Sentence upheld in slaying of toddler
A Texas appellate court issued an opinion Friday upholding a Bowie County jury’s decision to find a man who beat a former girlfriend’s 2-year-old son to death and injured her daughter guilty of capital murder and injury to a child.
Clifford James Gayton Jr., 20, was found guilty in December at the end of a trial before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart. Because the state did not seek the death penalty, the jury’s capital murder conviction meant an automatic sentence of life without parole, as it is the only other punishment permitted for the offense under Texas law. The jury sentenced Gayton to a maximum 10-year term for injuring Da’Corian Wright’s younger sister.
Gayton’s convictions and sentences were affirmed Friday in an opinion released by the 6th District Court of Appeals headquartered in Texarkana.
The higher court rejected Gayton’s arguments on appeal that the evidence presented at trial wasn’t sufficient to support the jury’s findings of guilt.
“The jury heard overwhelming evidence that Clifford Gayton murdered a small child with cold, remorseless brutality,” Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said. “The result— his conviction for capital murder and sentence of life without parole—was well-justified.”
Da’Corian was found cold and unresponsive the night of Jan. 27, 2016, by his mother after she returned home from work. Gayton was the only person with access to Da’Corian and his younger sister when Da’Corian suffered blunt-force injuries severe enough to tear internal organs and cause his brain to bleed. Da’Corian’s sister suffered severe bruising to her abdomen, thighs and genitals.
In the appellate court’s opinion, they note that Gayton admitted to investigators that he was the only one with the children from about 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. the night Da’Corian died. The children’s mother called 911 around midnight after checking on the children and finding her son cold to the touch.
At trial, first responders testified that they could not insert a breathing tube into Da’Corian’s airway because he was already showing signs of stiffening from rigor mortis, indicating he had been dead for some time before help was summoned. A medical examiner testified that Da’Corian’s body was covered in bruises and that he suffered numerous internal injuries that proved fatal. A sexual-assault nurse examiner testified about extensive bruising to Da’Corian’s sister’s body documented on her buttocks, abdomen, arms, legs and genitals.
After the jury was released in Gayton’s trial, Da’Corian’s grandmother gave a victim impact statement on behalf of the family. Gayton mumbled and said, “I’ll be back,” when she finished speaking.
If Gayton wishes to pursue an appeal, his next stop will be the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He is being held at the Barry Telford Unit in New Boston, Texas, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.
Crisp expressed appreciation to Texarkana, Texas, police and to the 6th District Court of Appeals for their work.
llarowe@texarkanagazette.com