Lawyers present opening remarks in murder trial
Attorneys begin calling witnesses in case stemming from 2017 deaths
Attorneys presented opening statements this morning in the triple capital murder trial of Cordale Stacy.
Stacy, 34, is accused in the murders of Nashae Williams, 38, and her children Malayya Essah, 9, and Zhanaisa Williams, 6, at their apartment at 221 Wolfe St., in Forrest City on Oct. 18, 2017.
Jury selection began on Tuesday, June 1, and on Monday, attorneys completed seating 12 jurors and two alternates to hear the case. The jury is made up of seven whites and five blacks. The jury has three white women, four white men, three black women and two black men. The two alternates are a white male and white female.
In his opening statements, First Judicial District Deputy Prosecutor Austin Easley told the jury this case is “all about innocence” in regard to the two young girls who died that night.
“I don’t mean innocence in regard to the defendant. This is a case about children. This is a case about children and innocence,” said Easley. “At the conclusion of the trial, the evidence will show he is as guilty as the day is long.
“This case is about those who are helpless,” continued Easley. “Those who the others, like adults, are supposed to take up for. This is a case about children – helpless and defenseless children.”
Easley told the jury that Nashae Williams was shot seven times with a 9mm weapon, and the two young girls were each shot in the head as they huddled in the corner of a bedroom.
A third child at the home during the murders was identified by Easley as Cordalia Stacy, the daughter of Williams and the defendant.
“It is important to note that in this case, Malayya and Zhanaisa had different fathers, but they were sisters and they loved each other. Cordalia’s father stayed there sometimes, but you’ll hear that relationship with Nashae was somewhat rocky,” said Easley.
Easley told the jury that neighbors, who were “winding down from their day heard series of gunshots” before a pause “filled with sounds of children screaming. Then they heard two more shots and there was no more screaming. When police found them, they were huddled together in a corner with the older, Malayya, holding her younger sister, trying, but unable, to protect her.”
Easley told jurors that evidence to be presented in the case would be difficult to see and hear.
“How could anybody shoot two little girls in the head on purpose?” asked Easley. “You will ask yourself this, but it will be difficult to make sense of how something like this could occur. I anticipate you will struggle with this question as you hear the evidence.”
Easley continued, “What you won’t have any difficulty determining, however, at the close of evidence is who did this to these little girls and their mother. He’s in this room and his name is Cordale Stacy.”
Prosecutors are charged with proving the case to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We, the state, have the burden of proof and we must prove our case to you beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Easley. “We welcome that burden.”
He explained the importance of witnesses in the case and outlined who would be testifying, from police officers, to crime lab officials to neighbors and the defendant’s mother.
“One of the most important witnesses in this case won’t be here to testify. You’ll hear a lot about her, but she won’t be here. Little Cordalia Stacy was two years old at the time. She won’t be here to testify before you, but I anticipate you will find, through evidence, that she will have a lot to say. You will hear that little Cordalia was in the room when her mother was killed. Her little eyes, her little ears, watching, in a diaper, the blood, chaos and death all around her.”
Stacy allegedly took the twoyear-old to his mother’s house
(Continued from Page 1) after the murders. “When she was taken there, she had blood on her diaper. You’ll even see a small bloody handprint on the bedspread in the room where her mother was murdered.”
Defense attorneys Andrea Stokes and Chris Nebben, with the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission, are representing Stacy.
In her opening remarks, Stokes told the jury, “Cordale Stacy looks suspicious, but suspicion is not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I think you’re going to hear evidence during the course of this trial that makes Cordale look suspicious. You’re probably wondering why on earth I’m saying that. Mr. Nebben and I commit to you that over the course of this trial we will be honest with you.
“You will see pictures that are horrific, heartbreaking and unimaginable,” said Stokes. “This is a case where you must put that emotion aside and decide the case based on the facts, on evidence and decide if the state has met its burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Stokes told jurors that at this time, the defense does not plan to call any witnesses on Stacy’s behalf, but instead believe that through cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses they will be able to show reasonable doubt in the case.
“I’ll tell you now, I don’t think we’ll call any witnesses. We don’t have to prove anything. We don’t have to prove Cordale is not guilty. As he sits here right now, he is presumed innocent and it’s only if a jury decides the state has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, is he guilty,” she said.
Stokes said the defense intends to question law enforcement officers regarding the investigation and how it was handled.
“In a triple homicide, the kind
of thorough, complete investigation we might expect to see was incomplete in a number of crucial ways,” said Stokes. “Reports weren’t written, witnesses were not questioned, numerous places could have been searched for evidence, but weren’t. Early on, police decided Cordale was the suspect in this case and that he was suspicious.
“If you get to the end of this case and all you can say is that Cordale looks suspicious, then you must find him not guilty,” said Stokes.
The trial is being held in the upstairs courtroom at the St. Francis County Courthouse.