Holloman v. State

Following a jury trial, Howard Holloman, Jr., appeals his conviction for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and cruelty to children, contending that the trial court gave the jury an incomplete instruction on aggravated assault, certain text messages were improperly admitted into evidence, trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance, and improper impeachment evidence was admitted during his motion for new trial.1 We affirm.

1. In the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that, on the evening of August 24, 2009, Eva Rodney left her six-month-old son, Nathaniel, with Holloman. Holloman was alone with Nathaniel until the next morning, when Rodney arrived in response to a message from Holloman that Nathaniel would not take his bottle. Rodney found Nathaniel, who appeared to be asleep, in his swing in the basement. When Rodney picked up Nathaniel, she discovered that he was unresponsive, gurgling, and turning blue. Rodney frantically dialed 911, and the 911 operator told Rodney to lay Nathaniel on the floor and to perform CPR. When emergency personnel arrived at the home, they discovered that Nathaniel did not have a pulse. After being rushed to the hospital, Nathaniel was declared dead shortly after arriving. A subsequent autopsy revealed various severe injuries throughout the child’s body, including bruises on his face and torso, injury to his mouth, and tears in the tissue of his liver and heart. Based on the information obtained during the autopsy, the State’s medical examiner concluded and testified that Nathaniel died from blunt force injury to the torso and that the manner of his death was homicide.