Mitigation David Johnston :
From the affidavit of David's aunt, Charlene Benoit:
When David was young we all lived in New Orleans.
I spent a lot of time visiting David's home. I was a
witness to the abuse David received. The worst thing I
saw was one time when David was about a year and a half
old my mother and I were visiting at Albert and Mary's*
David was not successful at potty training, and this
time David messed himself. Mary took David and
submerged him in the sink for a long time. David turned
black under the water. Finally, my mother made Mary
stop drowning David when Mary finally stopped, David
seemed to be gone. Mary shook David very hard and he
started breathing and came back to us. My mother and I
were very scared, Mary was out of control. I don't know
if she did this David other times [sic].
Also, when David was less than 2 years old Mary
beat his head on the side of the bathtub so hard she
knocked all of David's teeth out. He was hurt badly. My
brother Harvey tryed [sic] to make Albert and Mary take
David to the Hospital to get the injuries to his mouth
and head looked at, but they wouldn't take him to the
doctor. This beating was so severe it could have killed
him.
From birth until David left Mary's house he
received beatings and all the time. Mary had something
against David from the start, I never could figure out
why she had it out for him. Mary did not treat any of
her children well, but she was very mean to David. Mary
would allow the other children to beat David. On
Holidays the other kids would receive presents and
David wouldn't get any. David would be left out when
Mary bought ice cream and sweets for the other kids.
Sometimes when I would visit Mary would make David
sit in front of the blank T.V. screen for hours on end
while the other kids played if David cryed [sic] or
moved, Mary would beat him. All David's childhood his
parents told him he was crazy and retarded. David was
in special education classes in school and had to take
medicine to control his behavior. I don't believe
Albert and Mary did a good job at keeping David on his
medicine.
http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/88019/88019ini.pdf
When David was young we all lived in New Orleans.
I spent a lot of time visiting David's home. I was a
witness to the abuse David received. The worst thing I
saw was one time when David was about a year and a half
old my mother and I were visiting at Albert and Mary's*
David was not successful at potty training, and this
time David messed himself. Mary took David and
submerged him in the sink for a long time. David turned
black under the water. Finally, my mother made Mary
stop drowning David when Mary finally stopped, David
seemed to be gone. Mary shook David very hard and he
started breathing and came back to us. My mother and I
were very scared, Mary was out of control. I don't know
if she did this David other times [sic].
Also, when David was less than 2 years old Mary
beat his head on the side of the bathtub so hard she
knocked all of David's teeth out. He was hurt badly. My
brother Harvey tryed [sic] to make Albert and Mary take
David to the Hospital to get the injuries to his mouth
and head looked at, but they wouldn't take him to the
doctor. This beating was so severe it could have killed
him.
From birth until David left Mary's house he
received beatings and all the time. Mary had something
against David from the start, I never could figure out
why she had it out for him. Mary did not treat any of
her children well, but she was very mean to David. Mary
would allow the other children to beat David. On
Holidays the other kids would receive presents and
David wouldn't get any. David would be left out when
Mary bought ice cream and sweets for the other kids.
Sometimes when I would visit Mary would make David
sit in front of the blank T.V. screen for hours on end
while the other kids played if David cryed [sic] or
moved, Mary would beat him. All David's childhood his
parents told him he was crazy and retarded. David was
in special education classes in school and had to take
medicine to control his behavior. I don't believe
Albert and Mary did a good job at keeping David on his
medicine.
http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/88019/88019ini.pdf
This is the saddest story I have ever heard. I can feel the pain in his Aunt's writing. Now this man is going to be sentenced to death. It's ridiculous the way that this poor man has had to spend his time on earth. I can only hope that in his next life he will be given a chance to have a happy life.
ReplyDeleteAre you insane Oliver? This piece of garbage murdered my great grandmother. I don't care what he had to endure while growing up. He had no reason to kill her. He should have been executed years ago. I only wish they could strap him into Old Sparky and strangle him at the same time. Maybe then he would understand what he did.
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