GUILTY GA - Antonio Santiago, 13 mos, Brunswick, 21 March 2013 - #3

[KRT_bird]

katy, Disgusting & despicable are the nicest terms I could use for Gough. He is trying so hard to get her discombobulated , but God bless her, she is hanging in there.

I think she is doing a lot better job than I could ever do!
I hope this jury sees through this #### attorney and they give the max to all defendants involved in this terrible crime.

Pete Combs ‏@Reporterpete 9m

DeMarquise #Elkins atty wants to prove Sherry West was mentally unstable and killed or took part in the killing of her own 13-month old son.

 

[seattlechiquita]

Is anyone else watching this BIZARRE interrogation of this poor woman????

No. Audio was horrible and I can't crank it up at work, so I must pass on this trial and rely on you folks for updates.

I am not surprised though that the defense is going for her yugular. Not that long ago some posters on WS, me included, were suspicious of the mother.

 

[Cracka*Jaxx]

Tim Pulliam ‏@TimPulliam 3h

Defense says some of her medications can potentially cause: Hallucinations, agitation, depression, trouble with thinking, vision changes.

I take quite a few medications and have all kinds of side effects from them. But nothing would ever cause me to kill my own baby. This line of questioning is outrageous!

 

[noZme]

I still cannot believe he asked wasn't the baby's death merciful. Just because his death was instantaneous does not make a 's shooting him dead in his stroller "merciful". FGS!

He is relentless in attempt to get her rattled... no doubt the daughter will be taking the stand to testify about West's drugs use & poor parenting which have NOTHING to do with the day Antonio died.

The tactics defense attorneys use are often distasteful, this guy is in a category all by himself.

 

[katydid23]

No. Audio was horrible and I can't crank it up at work, so I must pass on this trial and rely on you folks for updates.

I am not surprised though that the defense is going for her yugular. Not that long ago some posters on WS, me included, were suspicious of the mother.

But the mURDER WEAPON was disposed of by the defendants own mother and sister. And witnesses saw him with the weapon right after the shooting. And the accomplice has admitted to their actions and pointed the finger at the shooter.

So going after this grieving mother now is sadistic and inhumane, imo.

 

[KRT_bird]

Pete Combs ‏@Reporterpete 56s

Prosecutor in #Elkins case: We have sifted this witness for 4 hrs. Court has authority to protect this witness from harsh & insulting ?'s.

Court is taking a break. Maybe breaking for the day.
Sherry West (Mom) held up very well against so many insulting and degrading questions by the defense. I hope she can get through this and the piece of trash that shot her baby will rot in jail and in hell!

 

[KRT_bird]

Pete Combs ‏@Reporterpete 51s

Judge in #Elkins case wants to think over whether he'll shut down defense questioning of murdered infant's mom. Back at 8:30am. Good nite!

Tim Pulliam ‏@TimPulliam 3m

Judge decided court will be in recess until tomorrow morning at 9:00am. Jury can go home. @wjxt4 #elkins Sherry will testify again Weds.

 

[noZme]

Defense will spend the evening thinking up more ambiguous questions & accusatory statements.

 

[Minette]

Gough is trying to 'break' West, which is especially heinous because she *does* have mental issues, not to mention she watched his client SHOOT HER BABY IN THE FACE!

I want this kid to go down, hard.

 

[dr dona]

just for GENERAL INFO--MOM HAD PURCHASED A GERBER POLICY FOR HER BABY..OFTEN TIMES THIS PAMPHLET IS GIVEN TO PARENTS BY THE L AND D DEPT AFTER THE BABY'S BIRTH TO ADVERTISE THIS. I BOUGHT MY GRANDSON ONE. THIS IS A WHOLE LIFE POLICY WHICH IS REALLY CHEAP. INTEREST MONEY ACCRUES IN THE POLICY AND CAN BE TAKEN OUT FOR COLLEGE ETC. also later the child can convert this over to larger policy when they get married and have their own children. tONS OF PARENTS GET THIS TYPE OF POLKICY-- Gerber advertises it on TV

 

[katydid23]

I hope the jury is as repulsed by this disgusting defense attorney as I am.

 

[katydid23]

Exactly. the Gerber policy was 'worth' about 5 grand at the time of the baby's death. I am sure the jury does not think a mother would shoot their baby in the face for 5 grand.

 

[Hickory Born]

It is one thing to defend your client and then another thing to abuse a witness. Gough has political aspirations in the Glynn County Republican Party. Maybe now everyone will see him for what he really is...the party is over for him, hopefully!

 

[katydid23]

Gough was revolting. At least Nurmi attempted to sound compassionate and caring and pretended to act embarrassed when he asked witnesses about their sex lives etc. but Gough is acting obnoxious and gleeful and is all smiles. IMO he is utterly disgusting.

 

[noZme]

just for GENERAL INFO--MOM HAD PURCHASED A GERBER POLICY FOR HER BABY..OFTEN TIMES THIS PAMPHLET IS GIVEN TO PARENTS BY THE L AND D DEPT AFTER THE BABY'S BIRTH TO ADVERTISE THIS. I BOUGHT MY GRANDSON ONE. THIS IS A WHOLE LIFE POLICY WHICH IS REALLY CHEAP. INTEREST MONEY ACCRUES IN THE POLICY AND CAN BE TAKEN OUT FOR COLLEGE ETC. also later the child can convert this over to larger policy when they get married and have their own children. tONS OF PARENTS GET THIS TYPE OF POLKICY-- Gerber advertises it on TV

Thanks dr dona. I read somewhere the premium was 4 bucks & change a month.

I hope the jury knows that one of the first questions from the funeral home is how are you going to pay & if the deceased had life insurance one of the FH's services is to make that notification. West had lost one child & maybe that influenced her purchasing the Gerber policy.

Gough said he had begged the State to check out their witnesses... OK, no nuns or virgins there, just a bunch of people lying to save their own skin & trying to cover for DeMarquise Elkins. Oh please mr defense attorney, your client shot a sleeping baby in the face!

I just took my blood pressure. I have to shut down & let this go for tonight.

 

[Minette]

I woke up with a strange sense of serenity about the case this morning. I realized that if by some mad fluke Elkins get off on this charge or gets parole it won't be the last we hear from him. Because this is a guy who preys on the weak and vulnerable (mothers with babies, illegal immigrants) and shoots them if he doesn't get money from them. And let's be serious--these people he is robbing, in this part of town, aren't going to be loaded in the first place. I think the robbery is just a pretext for shooting them, actually.

So if Elkins ever gets back out on the street, the first thing this idiot is going to do is go out and get a gun and find a little old lady or some other easy target to 'rob' and shoot. And since he is now over 18, the state of Georgia will be able to give him the appropriate sentence the next time.

But let's hope the jury and judge do the right thing THIS time and put him away until he's 99 years old and theoretically too feeble to SHOOT ANOTHER BABY IN THE FACE.

 

[Hickory Born]

I really think our system is WRONG. A <mod snip> attorney can get by with asking a victim all types of irrelevant questions and the murderer doesn't have to answer one single question!

BTW it is being reported that Elkins' mother was sitting in the courtroom yawning when SW was on the stand. Maybe she is bored (insert sarcasm font).

 

[Hickory Born]

I woke up with a strange sense of serenity about the case this morning. I realized that if by some mad fluke Elkins get off on this charge or gets parole it won't be the last we hear from him. Because this is a guy who preys on the weak and vulnerable (mothers with babies, illegal immigrants) and shoots them if he doesn't get money from them. And let's be serious--these people he is robbing, in this part of town, aren't going to be loaded in the first place. I think the robbery is just a pretext for shooting them, actually.

So if Elkins ever gets back out on the street, the first thing this idiot is going to do is go out and get a gun and find a little old lady or some other easy target to 'rob' and shoot. And since he is now over 18, the state of Georgia will be able to give him the appropriate sentence the next time.

But let's hope the jury and judge do the right thing THIS time and put him away until he's 99 years old and theoretically too feeble to SHOOT ANOTHER BABY IN THE FACE.

I think the Cobb County Jury has enough sense to not throw out the testimony of ALL witnesses. A juror would have to believe DL was lying about everything he said and Elkins family members and friends were lying about everything they said, and law enforcement were lying about everything they said.

Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter tweeted this afternoon when SW was being questioned, he had never reported on a court case like this...and he wasn't speaking of murder. That alone tells me the Judge better reign in Gough!

 

[Minette]

Twitter feed for Bill Rankin, the AJC reporter who is covering the case: https://twitter.com/ajccourts

Note that several other trials are being covered, including the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.)

 

[vlpate]

Defense will spend the evening thinking up more ambiguous questions & accusatory statements.

IMO, if SW's daughter and the baby's father believe SW may have played a role in AS's death, why wouldn't the defense try to make that case? It is not like an acquaintance or co-worker made the following statements, they were made by people who knew her better than anyone. Whether she had a connection to the death or not, it's the role of the defense team to investigate and use the statements to their client's advantage.

"Also, West’s daughter Ashley Glassey, 21, said she didn’t want to wrongly accuse her mother but had her doubts because her stories were conflicting and she may have committed the murder for insurance money."

“He went nuts … he was throwing things through the window and terrorizing me, saying that I killed my baby and it should have been me,” West tells CBS"

I have no idea what happened, exactly, but it really bugs me that SW held onto her purse after two countdowns, refusing to give it up. On the other hand, she has always maintained the boys were asking for money -- not her purse or wallet, but money, so maybe they didn't want the purse, which would explain why she held onto it. Most thieves don't wait around for a woman to dig her money out for them, they just ask for or take the purse. Elkins had the gun, he could have just shot her and taken what he wanted because shooting the baby accomplished nothing and left a witness to the murder behind.

There is little doubt as to who the shooter was, but there is still much in this case that leaves me with questions, IMO.