Corey Bryant said he didn't know that his wife was starving their 10-month-old twin daughters.
One girl, Miracle Grace, died on April 8, 2008, the day Bryant returned from a three-week Navy cruise. The other girl, Heaven LeeAnna, survived, but was hospitalized for months with extreme malnutrition and dehydration.
Prosecutor Jill Harris argued that Bryant not only knew about but participated in the girls' starvation and neglect for months before his departure. Although the girls were with their mother, Heaven Smith, in the days immediately preceding Miracle's death, Harris said, Bryant told Smith not to take the children to the hospital and later told Smith to lie to police about where the girls had been.
"The father is just as culpable," Harris said.
The arguments came Monday during Bryant's sentencing hearing. Circuit Judge Mary Jane Hall convicted Bryant, 23, in July of murder and neglect. On Monday, Hall rejected arguments from Bryant's defense lawyer that the murder conviction should be thrown out. Hall ruled that Bryant should serve 15 years for the crimes.
Smith pleaded guilty in March to murder and neglect. She is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
Several doctors testified during Bryant's trial that the girls had been starved for months. Doctors could see the girls' ribs and hip bones clearly on their emaciated bodies, through scaly, dry skin covered in bloody rashes. Their legs had stiffened into an angle, as if sitting in a chair, that medical personnel could not unbend. Smith testified against Bryant and said they left the girls alone, strapped into infant chairs, each day when they went to work, and that Bryant doped the girls so they wouldn't cry. Police found rank conditions at the family's apartment in the 8700 block of Monitor Way, with piles of soiled diapers, mold ing jars of baby food, and a thermostat set to just over 50 degrees.
Bryant cried during his testimony Monday. Under questioning by his lawyer, B. Thomas Reed, Bryant said he didn't know about the conditions at his home or that his wife was not feeding the children or taking them to a sitter while she worked.
If he had it all to do again, Bryant said, he would have taken the girls to a sitter or to his mother.
Harris assailed Bryant with questions. Didn't Smith tell him Miracle was barely breathing when they talked on the phone the night before the girl died? Hadn't he bought a 12-pack of beer for himself every day, along with take-out food and video games, while his children starved in the next room?
Bryant's responses were barely audible. Harris also questioned him about his relationship with a new girlfriend and pictures posted on the Internet that show him holding her child in which he is captioned a proud parent.
Bryant's mother, Gwendolyn Murray, kept the girls for several weeks when they were about 5 months old. She returned the girls to her son and Smith in November 2007. Doctors testified that's when the neglect likely began.
Murray has custody of the surviving girl, whom she now calls LeeAnna. At 2-1/2, the girl is happy and healthy, Murray testified, and is doing well in physical and occupational therapy. In the weeks before Miracle died, Murray testified, she called Smith repeatedly to say she could keep the girls while Bryant was deployed and even could pick them up early. Murray said she traded messages with her son but was never able to talk with Smith or Bryant directly on the phone.
Outside the courtroom, Murray said she has obeyed a judge's orders that Bryant have no contact with his daughter but said the girl can recognize her father's picture. Murray believes the girl is starting to recognize that her sister is gone, she said. Tears filled her eyes as she said she has not been able to visit Miracle's grave.
"I can't do it," she said.
Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com
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A man was sentenced 15 years
A man was sentenced 15 years for *nearly* starving his children. Why did this guy get off with murder?
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/21598626/detail.html
Hey Corey!
Big Bubba's got your cell all ready for you! He and his friends want to welcome you properly!
appeal
i think that he will get an appeal and get out....only a few people know the TRUE story of what actually happened so people dont really know what they r talking about, also its nice how this story only shows what jill harris said but never showed what mr bryants lawyer did....all well we will wait for an appeal.
Jill Harris bias
It is not surprising at all that Jill Harris would attempt to obtain a stiffer sentence for the father who was deployed serving our country for the final three weeks of Miracle's life even though the mother had access to the child for those three weeks. And who is the girlfriend that puts this guy's picture up as the proud father of her child? If the mother gets less than 15 years, being the one with daily access to Miracle, Jill should be ashamed.
Starvation doesn't happen
Starvation doesn't happen overnight. In fact, the extent of these two babies' malnutrition couldn't have even happened over three weeks. It doesn't matter if this man was in the military or if he was the President of the U.S. - he knowingly let these children suffer and die a long, painful death.
What a shame....
They named these prescious babies Heaven and Miracle as if they were proud parents, then treat them like this. Jailhouse justice for him!
Our legal system
It’s ashamed this person can't be put to rest just like he did his daughter. In fact, allow him to starve...maybe he can die like a human unlike how he killed his daughter. I guess a "little life" isn't really worth as much as smoking dope!
Father gets 15 for death of infant...
It's so very difficult to react to this horrible crime without severe anger. My fundamental beliefs tell me this 'animal' should have never fathered children...and to give such children those blessed names. OMG. They sure don't believe in any God that I've heard of....
I can agree that our legal system if fatally flawed toward the criminals rights - not the victimized; and to be biased against one 'parent' and presumably 'favor' the other...is ludicrous! They are both equally culpable in this disaster. (It takes two...)
A favorite phrase of mine is that..."any fool can be a father, but it takes a hell of a man to be a Dad!"
What sad shape this nation is in - so very many don't value innocent life!
Flawed System
Our whole system is flawed. You need a license to pull a fish out of the bay, you have to take a test to drive a car, you have to have a license to operate a business in your home, but you don't need any qualifications, have to meet any prerequisite requirements to have a child.
Need a license...
I have to agree with you that to have a baby you need do nothing but make it and keep it... no license, no suitability test, no anything!
It is a tragedy. There are so many who would have cared for, loved and nurtured those girls if they didn't want them. Nothing but selfishness!
There are small time
There are small time marijuana dealers spending life in prison, this guy gets 15 yrs? Our justice system needs to be overhauled. I have long thought our legal system exists for no other purpose than a business making money.
THERE ARE SMALL TIME
I agree with you on our justice system. I realized a year ago that it isn't fair at all. How do you help with neglecting your child and the child dies and you get 15 years for aiding in taking an innocent life? WOW the people that we appoint sometimes make some unfair decisions. I know from personal experience.
Once again
The law proves it's geared to protect a woman no matter what she does or doesn't do!!!
Since
they had seperate trials don't you think we should wait until she's sentenced before concluding about the law?
He Won't Last
I used to work in a maximum security prison in another state. I worked in the psychiatric department and the psychologists and psychiatrists often spoke of individuals coming in that had problems "adjusting" in population because the inmates in their block weren't willing to tolerate the new man's crime against a child (or children). This guy may have a similar situation and he may wish he had done things a whole lot differently. People don't generally tolerate this sort of behavior so they may make life difficult for him. He'll lie awake a lot of nights worrying about where he is I'm sure and worry he should.
Dopey mother -- what in the world was she doing for three weeks? If she had needed help, all she would have had to do was ask...the Navy "family" is always willing to help in a crisis and there are countless agencies in this area to help young mothers in need when their spouses are out to sea.
All I can say is that it's a real shame and thank God for the Grandmother.
I wonder
how many of you espouse the anger at these two (rightfully so, by the way) but complain about 'welfare' or WIC? Obstensibly they are to feed children. Yes, they should work and support their children, but do we let them starve until they find the job?
Both these parents are sad, ignorant human beings and deserve the sentences they get. I hope little Heaven grows up healthy and happy with her grandmother. ANd I hope you all complaining will be there to help the grandmother when she needs it.
Welfare and WIC
I don't loathe these programs and their intent, but I do question the validity of their recipients, as do many others!
As for the grandmother, she's picking up the slack where that baby's parents left off. I wholeheartedly support her and the people like her who work to keep their families together despite the bad times.
A few years behind bars,
he is set free, and he starts the cycle all over again. Too bad we discontinued forced sterilization...it fits this crime.
A few years behind bars,
he is set free, and he starts the cycle all over again. Too bad we discontinued forced sterilization...it fits this crime.
15 years for killing a child?????
"Bryant’s sentence falls within recommended guidelines for the crimes."
Somebody please tell me this makes sense?????