{"id":12963,"date":"2012-02-20T16:34:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T21:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=12963"},"modified":"2012-02-20T16:34:09","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T21:34:09","slug":"jury-finds-brother-guilty-in-double-murder-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=12963","title":{"rendered":"Jury Finds Brother Guilty In Double Murder Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON<\/strong>
\n Sentinel City Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final arguments in the double murder trial of a Tampa man began on Thursday. Around 2 p.m., the six-member jury left the Hillsborough County Courtroom to decide if he was guilty of killing his brother and his brother\u2019s friend nearly three years ago.<\/p>\n

Around 6 p.m., Thursday, after deliberating for four hours, the jury decided that 31-year-old Derrick Eugene Cullins<\/strong> was guilty of the charges lodged against him. The trial lasted for nearly 3 weeks.<\/p>\n

Cullins<\/strong> is facing two life sentences for the murders. Judge Emmett Lamar Battles<\/strong> will sentence Cullins on April 13th.<\/p>\n

On April 7, 2009, a passer-by discovered the nude body of a young, Black man in a wooded area in the 6400 block of Thonotosassa Road in Plant City. A few days later, a Tampa mother filed a missing person\u2019s report on her 21-year-old son to Tampa Police. Working in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office, investigators determined that the missing man, identified as Carl Walters<\/strong>, was the murder victim found in the wooded area three days earlier. Walters<\/strong> had been stabbed 18 times.<\/p>\n

Tampa Police executed a warrant at 1810 E. Humphrey Street, just before midnight on April 10, 2009. Police said there was evidence of a violent struggle inside the house.<\/p>\n

Cullins<\/strong>, who shared the home with Walters who was his brother, had unexplained cuts on his fingers, a bite mark on his chest, and blood on his clothing and shoes, police said.<\/p>\n

However, there was no sign of 20-year-old Ryan Jerard Darkins Davis<\/strong>, at the residence. Davis<\/strong> had left his home on April 5, 2009, in the company of Walters<\/strong>. After not hearing from her son, Ms. Robin Harris<\/strong> reported him as a missing person.<\/p>\n

On April 11, 2009, police arrested Cullins<\/strong> and charged him with second-degree murder in the death of his brother, Walters<\/strong>.\u00a0 Fearing that Davis<\/strong> was in danger, Tampa Police conducted an aggressive search for Davis<\/strong>. An extensive search took place, including the landfill, but the search was to no avail. Davis<\/strong> remained listed as a missing person until February 2, 2010. Children playing in a wooded area in Plant City, found bones.<\/p>\n

Police later identified them as Davis\u2019<\/strong> remains. Cullins<\/strong> was charged with Davis\u2019<\/strong> murder on March 3, 2010.<\/p>\n

Davis\u2019 Mother Speaks<\/strong>
\nMs. Robin Harris<\/strong>, the mother of Ryan Davis<\/strong> said the defense attorneys \u201ctried to blame it on other people, everybody but him. He took the stand and testified. But, evidently, the jury saw through it all. He is facing two life sentences and I hope he gets the maximum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Harris<\/strong> further stated that the evidence was overwhelming and that Cullins<\/strong> could not explain the blood on his clothes and shoes, or receipts showing where he made purchases.<\/p>\n

She also said police found evidence of where he purchased chemicals in an attempt to clean up the murder scene.<\/p>\n

Ms. Harris<\/strong> also said, \u201cAttorney Michelle Doherty<\/strong> and Attorney Ada Carmona<\/strong> were awesome in presenting their case. I really appreciate the way the police department came out to support us, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor The final arguments in the double murder trial of a Tampa man began on Thursday. Around 2 p.m., the six-member jury left the Hillsborough County Courtroom to decide if he was guilty of killing his brother and his brother\u2019s friend nearly three years ago. Around 6 p.m., Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}