http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7105366.htmlA wish to bond with his dad costs 6-year-old boy his life'I want to see him suffer,' mom says of suspect in brutal beatingJuly 13, 2010
Tekerrious "TK" Jackson endured severe trauma, police say.
Alex McGowen Duncan is charged with murder in his son's death.
Tammyra Lanette Sampson is charged with injury to a child by omission.
Accused of beating his 6-year-old son to death, Alex McGowen Duncan spent his days dealing drugs and his nights in marathon sessions of punching the child in the chest, prosecutors said in court this morning.
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Sunni Mitchell said Duncan’s girlfriend, 30-year-old Tammyra Sampson, told police the 34-year-old man spent the day making drug deals before putting the child to bed. When the boy wouldn't sleep, Duncan began punching Tekerrious "T.K." Jackson from 7 p.m. Saturday to about 4 a.m. Sunday when the child was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital where he died.
Police said the fatal, eight-hour beating was the final episode in at least two weeks of abuse that suffered since coming to spend the summer with his father.
Duncan and Sampson both gave statements to police, Mitchell told state District Judge Belinda Hill. She said Sampson told police that she noticed the boy’s chest was swollen and should have taken him to the hospital sooner.
Tekerrious had asked to spend the summer with his father, a man who had not been around for much of his life.
On Monday, the boy's biological mother voiced her wish for the child's father to die.
"I want to see him suffer," Lucy Jackson Adams, 30, said of Alex McGowen Duncan, 34, known as "Boomer," who remained in the Harris County Jail on a charge of murder. "I want to see him die just the way my son died. I'm angry as hell."
Adams said she never would have let her son stay with his father had she known the boy would be in danger. She said she never saw Duncan raise a hand toward her son.
She also said she felt a false sense of security because she thought her son was staying with his paternal grandmother instead of Duncan's apartment.
Anger at witness
Standing outside the Houston Police Department on Monday, Adams also had harsh words for Sampson, 30, who police said witnessed the extensive beating, along with Sampson's 11-year-old daughter.
Sampson also is in the Harris County Jail, charged with injury to a child by omission, accused of failing to promptly seek medical treatment for the injured boy, court records show.
"That girlfriend — she was less of a woman," Adams said tearfully. "How you going to watch something like that and condone that? You don't think he's not going to turn around and do the same thing to your child?"
T.K., who had just completed kindergarten at Stuchbery Elementary School in the Pasadena Independent School District, had lived with his mother his entire life, most recently in a house in the Sagemont subdivision of southeast Houston.
His parents never married, but when he asked to spend the summer with his father, Adams saw no reason to object.
"He wanted to be with his daddy and to bond with him," she said.
Adams said she learned of her son's fate when Duncan called her at work at 4:25 a.m. Sunday and told her they were at the hospital. She said Duncan claimed the boy had massive seizures, had thrown up and had soiled himself. Only when Adams arrived at the hospital, did she learn the truth.
Investigators said doctors found signs of severe trauma to the boy's body. Sampson's daughter also spoke up.
"That woman's little girl told (the police) everything," Adams said.
The 11-year-old told investigators that Duncan forced her to watch a series of beatings inflicted on the boy and said she also witnessed the eight-hour ordeal during the weekend. Sampson told police she once stopped Duncan so she could show him how to properly discipline the little boy with a belt.
Criminal histories
Both Duncan and Sampson remained in the Harris County Jail late Monday, each held on $50,000 bail. Duncan has requested a court-appointed lawyer to represent him.
Duncan has a lengthy criminal history in Harris County dating back to at least 1994. He has convictions for drug possession, attempted possession of drugs, assault of a family member, evading detention, failure to identify himself to a police officer as a fugitive, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana, court records show.
Sampson also has a lengthy criminal history in Harris County with arrests dating back to at least 1997. Her record includes convictions for theft, illegal redemption of food stamps and hindering apprehension.
Adams left the police department Monday with little more than tears and photos of her dead son in happier days.
"I know vengeance is not mine — it's the Lord's," she said. "But I can't say I'd say the same thing if (Duncan) was standing in front of me right now."
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Just look at this beautiful, innocent child's face in the top picture.
May you rest in peace Tekerrious.
Hoping there will be justice for Tekerrious.