02-13-2018, 06:05 PM
Brutal Murder
The next day, Cherish's body was found half-naked and shoved under a fallen tree in a marshy creek near Jacksonville.
Smith was located shortly thereafter. His clothing was wet from the waist down when he was arrested.
![[Image: 8006468_Thumb.jpg?,mode=pad&width=750&he...lor=000000]](http://www.firstcoastnews.com/img/resize/wtlv-download.edgesuite.net/video/8006468/8006468_Thumb.jpg?,mode=pad&width=750&height=422&scale=both&bgcolor=000000)
On Monday, State Attorney Melissa Nelson ^ described the horrible manner in which 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle was killed. Nelson said that the child’s last five hours alive were torturous.
“He gagged her, raped her, he sodomized her, then he strangled her. He gagged her with such force, her gums and nostrils bled. He strangled her with such force her eyeballs bled,” Nelson said. “Cherish did not die quickly, and she did not die easily. In fact, hers was a brutal and tortured death."
Several jurors and the testifying Medical Examiner herself cried when autopsy photos of Cherish were shown in court. The judge had to halt the trial for a bit, which prompted Smith's Defense Attorney to request a mistrial. Denied.