Texas
Prosecutors seek to charge man for childhood crime
HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors want a judge to allow them to bring to trial a man accused of burning a child when he was just 13.
Robbie Middleton survived those burns for 12 years until dying in 2010 of a rare skin cancer related to the many skin grafts he received for burns he suffered on his eighth birthday north of Houston. A medical examiner ruled the death homicide.
Don Wilburn Collins was accused of setting the child on fire when he was 13. Now, the Houston Chronicle reports Montgomery County prosecutors have asked a judge to move a murder case against the now-27-year-old Collins from juvenile court to state district court.
Georgia
Inmate wants new trial in 1989 Columbus slaying
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man serving a life sentence for killing a baker at a Columbus doughnut shop in 1989 says he deserves a new trial.
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports convicted murderer Tracey Terrell McKay says his trial attorney did a poor job by ignoring witnesses who pointed to someone else as the killer of baker Sonny Thrash.
A judge heard more than two hours of testimony Tuesday as McKay’s new lawyer called numerous witnesses, including attorney Alonza Whitaker.
Whitaker defended McKay at his 2006 trial, but is now an assistant prosecutor. Whitaker says jurors at McKay’s trial wouldn’t have been allowed to hear witness statements implicating other suspects because they would have been considered hearsay.
The judge has not indicated when he will rule.
