Jamar Pinkney's Lawyer: Son's Child Sex Admission Drove Dad to Kill
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (CBS/AP) Jamar Pinkney Sr., the 37-year-old Michigan father who allegedly shot and killed his teenage son because the boy told him he molested a 3-year-old girl, will pursue an insanity defense, his lawyer said Tuesday.
On the same day, a judge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park ruled that Pinkney Sr. will stand trial on first-degree murder, assault and firearm charges.
Defense attorney Corbett O'Meara said that on November 16th, Pinkney Sr.'s son Jamar Pinkney Jr., 15, told his father that he raped a 3-year-old girl.
Pinkney Sr. became so enraging that he forced his son at gunpoint to strip and marched him to a nearby empty lot and shot him once in the back of the head, according to witnesses.
"There is no rational response to the rape of a child," O'Meara said after the hearing. "He was immediately remorseful and didn't seek to hide. He turned himself in to the police."
Authorities have not said if they believe the teen actually raped the child, but said that the matter is not part of their investigation into his death.
The teen's mother, Lazette Cherry, and her sister Yolanda both testified at the hearing on Tuesday saying that the confrontation came a day after the 3-year-old underwent an examination at Children's Hospital of Michigan.
Lazette Cherry testified that her son called his father at 3 a.m., "Daddy, can you please forgive me in your heart, forgive what I did?" she quoted Jamar Pinkney Jr. as asking his father. She said that Pinkney Sr. agreed to come to the house and talk further.
Yolanda Cherry testified that Pinkney Sr. arrived at about 10 a.m. and that she and her sister talked about getting help for the teen, while Pinkney Sr. said he spoke to the mother of the 3-year-old and she wanted to press charges.
Yolanda Cherry recounted the conversation between the father and son.
"Jamar, is there something you want to tell me?" Pinkney Sr. asked his son, according to Yolanda Cherry.
"He got on his knees in front of his dad and said, 'I'm sorry,"' Yolanda Cherry said.
"What did you do?" she quoted the father as asking. "I humped (the girl)," the she said the teen replied. "I need counseling."
She said that Pinkney Sr. did not immediately respond and that she went upstairs to visit with her mother and later rushed down when she heard screaming and banging and found Pinkney Sr. holding a gun and beating his son.
Both sisters testified that he ordered his son to undress and then marched him into the vacant lot, "I said, 'Jamar, stop. Don't do this. Think about what you're doing,"' Lazette Cherry testified.
She then said that Pinkney Sr. walked around behind his son and shot him in the head.
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November 19, 2009 - Jamar Pinkney Sr. Strips Son Naked, Then Executes Him for Molesting 3-Year-Old, Says Relative