GUILTY MI - Mariha Smith, 5, Detroit, 24 July 2011

[Cubby]

I'm first reading about this arrest now. the second have of 2013 was incredibly busy... glad to have time to start catching up again.

Aunt says boyfriend was in bed with girl, 5, before she was found sexually assaulted, burned

http://www.freep.com/article/20131115/NEWS01/311150097/girl-5-burned-sexual-assault-Detroit




She was in the bed with him while he was sexually assaulting her 5 year old neice on the other side of the bed. :furious:

much more at above article. Warning - you will be furious when you read what Aunt Quanita knew and did not share with police until a month before the arrest, and shared only after she was locked up.


Sadly, Michigan does not have the death penalty. Though with Cheatham's young age, he could easily spend a half century behind bars and if he's in the gp it will be a very tough existance for him.

 

[Cubby]

Link for Wayne County, MI court records:
https://www.3rdcc.org/OPA.aspx

 

[Cubby]

Jury trial is scheduled for 9:00am June 30th. Let's hope there are no delays.

https://cmspublic.3rdcc.org/CaseDetail.aspx?CaseID=2358074

I am going to ask the mods to move this thread to currently awaiting trial.

 

[always reading]

I'm first reading about this arrest now. the second have of 2013 was incredibly busy... glad to have time to start catching up again.

Aunt says boyfriend was in bed with girl, 5, before she was found sexually assaulted, burned

http://www.freep.com/article/20131115/NEWS01/311150097/girl-5-burned-sexual-assault-Detroit




She was in the bed with him while he was sexually assaulting her 5 year old neice on the other side of the bed. :furious:

much more at above article. Warning - you will be furious when you read what Aunt Quanita knew and did not share with police until a month before the arrest, and shared only after she was locked up.


Sadly, Michigan does not have the death penalty. Though with Cheatham's young age, he could easily spend a half century behind bars and if he's in the gp it will be a very tough existance for him.

This article has made me so mad. I hate women that are so desperate for a man that they will put him first. Anyone that sits, or lays in this case, by and allows abuse, is just as bad as the molester. Her own aunt who's supposed to protect her. I could shoot her right between the eyes. I Hope she faces charges on this.....or did she plea bargain?

 

[always reading]

Does anyone know what the aunt is locked up for?

 

[Cubby]

I'm not seeing any criminal court cases for Aunt Quanita in the previous link to the online court records.

My quess is she was not charged in Mariha's case and is probably going to be a ? cooperative witness. At least that was my impression based on the msm article.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.freep.com/article/20140630/NEWS01/306300051/1001/news

Jury selection is scheduled to begin this morning in the trial of a Detroit man accused of murdering 5-year-old Mariha Smith nearly three years ago.

Darnell Cheatham is accused of sexually assaulting the child, killing her and torching an abandoned house in the 2900 block of Waverly where Mariha’s body was discovered.

He was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, arson, torture, first-degree child abuse and disinterment and mutilation of a body.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://wwmt.com/shared/news/features/state/stories/wwmt_trial-start-delayed-rape-slaying-girl-5-4984.shtml#.U7HrrSgqWAA

A judge has postponed the trial of a Detroit man authorities say abducted, raped and killed his girlfriend's 5-year-old niece in 2011, then burned the body...

The trial was set to start Monday, but Wayne County Circuit Judge Ulysses W. Boykin rescheduled it to July 14. Prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller says the delay is to allow the investigation of a potential new witness.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroit-man-faces-trial-for-murder-of-5-year-old-in-2011/

A Detroit man is scheduled to go on trial Monday in the abduction, rape and killing of his girlfriend's niece, reports CBS Detroit...

If Cheatham is found guilty of first-degree murder, he will receive a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. He is also charged with torture, child abuse, arson and mutilation of a body.

 

[Harmony 2]

Court records show more than two dozen witnesses could be called. Jury selection starts Monday.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...n-murder-of-5yearold-girl-in-detroit/26939692

Justice for Mariha!!!

 

[Harmony 2]

Darnell Cheatham, 22, was charged with first-degree murder, torture, child abuse, arson and mutilation of a body in the July 24, 2011, death of the girl, and jury selection is set to begin today in his trial at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.

Cheatham’s attorney said a witness gave a statement that said a woman was holding hands with a little girl near the home where Mariha was found, a few hours before she was discovered. He said that witness picked his client’s girlfriend from a photographic lineup, identifying her as the person who was in that area.

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/C4/20140714/NEWS01/307140024

 

[Harmony 2]

I am not finding much on this trial...
:-(

 

[Jewels53]

What a beautiful little girl Mariha was, may she RIP.

I wish Mariha's Trial was getting the attention that she deserved. imo

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

July 14, 2014 at 7:00 am

Detroit man headed to trial in death of girlfriend's niece

Associated Press

Detroit — Trial is scheduled to start in the case of a Detroit man accused of abducting, raping and killing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old niece.

Darnell Cheatham is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the death of Mariah Smith, whose burned remains were found in a vacant house in 2011...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140714/METRO01/307140043#ixzz37XnVD3kW

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.freep.com/article/20140715/NEWS01/307150104/Mariha-Detroit-girl-gasoline

A jury has been seated in the trial of a Detroit man charged with murder of a five-year-old girl killed nearly three years ago...

More than two dozen witnesses could be called to testify during the trial before Wayne Circuit Court Judge Ulysses Boykin, including Mariha's mom, aunt, and several police investigators.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.freep.com/article/20140716/NEWS01/307160118/Mariha-Smith-murder-Detroit

The mother of a five-year-old girl whose charred body was discovered in an abandoned home nearly three years ago took the witness stand this morning in the murder trial for Darnell Cheatham.

Mariha Smith's mother, Konesha Smith, said the girl's birthday was yesterday. She then described searching for her daughter on July 24, 2011 when she discovered the girl was missing from a home on Burlingame in Detroit where people had been drinking alcohol and playing cards hours earlier...

Neither Cheatham or Quanita Smith helped look for her daughter, the girl's mother testified. Quanita Smith was in the living room and Cheatham was in bed watching television, she said.

 

[Harmony 2]

“Mariha was strangled, possibly suffocated, before her body was burned,” Goldfarb said, adding evidence in the case will show the girl suffered before she died.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140715/NEWS01/307150104/Mariha-Detroit-girl-gasoline

 

[OkieGranny]

This is too graphic. I don't want to copy and paste any excerpts this time.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NEWS01/307170106/mariha-smith-darnell-cheatham

Aunt Quanita testifies.

 

[lisette]

I couldn't find a more recent thread on this case...The sorry low-life is finally on trial for this horrific crime.

Mariha Smith's aunt testifies seeing child in bed with Darnell Cheatham

The aunt of 5-year-old Mariha Smith took the stand today, testifying that she saw the girl in bed with Darnell Cheatham, the aunt’s then-boyfriend, shortly before relatives discovered Mariha missing in July 2011.

Cheatham, 22, of Detroit is accused of sexually assaulting Mariha, killing her and setting fire to an abandoned house in the 2900 block of Waverly in Detroit, where the girl’s burned body was discovered.


Quanita Smith, Mariha’s aunt, testified during Cheatham’s murder trial that she had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana on July 23, later went to bed with Cheatham and the two had sex at her home on Burlingame.

“I woke up, seen Mariha on top of Darnell,” she said. “And Darnell was moving Mariha.”

The girl was on top of his penis, she said. She couldn’t recall if he was clothed, but she said Mariha wasn’t making any noise.

snipped

http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NEWS01/307170106/mariha-smith-darnell-cheatham

:facepalm:

 

[lisette]

Couldn't find much on here about the progression of this case during these 3 years....Perp is on trial now...
Horrible, Horrible, Horrible....

http://abcnews.go.com/US/police-person-interest-detroit-girl-murder-case/story?id=14246402

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23750438/detroit-man-charged-in-rape-murder-of-girl-5

http://www.freep.com/article/20131115/NEWS01/311150097/girl-5-burned-sexual-assault-Detroit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...aped-year-old-crushing-skull-setting-her.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroit-man-faces-trial-for-murder-of-5-year-old-in-2011/

http://www.freep.com/article/20140716/NEWS01/307160118/Mariha-Smith-murder-Detroit