Vicksburg mother beat 5-year-old to
death because he couldn't count to 20
November 18, 2006
VICKSBURG — A 30-year-old woman
convicted of beating her 5-year-old son to death because he could
not count to 20 will serve a life sentence for capital murder.
The jury deadlocked 11-1 Thursday
on the death penalty for Towander Broadhead. It took less than hour
to convict her of killing Kenderick Broadhead.
Broadhead's daughter, 13-year-old
Royteshia Perkins, testified Wednesday that the Escatawpa woman beat
Kenderick all over the house on the day of his death, using a belt,
a book, a broomstick and a plastic rod used to open blinds.
"I certainly thought it was a case
for the death penalty, but I fully respect the jury's decision,"
District Attorney Tony Lawrence said in a statement.
When she took the stand, Broadhead
said her weak spirituality allowed her to submit to the will of
Satan.
"I don't think I was possessed, but
I think the devil set me up big time for this," she said.
Broadhead, 27 at the time of the
killing, said she meant to correct the boy, who kept missing 16 as
he tried to count to 20. But the Vicksburg jury didn't believe her
testimony.
The trial was moved from Jackson
County, where a judge ruled Broadhead would not be able to receive a
fair trial because of media coverage.
Her defense attorney, George
Shaddock, said Broadhead believed education was the only way for the
child to escape the life of poverty and child abuse she suffered
growing up. In closing arguments, he told jurors she did not realize
the boy was seriously injured when he died in February 2004.
Jurors were not given the option of
convicting Broadhead of manslaughter, which carries a lighter
penalty.
Broadhead testified that her mother
hit her in the face with a pipe when she was 5 and that the woman
fired a gun at her as an adolescent.
Lawrence countered her remarks on
cross-examination.
"All that stuff is not an excuse
for what you did to 5-five-year old Kenderick Broadhead," he said.
Forensic pathologist Paul McGary
testified the boy's wounds were consistent with an attack similar to
the one described by Perkins.
Broadhead's husband, the late
Willie Earl Thomas, was charged with accessory after the fact to
capital murder for his role in the disposing of the body about 40
miles from the couple's home.
Broadhead said dumping the body in
rural Harrison County was Thomas' idea as well as dialing 911 and
reporting her son missing.
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