June 10, 2008 — The opening day of the highly anticipated trial of Daniel Castillo on charges he murdered 12-year-old La'Quina Hennis veered from the emotional to the tedious Tuesday as jurors heard more than eight hours of testimony.
Though he initially confessed to the crime, Castillo subsequently pleaded not guilty. Motions to have his confession suppressed were denied by V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda Hollar, the presiding judge in the matter.
Castillo faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and child abuse. Hennis disappeared April 6, 2007. Her body was found five days later at Castillo's Sugar Estate residence. V.I. Search and Rescue volunteers worked their way through several buildings on Eighth Street in Sugar Estate after receiving reports of a foul odor. The body was found in one of the wooden buildings, lying face down in a plastic tote bin.
V.I. Assistant Attorneys General Kelly Evans and Jesse Bethel called Beatrice Anita Hennis, the girl's mother, as their first witness. Hennis gave an account of the events leading up to La'Quina's disappearance. La'Quina and her younger sister, La'Quana, had gone to Sugar Estate from their Bovoni home April 6 to spend the night with an aunt, Hennis said.
Asked if she knew Castillo, Hennis said she had known him for years. La'Quina knew him, Hennis said, and his children and hers played together. Kinisha Hodge, the mother of Castillo's children, lived with her for while, Hennis said.
When La'Quina didn't return home from her aunt's, Hennis called her cousin, V.I. Police Detective John Farrington, who told her to go to the police station and make a report, which she did. Farrington and his wife met Hennis and they searched the neighborhood until 4 a.m. The next day, they made a flyer to distribute with La'Quina's picture. Though Hennis had struggled for composure throughout the questioning, she broke down when faced with her daughter's picture, and a short recess was called.
After her testimony, Hennis collapsed in the arms of friends and court advocates, one of whom handed her a white teddy bear. The bear is now "her La'Quina," government victim advocate Leslye Webb said later.
In his opening statement, public defender Harold Willocks quoted Mark Twain: "What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
"There are two sides to this case," Willocks told the jury. "We are hearing about one side. Daniel Castillo has five children he loves dearly. He was fond of Hennis."
He continued, "The key here is that lot of times, when there is an overwhelming amount of evidence, the words of Mark Twain come into play. I want you to listen to all the evidence. The only thing [you need] is your conscience."
Bethel muttered something about "theatrics" before calling his next witness, N'Kile Robles, a Head Start worker and 20-year friend of Hennis. Robles testified that she saw La'Quina the afternoon of April 6, walking with Castillo. She knew Castillo because his children are in the Head Start program.
"We make home visits, so we get to know all the children," Robles said.
Willocks questioned Robles about whether it was Castillo she had seen. Robles said positively, it was. Willocks asked if it could have been Deshane Greenaway. Robles said she didn't know a Greenaway.
Throughout the day, Willocks repeatedly brought up the idea that another person could have been involved.
Farrington, La'Quina's uncle, took the stand after Robles, recounting the events after Hennis called him, and the ensuing search. He and two other policemen searched Castillo's residence, an abandoned building, after learning La'Quina had last been seen with him, but found nothing at the time, Farrington said. He called Police Commissioner James McCall and alerted him to the situation.
Farrington and his wife were very close to La'Quina and her sister, he said. They had previously lived with the Farrington family. When recounting the identification of the body, Farrington was overcome with emotion, and accepted a brief recess.
Deputy U.S. Marshal David Drake testified in the afternoon about finding Castillo on a Frenchtown hillside. He meticulously outlined how he and marshals John Simpson and Paul Nielsen took Castillo into custody. Before apprehending him, Drake said Castillo confessed, after which Drake cuffed him.
"He said, 'I killed her, I killed the little girl, I'm so sorry,'" Drake related. Castillo also said, "I never wanted to be like my father and my uncle."
Drake took Castillo's statement and drove him to a nearby McDonald's and then to the Alexander A. Farrelly Justice Complex. Castillo said it was his birthday, and he had been drinking beer and "smoking weed." (For more details about the case, see "Judge Upholds Confession by Hennis Murder Suspect.")
As the afternoon wore on, sidebar conferences increased. Though the conferences are private, Hollar appeared to be exasperated with the repetitious questioning by all attorneys.
V.I. Police Detectives Lionel Bess and Mario Stout of the Major Crime Unit testified later in the day, with Bess reading Castillo's confession in full.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday with Dr. Francisco Landron, medical examiner, scheduled to testify.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
