Lumpkins' mother, aunt and sister to the stand during the hearing. All three women testified that they had never seen Lumpkins abuse her son and that she loved him.
Lumpkins was found guilty of second-degree murder Aug. 31. Horace Johnson, Cortez's father, is also charged with second-degree murder and will face a jury this coming December.
"Cortez Johnson lived a life of horrible pain and suffering due to the defendant's neglect," Knight said during the hearing.
He cited incidents of abuse, such as Cortez's hands being duct taped behind his back, his mouth being covered with duct tape and being hit with a belt.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, Cortez's cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the head after his unresponsive body was brought into University Hospital with multiple suspicious injuries.
The Boone County Medical Examiners Office ruled the incident a homicide and warrants for Lumpkins and Johnson arrest were issued a month later. Both were already incarcerated, Johnson for parole violation and Lumpkins for child endangerment, the release stated.
In an interview with police, Lumpkins stated she had been aware her child was being harmed and did not seek proper medical attention.
According to the release, she was subsequently arrested for first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and transported to Boone County Jail.
During the sentencing, Knight said Lumpkins had gone to the hospital several times for her sickle cell anemia, but had never taken Cortez to the hospital for his injuries. She had deliberated for hours after his death before she brought him to the hospital, he said.
"She loved her baby," Defense Attorney O'Brien said. "I don't think her culpability is the same as Horace Johnson's."
6:05 a.m., Oct. 9, 2009
LOVELADY said:
THERE WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT WAS NOT PRESENTED IN THE CORRECT FASHION AT THE TRIAL, THE REAL KILLER IS THE BABY FATHER. kEYONDA HAS RAISED THE CHILD FROM BIRTH TO HIS PRESENT AGE WITH NO ABUSE CHAGES EVER ACKNOWLEDGED AND SHE HAS ALSO REARED TWO OTHER CHILDREN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN ABUSED. DOES THIS NOT STRIKE A QUESTIONABLE DOUBT? THE MOMENT THAT THE FATER COME IN CONTACT WITH THE CHILD MURDER IS THE END RESULT. KEYONDA IS USUALLY HEAVLY MEDICATED DURING ABOUT WITH HER DEBILITATING DESEASE SICKEL ANMENIA, AND WAS BEING HELD CAPTIVE BY MR JOHNSON AND BEING PHYSICALLY ABUSED. HE ALSO ABUSED HIS OWN CHILD UNTIL DEATH WAS HIS ONLY RELIEF FROM PAIN. tHERE WAS A LOT OF EVIDENCE THAT WAS NOT BROUGHT FORTH THAT WOULD HAVE SURELY CHANGED THE OUT COME OF THIS TRIAL. MR JOHNSON HAS A CRIMINAL RECORD AND WAS CURRENTLY BEING HELD AT A HALF WAY HOUSE WHEN THIS ALL OCCURED AND HAS BEEN KNOWN TO ABUSE DRUGS, WHY WERE THESE THINGS NEVER BROUGHT OUT IN COURT. HE IS ALSO THE ONLY SUSPECT TO FLEE THE SEEN AND ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE STATE TO AVOID PERSCUTION MS LUMPKIN WAS THE ONLY PARENT AT THE HOSPITAL WITH CORTES AND WAS HEAVLY MEDICATED WHEN QUESTIONED BY POLICE