Wrestling Death Teen Accepts Deal

The mother of a Florida teen who beat a 6-year-old playmate to death said neither she nor her son is happy with the terms of a plea deal yet chose to accept it simply so he could have freedom.

Lionel Tate, 16, signed papers Sunday agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder in the 1999 beating death of Tiffany Eunick. Tate could be freed by the end of the month from a maximum security juvenile prison in Okeechobee.

"My son wants to come home. I want him home," said Kathleen Grossett-Tate. "He did not receive a fair trial the first time. For us to go back to trial again, I know he would not get a fair trial."

Grossett-Tate said she feared that if they went to trial again, her son would get life in prison again, and she wanted to avoid that.

An autopsy showed Tiffany suffered a fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken rib, internal hemorrhaging and cuts and bruises. Tate's trial attorneys argued he accidentally killed her while imitating the moves of professional wrestlers he saw on television.

Grossett-Tate said she would have preferred her son to plead guilty to manslaughter since she and her son contend Tiffany's death was accidental. They declined the same second-degree murder plea deal before Tate's trial.

"It's not a good deal, but this is what my son wants and he wants to do it now, said Grossett-Tate, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. "Even if you don't think it's the best deal for him, this will get him out.

"It's not fair, but it gets him out."

Tate's first-degree murder conviction and life sentence were overturned last month after state appellate judges ruled that his mental competency should have been tested before trial. Following that decision, prosecutors again offered the plea deal, giving the teen a rare second chance.

"He's been there for 33 months ... he could be out by January 26th," reports Anna Tataris of CBS affiliate WPEC. "They're just waiting now for all the paperwork to go through."

A judge still has to ratify the plea deal.

"Just knowing it's all been signed, I'm very happy for him that he and his mom are on the same wavelength and moving forward," said Richard Rosenbaum, Tate's attorney.

Rosenbaum said Tate is anxious to finish school and he then wants to pursue a career in the restaurant business, perhaps even going to culinary school.

"When Lionel Tate walks into a court for the sentencing hearing, it will be the first time Lionel Tate will be taking responsibility for the brutal murder of a first-grader, 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick," said Ken Padowitz, who prosecuted Tate and now represents Tiffany's mother in private practice,

Special prosecutors appointed nearly two years ago cleared Grossett-Tate, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, of any wrongdoing in Tiffany's death. Grossett-Tate was baby-sitting Tiffany in her Pembroke Park home and said she was upstairs napping when the girl was injured.