May 10, 2005, 5:49PM
Prosecutors say killer stuffed boy in oven to buy time
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — A Beaumont man smothered his girlfriend's 6-year-old son and stuffed his body in an oven to give himself time to flee the crime scene, prosecutors said today as the man's murder trial opened.
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Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle told jurors that Kenneth Pierott, who was found innocent by reason of insanity in an earlier killing, knew his actions were wrong when he killed Tre-Devin Odoms last year and therefore was not insane.
"This is not a whodunit," Shettle told jurors. "He hid that child long enough to get away from the crime scene. That is an indication he knew what he was doing was wrong."
But defense attorney Raquel Galle said Pierott didn't know what he did was wrong and therefore was insane. She warned jurors to "not let the emotional part of this case override what your job is.
"We are here to follow the law; that's your job," she said.
Prosecutors wheeled into the courtroom the beat-up oven in which Tre-Devin's body was found in April 2004. Jurors sat up in their seats to see the oven, which, according to police, had all of its burners on and the oven temperature turned to 600 degrees when the boy's body was found by his mother.
The oven didn't heat, police said, because the pilot light wasn't lit.
Kathy Odoms, the boy's mother and Pierott's former girlfriend, testified that when the heat from the stove's four burners woke her up, she found Pierott was standing over her. She asked why it was so warm in the house and found the burners on.
Odoms testified she turned the burners off and then proceeded to get clothes for her two sons for school.
But Odoms testified Pierott told her she "didn't have to worry about that anymore." Pierott then left as Odoms realized Tre-Devin, her son from another relationship, was missing. The younger boy, who is Odoms and Pierott's child, was asleep in Odoms' bed.
"I went to the kitchen," Odoms testified as she blotted away tears. "I don't know why, and there he was."
Odoms said she began screaming when she found Tre-Devin in a fetal position in the 23x16-inch oven. His body had already stiffened.
Prosecutors tried to show that Pierott was jealous of Odoms' relationship with Tre-Devin's father. Odoms testified that she and Pierott frequently argued over whether she treated Tre-Devin better than her younger son, Jacory.
"It was always a comparison that I was giving too much attention to Tre-Devin and not enough to Jacory," the mother testified.
Odoms said she and Pierott had argued the day Tre-Devin was killed. She told jurors she and Pierott had played dominoes, smoked marijuana, drank beer and ate crawfish before Odoms went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling.
"He was asking a lot of questions and acting strange," Odoms testified during cross-examination.
"Was he making very much sense that day?" Galle asked Odoms.
"No. I asked him what was wrong with him," Odoms testified.
Odoms told jurors that before she went to sleep Pierott was pacing through her house, had asked her if she could read his mind and was talking to himself.
Two court-appointed psychiatrists set to testify have concluded Pierott was insane at the time of the killing, court documents indicate.
If jurors agree, Pierott could spend a short time in a mental hospital for his second killing before he is released again. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison.
Pierott was found innocent by reason of insanity in the 1996 fatal beating of his sister, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Stephanie Pierott, 25, weighed only 43 pounds when Pierott beat her with a dumbbell so severely that he displaced her eyeballs and crushed her skull. He spent about four months in a state mental hospital in 1998 before he was released.
Jurors will not hear of his acquittal in his sister's killing.
The case was moved from Beaumont to San Antonio because of intense media attention.
Prosecutors say killer stuffed boy in oven to buy time
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — A Beaumont man smothered his girlfriend's 6-year-old son and stuffed his body in an oven to give himself time to flee the crime scene, prosecutors said today as the man's murder trial opened.
ADVERTISEMENT
Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle told jurors that Kenneth Pierott, who was found innocent by reason of insanity in an earlier killing, knew his actions were wrong when he killed Tre-Devin Odoms last year and therefore was not insane.
"This is not a whodunit," Shettle told jurors. "He hid that child long enough to get away from the crime scene. That is an indication he knew what he was doing was wrong."
But defense attorney Raquel Galle said Pierott didn't know what he did was wrong and therefore was insane. She warned jurors to "not let the emotional part of this case override what your job is.
"We are here to follow the law; that's your job," she said.
Prosecutors wheeled into the courtroom the beat-up oven in which Tre-Devin's body was found in April 2004. Jurors sat up in their seats to see the oven, which, according to police, had all of its burners on and the oven temperature turned to 600 degrees when the boy's body was found by his mother.
The oven didn't heat, police said, because the pilot light wasn't lit.
Kathy Odoms, the boy's mother and Pierott's former girlfriend, testified that when the heat from the stove's four burners woke her up, she found Pierott was standing over her. She asked why it was so warm in the house and found the burners on.
Odoms testified she turned the burners off and then proceeded to get clothes for her two sons for school.
But Odoms testified Pierott told her she "didn't have to worry about that anymore." Pierott then left as Odoms realized Tre-Devin, her son from another relationship, was missing. The younger boy, who is Odoms and Pierott's child, was asleep in Odoms' bed.
"I went to the kitchen," Odoms testified as she blotted away tears. "I don't know why, and there he was."
Odoms said she began screaming when she found Tre-Devin in a fetal position in the 23x16-inch oven. His body had already stiffened.
Prosecutors tried to show that Pierott was jealous of Odoms' relationship with Tre-Devin's father. Odoms testified that she and Pierott frequently argued over whether she treated Tre-Devin better than her younger son, Jacory.
"It was always a comparison that I was giving too much attention to Tre-Devin and not enough to Jacory," the mother testified.
Odoms said she and Pierott had argued the day Tre-Devin was killed. She told jurors she and Pierott had played dominoes, smoked marijuana, drank beer and ate crawfish before Odoms went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling.
"He was asking a lot of questions and acting strange," Odoms testified during cross-examination.
"Was he making very much sense that day?" Galle asked Odoms.
"No. I asked him what was wrong with him," Odoms testified.
Odoms told jurors that before she went to sleep Pierott was pacing through her house, had asked her if she could read his mind and was talking to himself.
Two court-appointed psychiatrists set to testify have concluded Pierott was insane at the time of the killing, court documents indicate.
If jurors agree, Pierott could spend a short time in a mental hospital for his second killing before he is released again. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison.
Pierott was found innocent by reason of insanity in the 1996 fatal beating of his sister, who suffered from cerebral palsy. Stephanie Pierott, 25, weighed only 43 pounds when Pierott beat her with a dumbbell so severely that he displaced her eyeballs and crushed her skull. He spent about four months in a state mental hospital in 1998 before he was released.
Jurors will not hear of his acquittal in his sister's killing.
The case was moved from Beaumont to San Antonio because of intense media attention.
