Portsmouth man acquitted in death of 3-month-old son
PORTSMOUTH — A Portsmouth man was found not guilty Wednesday of charges accusing him of killing his 3-month-old son.
Keilynd Rice, 31, faced a second-degree murder charge in the February 2020 death of King Walker. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before its verdict was announced at the end of a three-day trial in Portsmouth Circuit Court.
Rice, however, still faces a charge of felony child abuse and neglect in the case. He will be tried separately for that count because the alleged abuse is believed to have happened outside the time frame listed in his indictment, which said it happened on our about Feb. 25, 2020.
King Walker died at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters on Feb. 27, 2020, two days after Rice called 911 to report his son was unresponsive.
Rice told investigators he was home alone with King while the child’s mother was at work. He said he checked on King about 11 a.m., then not again until roughly 6:30 p.m., when he found him unresponsive.
The baby had multiple injuries inflicted on him in the days and weeks before he died, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Bernadine Gerlach told jurors in her closing arguments. His cause of death was determined to be bluntforce trauma to the head.
Among the injuries were a healing skull fracture, a burned arm, brain swelling and hemorrhaging, and multiple bruises and scratches, Gerlach said.
“This child had been living in a state of pure torture,” the prosecutor said. “This man is the one who inflicted those injuries on him.”
Rice wasn’t charged until about a year and a half after his son’s death. His lawyer, Shemeka Hankins, told jurors in her closing arguments there was no evidence to indicate Rice was the one who harmed the baby. She questioned why prosecutors never called King’s mother, Jauvonnie Brown, to testify.
Brown didn’t attend the trial. She wasn’t charged in her son’s death but was charged in 2021 with stabbing Rice multiple times. That count was later dismissed.
Hankins said most of the investigation into the baby’s death was done the day he was brought to the hospital. She said investigators failed to follow up on many things, such as reviewing the 911 call, and talking to neighbors and health care providers who treated King before his death. “This case is heavy on accusations but light on investigation,” the defense lawyer told jurors.