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The trial of Henry Segura continues Monday in Leon County, Florida. He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his girlfriend Brandi Peters, their 3-year-old son JaVante Segura, and her twin 6-year-old daughters who were not his, Tamiyah and Taniyah Peters.
Prosecutors claim Segura committed the murders because he owed thousands in child support payments. He beat and shot Brandi, shot Tamiyah, and drowned Taniyah and JaVante, they say. All four victims were discovered on Nov. 20, 2010 at their home in Tallahassee, Florida.
The defense, on the other hand, claim that authorities got the wrong guy. They say other people’s DNA were found at the scene, including that of possible suspect Angel Avila-Quinones. They have also tried to implicate another man, James Carlos Santos, who said during a pre-trial hearing that he had ordered the killings from prison because Peters had allegedly stolen from a Mexican drug cartel. Santos later pleaded the Fifth, and Judge James Hankinson ruled at an evidentiary hearing that certain statements, including emails to Peters, were inadmissible as evidence during the trial.
The defense continued their case on Friday. Michael Knox, a crime scene expert, returned to the stand. Segura’s legal team used him to challenge details in the state’s forensic evidence.
Tallahassee Police Department Office Mark Lewis, the lead investigator on the case, testified yet again, this time about Segura’s interview with police on Nov. 30, 2010.
Tameika Hawkins-Clark followed him to the stand. She had a daughter with Segura, who was married, she said. They’d actually had a pretty rough child support battle, she said. Segura owed her thousands, and when attempting to collect that judgment, Hawkins-Clark got him put in jail, got his driver’s license suspended, and received a lien on his tax return. During mediation, a judge reduced the money owed to Hawkins-Clark by$10,000, she said. Despite complications, he made some efforts to pay, she said.
Segura himself then took the stand.
#SeguraTrial – The defendant, Henry Segura, now testifying. https://t.co/FFHEZsbMzd pic.twitter.com/ZTNl62tnJW
— LawNewz Network (@LawNewzNetwork) August 11, 2017
Segura admitted to cheating on his then-wife with three women in Tallahassee. Peters was one of them. He claimed to have called her on the morning of Nov. 19, 2010, the day she died. Later, he came to her house about 2 p.m., left because she wasn’t there, then returned at about 5 p.m. He testified that he had sex with her, then left by 8 p.m.
Under the cross-examination, the prosecution challenged him on why he didn’t tell investigators about sleeping with Peters on Nov. 19. It wasn’t their business, he claimed.
#SeguraTrial – The defendant, Henry Segura, now testifying. https://t.co/FFHEZsbMzd pic.twitter.com/ZTNl62tnJW
— LawNewz Network (@LawNewzNetwork) August 11, 2017
Contrary to expectations, the defense couldn’t finish their case on Friday. They now expect to wrap things up on Monday, followed by the state’s rebuttal witnesses. If the schedule goes according to plan, closing arguments could happen Tuesday. If convicted, Segura—who is facing the death penalty—would face a penalty phase as early as Thursday.
Stay with LawNewz.com and the LawNewz Network for continuing coverage of the case.
[Screengrab via LawNewz Network]
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