The U.S. Supreme Court said it will not review the case of Devin Bennett, who has been on death row in Mississippi since 2003 for the death of his infant son.
Forty-four-year-old Bennett was convicted of capital murder in Rankin County and sentenced to death in February 2003 for felony child abuse after his 2-month-old son Brandon was found unresponsive at home.
Bennett took the child to a local hospital, but by the time father and son arrived, the baby was pale and cold, was not breathing and had no pulse or heartbeat.
Medical staff were able to revive the child, but despite their efforts, the comatose child never recovered. He died two days later.
According to court documents, Bennett told authorities at least seven versions of what happened to his son the day he died.
When questioned, Bennett told hospital staff that he woke up around 4 a.m. and discovered his son had slipped out of his car seat onto the floor. He told several other versions of what may have happened to the baby when he was interviewed by social workers, other medical staff and law enforcement.
While Brandon Bennett was being treated for his injuries, he was examined by a doctor who specialized in pediatric emergency medicine. She noted the baby and bruising on his head, shoulder, upper forearm and lower back.
The doctor also found hemorrhaging in his eyes and blood leaking from them, the degree of which could be associated with “extreme trauma, motor vehicle accidents or injuries that require a great deal of force.” He also had bleeding and bruising around his brain.
Bennett later told police he may have kicked the baby, who was in his car seat, off the bed or maybe the child flung himself out of his car seat. The father said he may have shaken his son too hard when trying to arouse him after finding him unresponsive.
Dr. Bonnie Woodall, who examined Brandon Bennett before his death, testified in court that his injuries could not have happened by the baby falling out of the car seat.
Then-medical examiner Dr. Steve Hayne testified to finding two skull fractures and other injuries that confirmed Woodall’s findings. He said Brandon Bennett appeared to have died from shaken baby syndrome and blunt-force trauma impact.
Although much of Hayne’s testimony was controversial in many other cases, his attorneys did not challenge his expertise in Bennett’s latest appeal. Instead the lawyers focused on Bennett’s trial lawyers’ lack of experience in defending a capital murder case and suggested the trial court erred when it excluded mitigating evidence “based on a non-existent state rule.”
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Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: US Supreme Court refuses case of man on MS death row for son’s death