Killer of boy pleads guilty, 20 years later
When the little boy’s killer dumped his body behind a trash bin, the murder weapon remained over the child’s head: a black trash bag.
Michael “Mikki” Malcolm Jr., 5, was suffocated to death in West Palm Beach nearly 20 years ago. On Monday morning, his mother got the news she’s been waiting for: Her son’s
killer is heading to prison.
Karla Michelle Sevilla — who lived in the same apartment complex where the boy was found — pleaded guiltyMonday.
“It will never give me closure,” said the boy’smother, Michie Robinson, who now lives near Syracuse, N.Y., with her five children. “I still don’t knowthe reason.”
With plenty of reluctance and tears, Robinson approved the plea deal for Sevilla, 35.
Sevilla had been facing a firstdegree murder charge since her late 2008 arrest inthe October1997 death of the kindergartner from Riviera Beach.
When the slaying happened, it sparked fears in the community aroundthepink stucco buildings of the Caribbean Villas apartments, where Mikki was visiting his aunt. The boy was last seen on a playgroundabout 7p.m. onthe nighthe went missing.
Mikki’s body was found less than 100 feet from Sevilla’s apartment. His head covered with the bag, he died from asphyxiation, police said.
Sevilla, who was 15 years old at the time of the killing, received a 30-year prison sentence on a reduced charge of second-degree murder. As part of the deal, she also pleaded guilty to a 2007 armed robbery of a Wendy’s restaurant west ofWest Palm Beach that netted $147.
But a 15-year sentence for that crime will be served at the same time as the punishment for the murder, according to the terms approved by Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer.
With credit time already served in jail, Sevilla is expected to be set free in less than 20 years.
Reached by phone, Robinson said she understood the evidence in the murder casewas largely limited to one DNAmatch and inconsistent statements that Sevilla made to authorities over the years.
So Robinson and the boy’ s father recently gave their consent to prosecutor Jill Richstone rather than take a chance with a jury.
Anagreementwas reached with Sevilla and her attorney, Antony P. Ryan.
“I’m not happy or pleased,” Robinson said. “But at the same time, I don’t want her to walk from my son’smurder. Itwasa50-50chance she could.”
Kimyana Robinson, the aunt of the victim, represented the family in court and said she appreciated the efforts that went into solving the crime that happened at her former apartment complex.
“There’s nothing I can say to ease your pain,” the judge said. “It’s the most horrific experience.”
Sevilla originally denied any connection to the boy, other than being the one who found his body, according to a police report.
“Sevilla stated she did not know Michael Malcolm, never saw him alive and did not approach his body upon discovering it behind the trash dumpster,” police said.
The investigation went cold until detectives reopened the case nine years later, taking evidence to a crime lab for more testing. That’s when Sevilla’s DNA was matched to scrapings collected under the boy’s fingernails, according to the prosecutor.
When detectives met with Se villa in December 2008, she still denied having anything to do with the killing. Told of the DNA evidence, Sevilla explained the boy had followed her into her apartment after they met on the playground, Richstone said.
Sevilla told police her mother’s boyfriend had attacked her and the boy scratched her in an attempted rescue fromthe attacker.
But that explanation — of the child going anywhere with a stranger—never made any sense to Mikki’s mom.
“He was shy around strangers,” Michie Robinson told the Sun Sentinel in 1997, the day after police informed her of what happened to her son. “He wouldn’t go with a stranger or take anything from a stranger.”
The family has said the boy and his younger brother were staying with his aunt and her kids because their mom was working a night shift at a KFC restaurant.
Before he vanished, Mikki was playing Nintendo in a bedroom and the game malfunctioned. Mikki told his aunt he was going to find his cousin to fix it. Mikki’s aunt reported him missing when Mikki’s 8-year-old cousin returned home without him.
The boy’s relatives, neighbors and friends helped in a large search, which included the use of police dogs and helicopters.
The prosecution was delayed for years when Sevillawas ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial.
In courtMonday, Sevilla did not offer any explanation for why she killed the boy. Mikki, whoattended Grove Park Elementary School, had been looking forward to getting a pumpkin to celebrate Halloween that year.
“I’m so sad,” his mother said after the sentencing. “I can’t ever stop crying.”