Burlington, Vermont - May 17, 2011
An Essex Junction woman accused of killing her niece two years ago took the stand Tuesday. Latonia Congress told the jury about her tumultuous relationship with her husband, ongoing abuse and how she doesn't remember fatally stabbing Shatavia Alford, 16. This comes after two days of testimony from friends and family about that abuse, which the defense seems to be building its case around. The prosecution hopes the jury doesn't buy it.
"Her place is at home with her kids. She's a housewife. That's the position she wanted to play in my life. So then play it," said Demetrius Reeves, Latonia Congress' husband.
All week the defense has painted Reeves as a controlling and abusive man. In the courtroom Tuesday, Reeves exceeded that reputation, shocking the jury with his unapologetic testimony of his physical and mental torture.
"I hit her when she was not pregnant. I hit her when she is pregnant. I don't sit here and feel good about it. I was angry at the time," he testified.
His words were too painful for much of Congress' family who left the courtroom crying.
Reeves, who already has a criminal record in New York, isn't facing charges in Vermont for his admissions of abuse and Congress says she didn't report these beatings to police because she wanted to keep him out of jail.
Defense lawyer Leroy Yoder: Why did you stay with him?
Latonia Congress: I don't know, I just would. I felt sorry for him.
Congress took the stand one week into her murder trial, telling the jury about the niece she once loved.
"Shatavia was a special child," Congress said. "She was on my pedestal. She was different than other teenagers. She was a good girl."
But her tone changed as the prosecution launched its cross-examination. Congress seemed irritated by the prosecutor's questions about the events leading up to her niece's stabbing, even cutting him off to give the same answer repeatedly.
"I don't remember," she said.
Congress is sticking to her story that her niece hit her in the head and that blow erased her memory.
"I don't actually remember us fighting," Congress said. "I can't actually sit here and picture us fighting. I don't remember."
But it must not have been a complete blackout, because she testified that after the alleged stabbing, she remembers trying to pull Alford's limp body off the ground, she remembers someone else telling her not to move her, she remembers praying and she remembers giving instructions to another friend to check on her niece at the hospital.
The jury was sent home early as the lawyers squabbled over what a psychologist hired by the defense will be allowed to testify about. He's expected to explain memory loss and at this point it's unclear whether he'll be allowed to testify about Congress' mental state and insanity claim.
Congress is charged with first-degree murder now. But this morning the prosecution asked that involuntary manslaughter be added to the list of lesser charges that the jurors can consider if they feel that state hasn't proved that Congress' actions were premeditated. Second-degree murder and manslaughter are also on the table.
Jennifer Reading - WCAX News
Related Stories:
Congress murder trial enters second week
Changing defense strategy in Congress murder trial
Trial starts for Essex Jct woman accused of killing niece
Jury seated in Latonia Congress murder trial
Essex Junction murder case headed to trial
Vt. woman charged in niece death seeks dismissal
Congress murder trial delayed
Congress to plead insanity in stabbing murder trial
Forensic testing requested in Congress murder trial
Congress to answer upgraded charge in niece's alleged murder
Congress to face 1st-degree murder charges
Essex Junction killing suspect rejects plea deal
Vigil Honors 16-year-old Murder Victim
Panicked Call to Police Played in Court
16-Year-Old Girl Stabbed to Death; Her Aunt is Charged with Murder
