Jurors watched a video of Camilia Terry and her attorney, John Powers, speaking to Cleveland detectives last month with new details about her son's death. (Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Camilia Terry told Cleveland detectives last month that a man she had dated -- and who had previously assaulted her -- beat her 3-year-old son Emilliano to death after drugging her.
On the tape played to jurors Wednesday at Terry's trial on charges that she killed the boy, she tells the detectives that she casually dated the man she called "Red" for a short time until he became violent with her in front of her children and raped her in 2011.
After that, Terry said "he threatened to kill me and my kids, so I moved."
She stopped sending her two older kids to day care after that, Terry said, because she feared they would mention the incident to a babysitter.
Terry told detectives during the 2-½ hour conversation that she would leave Emilliano and her 5-year-old son home alone because she didn't have a babysitter when she was in school.
One day, when she returned home, she said she found "Red" waiting in the apartment. The 5-year-old and Emilliano were there.
Terry said "Red", wearing all black and with white doctor http://www.amesd.org/washington/dumpster-rental-in-bellingham-wa/ on, stuck a clear needle with blue lines into her wrist and she passed out.
She told detectives she woke the next day naked –- she couldn't find her clothes -- and discovered Emilliano in a bedroom closet.
"He 98225 3033 Meridian, Bellingham WA beaten up, and he was bloody," she said.
She said there was a half-sheet of paper pinned to the boy's clothes that said, "You tell -- Ima kill, Ima kill you and your kids. Don't try to find me."
"I was scared," Terry told the detectives. "I don't know what to do."
When she realized the child could not be saved, she bagged up his body at night and threw him off the back porch into the dumpster and later cleaned the apartment of blood, Terry told the detectives.
At one point during the interview, Terry became emotional when she spoke of "Red" attacking her, but for the majority of the interview she quietly answered questions.
Early in the trial prosecutors told the jury that Terry has relayed several different versions of what happened to Emilliano.
Initially, they said, she called police from a park and reported that Emilliano was missing. After he was found dead at an Oakwood trash collection site, she told investigators that she woke to find Emilliano dead and panicked before disposing of his body. She also told them that her 5-year-old had pushed Emilliano's head into a car seat.
Jurors watched most of the video today. They could see Terry, a 21-year-old former foster child, sitting handcuffed to a chair, next to her attorney John Powers, as she described what she said happened the day before Thanksgiving last year.
Later in the interview, she became unsure of the day, saying it was the Tuesday or Wednesday before the holiday.
Cleveland Homicide Detective Joselito Sandoval and another detective questioned Terry extensively in the interview about each detail of the days around Thanksgiving, including whether she had gone shopping with a friend for Thanksgiving supplies and whether her infant son had been with a babysitter during the day.
Terry informed the detectives that she told her attorney about "Red" a month before deciding to talk to them -- that was after sitting in jail for most of a year.
She said the only other person she told about "Red" and his violent actions 888-215-5457 a woman who did her nails.
Terry told detectives she did not know "Red's" last name or how to find him, but prosecutors said early in the trial they have located him and will have him testify.
Taken from: http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2013/11/jurors_watch_october_interview.html
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Camilia Terry told Cleveland detectives last month that a man she had dated -- and who had previously assaulted her -- beat her 3-year-old son Emilliano to death after drugging her.
On the tape played to jurors Wednesday at Terry's trial on charges that she killed the boy, she tells the detectives that she casually dated the man she called "Red" for a short time until he became violent with her in front of her children and raped her in 2011.
After that, Terry said "he threatened to kill me and my kids, so I moved."
She stopped sending her two older kids to day care after that, Terry said, because she feared they would mention the incident to a babysitter.
Terry told detectives during the 2-½ hour conversation that she would leave Emilliano and her 5-year-old son home alone because she didn't have a babysitter when she was in school.
One day, when she returned home, she said she found "Red" waiting in the apartment. The 5-year-old and Emilliano were there.
Terry said "Red", wearing all black and with white doctor http://www.amesd.org/washington/dumpster-rental-in-bellingham-wa/ on, stuck a clear needle with blue lines into her wrist and she passed out.
She told detectives she woke the next day naked –- she couldn't find her clothes -- and discovered Emilliano in a bedroom closet.
"He 98225 3033 Meridian, Bellingham WA beaten up, and he was bloody," she said.
She said there was a half-sheet of paper pinned to the boy's clothes that said, "You tell -- Ima kill, Ima kill you and your kids. Don't try to find me."
"I was scared," Terry told the detectives. "I don't know what to do."
When she realized the child could not be saved, she bagged up his body at night and threw him off the back porch into the dumpster and later cleaned the apartment of blood, Terry told the detectives.
At one point during the interview, Terry became emotional when she spoke of "Red" attacking her, but for the majority of the interview she quietly answered questions.
Early in the trial prosecutors told the jury that Terry has relayed several different versions of what happened to Emilliano.
Initially, they said, she called police from a park and reported that Emilliano was missing. After he was found dead at an Oakwood trash collection site, she told investigators that she woke to find Emilliano dead and panicked before disposing of his body. She also told them that her 5-year-old had pushed Emilliano's head into a car seat.
Jurors watched most of the video today. They could see Terry, a 21-year-old former foster child, sitting handcuffed to a chair, next to her attorney John Powers, as she described what she said happened the day before Thanksgiving last year.
Later in the interview, she became unsure of the day, saying it was the Tuesday or Wednesday before the holiday.
Cleveland Homicide Detective Joselito Sandoval and another detective questioned Terry extensively in the interview about each detail of the days around Thanksgiving, including whether she had gone shopping with a friend for Thanksgiving supplies and whether her infant son had been with a babysitter during the day.
Terry informed the detectives that she told her attorney about "Red" a month before deciding to talk to them -- that was after sitting in jail for most of a year.
She said the only other person she told about "Red" and his violent actions 888-215-5457 a woman who did her nails.
Terry told detectives she did not know "Red's" last name or how to find him, but prosecutors said early in the trial they have located him and will have him testify.
Taken from: http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2013/11/jurors_watch_october_interview.html