Sparks Fly In Trial Of Man Charged With Toddler’s Death

by ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Abe Lubetkin

EL PASO, Texas — Sparks flew in the first day of a Fort Bliss soldier’s murder trial. Thirty-three-year-old Staff Sgt. Nakia Dawkins is charged with killing his two-year-old goddaughter.

There is no question that 2-year-old Milanya Harris died in April 2008 while her parents were deployed overseas, but that is about all the two sides in this case agree on.

Prosecutors say Dawkins and his wife Shawntrell beat Milanya to death. Shawntrell Dawkins will face a separate trial in December.

Nakia Dawkins appeared in court Wednesday in uniform. His defense said Milanya fell down the stairs. But prosecutors said bruises on her body were caused by belt marks.

“My client was asleep. He’d come home with a cold and taken some Nyquil and went to sleep,” said Dawkins’ defense attorney Teresa Caballero.

Dawkins watched as prosecutors played the tape of police questioning him just after Milanya died.

During the interview, he said he hit the girl with a belt repeatedly, so hard it caused her to bleed, because she urinated on the floor.

Asked how Milanya got bruises on her hands, Dawkins said the toddler used her hands to try to shield herself from the belt.

When police asked Shawntrell Dawkins where she and her husband used to beat Milanya, she said, “wherever the belt lands.”

Caballero said Dawkins was just covering for his wife when he made those statements.

The trial did get heated, so much so that at one point Judge David Guaderrama asked Assistant District Attorney Penny Hamilton and Caballero to stop fighting.

One point of contention for Caballero was the use of the word “bludgeoned.”

That is what Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Juan Contin noted as the cause of death on Milanya’s death certificate. Caballero said that word means “beaten with a sharp object,” and under questioning, Contin conceded he was not sure if Milanya was hit by a sharp object.

“On how many death certificates have you used the word ‘bludgeoned’ where there was no bludgeoning?” Caballero asked.

“I don’t know,” Contin replied.

“Is there a Dr. Juan Contin dictionary I don’t know about?” Caballero asked.

Caballero questioned Contin’s credibility repeatedly on Wednesday.

She argued that Contin did not consider Milanya’s medical history when interpreting bruises on her body.

“You think that’s approproate for a medical examiner?” Caballero asked.

“If she had not been hit, she would be alive,” Contin said.

“Is that what I asked you?” Caballero asked.

“That’s my answer,” Contin said.

Caballero also said Contin was biased by conversations he had with investigators before performing his examination.

If convicted, Nakia Dawkins could face life in prison.