Trial Begins In Child Murder

Casey Anthony should take note, a misdemeanor child abuse conviction does not mean that they won't charge you with murder some time in the future.
Marcus Bolden is charged with open murder in the death of Houston Mikell Curtis, the 1-year-old baby of Crystal Bell, whom Bolden had recently begun dating. The boy died of a severe head injury on Feb. 1, 2004, at DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. The child was not Bolden's.

Bolden, in jail for another misdemeanor child-abuse conviction, was charged in March after he made statements to police that led to his arrest. Bolden reportedly told police that -- upset by Houston's crying early Jan. 31, 2004, while the mother was in another room of her apartment on Merrill Avenue in Muskegon -- he threw the baby onto a bed. The child bounced and struck the wall, which allegedly caused the skull fracture and brain damage that led to his death less than two days later.

"This case is about the tragic end of a one-year-old child, Houston Curtis, at the hands of the defendant," said Dale J. Hilson, senior assistant Muskegon County prosecutor.

Hilson laid out the prosecution case that he hopes to prove through testimony of witnesses including medical personnel, police and the baby's mother, Crystal Bell, as well as evidence including incriminating statements Bolden made to police.

Hilson said he will ask the jurors to convict Bolden of first-degree felony murder -- death caused during the commission of another felony, in this case first-degree child abuse. That would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Jurors will also have the option of convicting Bolden of second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life with the chance of parole.

Hilson outlined the sequence of events in the days immediately preceding the baby's injuries, and in the years since.

The prosecutor noted that Bell and her mother had taken Houston to a pediatrician's office on Jan. 30 because the child was suffering from a bad cold and had a red swelling on his right temple. But, Hilson said, medical personnel will testify that they saw no sign of injury at that time, concluding the swelling was from an infection related to the cold.

The autopsy later showed the baby died from a skull fracture to the left side of his head, Hilson said.

Hilson also pointed to Bolden's conflicting statements to police, concluding with what appeared to be a confession early this year: The written, initialed answer "Yes" to a detective's written question, "Did you cause this head injury?"

Defense attorney Richard Terrell Taylor countered with a brief, general statement urging jurors to "keep an open mind. Listen to all the testimony" before deciding. "The devil is in the details," Taylor said.

Taylor reminded the jury that the events in question happened more than four years ago. He asserted that hadn't paid attention to her child for several hours until finding him severely injured after she was awakened by a 2 a.m. phone call. He spoke of the youth of the couple at the time -- Bolden 18, Bell 21.

"It will become clear to you, Marcus had nothing to do with this," Taylor said. "He did not cause this child's injuries."

Someone needs to tell mothers not to have their children around men they just met. You don't what kind of crazy guys are in the beginning. For all you know they could be child molesters. Am I the only one who got that message.

Also of Interest:
Pregnant Woman Bludgeoned In Her Bed
7 Week Old Baby Beaten By Father
Casey Anthony Giving Young Mothers A Bad Name

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