07-19-2014, 12:24 PM
MARIHA'S AUNT TESTIFIES FOR THE PROSECUTION
Quanita Smith testified during ex-boyfriend Darnell 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.
Smith said she didn’t do anything because she was too drunk, and she went back to sleep.
She gave statements to police after the girl disappeared but didn’t tell authorities the details of seeing Mariha and Cheatham in bed for about two years because she said she was scared.
“What were you scared of?” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb asked. “Darnell Cheatham,” she replied
Smith feared being physically assaulted, like she said she had been before by Cheatham, or killed, she testified.
During opening statements, (defense attorney Kareem) Johnson said he plans to talk about how “reasonable or ridiculous” it is that Mariha wasn’t crying or screaming when she was allegedly on top of his client. (HOTD: it's very reasonable -- little kids often say nothing when threatened by an adult and told to keep quiet, no matter how painful.)
Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NE...l-cheatham
Quanita Smith testified during ex-boyfriend Darnell 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.
Smith said she didn’t do anything because she was too drunk, and she went back to sleep.
She gave statements to police after the girl disappeared but didn’t tell authorities the details of seeing Mariha and Cheatham in bed for about two years because she said she was scared.
“What were you scared of?” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb asked. “Darnell Cheatham,” she replied
Smith feared being physically assaulted, like she said she had been before by Cheatham, or killed, she testified.
During opening statements, (defense attorney Kareem) Johnson said he plans to talk about how “reasonable or ridiculous” it is that Mariha wasn’t crying or screaming when she was allegedly on top of his client. (HOTD: it's very reasonable -- little kids often say nothing when threatened by an adult and told to keep quiet, no matter how painful.)
Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20140717/NE...l-cheatham