Burlington, Vermont - May 16, 2011
The murder trial of an Essex Junction woman accused of killing her niece in 2009 continued Monday. The defense launched its case, calling a string of witnesses to testify on behalf of Latonia Congress.
There are no crying parents sitting behind the prosecution. There are no angry family members in this courtroom fighting for 16-year-old Shatavia "CeCe" Alford, who was killed in 2009. And on Monday, the victim's mother took the stand for the defense.
The prosecution and the defense barely mentioned her dead daughter and instead focused their questioning on the verbal abuse she witnessed between Latonia Congress and her husband Demetrius Reves. This is part of the defense's strategy to appeal to the jurors on an emotional level, painting Congress as a woman who suffered years of unreported abuse at the hands of her husband.
Shateena Morris, the defendant's cousin, described the nasty names Reves would call his wife and how she would shutdown after these verbal attacks. But she paints a very different picture of the relationship between Congress and her niece.
"They had a beautiful relationship, like a mother daughter relationship," said Shateena Morris, on the stand.
Morris, who was called by the defense, has a very different version of the night the teen was fatally stabbed in the chest. Unlike the prosecution's eyewitness, she says she didn't hear Congress get punched, didn't hear her announce that she was going to kill the victim and she didn't actually see her do it. She told the jury she ignored the fight between Congress and Alford. "I don't get in the middle of family stuff. I just don't do that," she said.
But her testimony was riddled with inconsistencies. She told the court she never saw the knife used to kill Alford. But the prosecution reminded her that's not what she told police.
Latonia Congress is expected to take the stand, as well as a psychologist who will testify about her mental state. Congress' lawyer is expected to argue that she was insane at the time of the killing and therefore not criminally responsible.
Jennifer Reading - WCAX News
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