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Stokes v. State

The defendant's admission to a number of actions consistent with the fatal injuries his 4-month-old infant suffered supported his convictions for murder, cruelty to children and aggravated battery.

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Following his convictions for murder, felony murder, cruelty to children, and aggravated battery, Jeremy Antonio Stokes appeals, contending, among other things, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel.1 For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that Stokes and Tamara Riley were the parents of four-month-old Jeremiah Stokes “the baby”. On the morning of March 2, 2008, the baby was alive and well. Later, Stokes was alone with the baby for approximately two hours. During that time, paramedics were dispatched to the apartment, where they found Stokes holding the lifeless baby. At the hospital, Stokes gave varying versions of the events of the morning. At first, Stokes stated that the baby was crying in the other room, so he went in and held the baby to stop his crying. Stokes later said that the baby must have fallen off the sofa where Stokes was sleeping because, when Stokes woke up, the baby was shaking and gagging on the ground. After being confronted with the results of an autopsy, however, Stokes was interviewed again, and he confessed that his prior stories had been lies.

In Stokes’ interview and in his testimony at trial, Stokes admitted to a number of actions consistent with the fatal injuries suffered by the baby. Stokes stated that the baby began to cry and would not stop, so Stokes grabbed him and squeezed him to make him stop. Stokes then put the baby down on his face. Stokes also said that he grabbed the baby’s face and neck, squeezed him with his fingers, attempted to force a pacifier in the baby’s mouth, and bit the baby on his back. In addition, at one point, Stokes quickly flipped the baby over, pinning one of his arms behind him. After his mishandling, the baby began drifting in and out of consciousness.

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