U.S.

Tate Moved To Juvenile Prison

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 13, 2001 / 9:34 AM EST / CBS

Lionel Tate, the 14-year-old boy serving life for the murder of a 6-year-old family friend, is now in a juvenile prison. He spent the first three days of his sentence in an adult prison.

Officials secretly moved Tate last night from the South Florida Reception Center near Miami. He's now at the maximum security Okeechobee Juvenile Offender Center about 100 miles to the north.

Authorities say he will be kept with 47 other boys convicted of violent crimes.

The center's authorities say he will get military training except for firearms in the center's mandatory Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He'll be kept at the juvenile center until he's 21, unless he becomes violent.

Tate said he was only practicing wrestling moves he saw on television when he killed a 6-year-old girl, Tiffany Eunick, his mother was baby-sitting. The girl had broken ribs and a severed spleen.

CBS News Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson spoke with Deweese Eunick, Tiffany's mother, about her reaction to Lionel Tate's sentencing.

"Actually, it came as no surprise to any of us — neither my team or the defense team," said Eunick. "They knew exactly where we were going because they hadn't taken the plea bargain that was given to them which would give Lionel a second chance to life. They chose not to take that. So they knew they were risking his life by going forward with the trial."

Looking for Help

If Lionel's family had accepted the plea bargain arrangement, he would have been sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility.

Would Eunick have considered that a fair sentence for Lionel?

There's a lot of controversy surrounding what movies kids watch and how much the images on the big screen effect them.

Many also question the ratings system and how movies receive an R or PG-13 rating.

The CBS Evening News is taking a look at this issue and would like to talk with parents who are willing to take their kids to certain R-rated movies. Specifically, any who are planning to see the film Hannibal with their children this weekend.

We are looking for people who live either in the Dallas or Houston, Texas area.

If you wouldn't mind talking to us and doing an on camera interview, please call Mike Solmsen at (972)869-2000 or e-mail him at mas@cbsnews.com

"Considering how butal this attack was on my daughter, it would not have been fair in my eyes or in human beings' eyes but at least that would give Lionel a chance to at least try to get rehabilitated, and to see if there would be any good, you know, from this," she said.

"To some extent he's a human being. I mean, back in olden days, it was eye for an eye. He killed my daughter, back in olden days, he would be killed also. But then, again, Jesus came. Jesus redeemed. He died on the cross for our sins. And therefore he taught us to forgive. Therefore, you know, I'm a human being. And I have done things in my life and I was forgiven. That's why I'm here. So, you know, I would like to see if there would be any good at all that can come out, you know, from Lionel's life, regardless of what he had done to my daughter."

The prosecutor in the case, Ken Padowitz, thinks justice was done for Tiffany but that there should be a balance in the sentencing.

"I presented this case to a Broward County grand jury and they indicted Lionel Tate for first-degree murder. They didn't have to indict him. They could have suggested to the state attorney's office to charge Lionel Tate in juvenile court. But they indicted him for first-degree murder. There was a trial. Twelve members of this community were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt he was guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life based on Florida law.

"But, I think at this point now it is appropriate to go to the governor of Florida," Padowitz continued. "Have him hold a clemency hearing, and consider whether or not — based on the defendant's age for this horrible and horrific murder that he committed on little Tiffany — that he consider clemency in this situation."

Padowitz pointed out, however, that Lionel has been a discipline problem since kindergarten.

"He's been kicked out of school 15 times," Padowitz said. "Since he was convicted, awaiting sentencing, he got into problems in the jail, trying to stab another inmate with a pencil. When placed in solitary confinement, he flooded his jail cell. He knows what is going on and he knows what he's done. He's responsible for this horrible murder. We should take into account for purposes of justice Lionel Tate's age at the time he committed this crime. I think there needs to be a balance."

Lionel's mother told The Early Show that she believed Lionel was just playing and that Tiffany's death resulted from child's play. Tiffany's mother says it was murder.

"You don't play with that kind of force...I think my daughter's body spoke for itself," Eunick said. "And right now, Kathleen still has her son. So she didn't have to watch her child being put under the clay. She didn't have that vacant space in her life for the last year and a half. So she is in a form of denial at this stage. For me, it is all too real. I don't have time to be in denial. And it is very evident. Iis right there in front of your eyes, the facts are there. So it was not a child's play. It is just blatant murder. And that's what it is. It is hard and it sounds harsh to say it that way, but we just have to say that's what it is."