{"id":14011,"date":"2012-04-16T17:06:35","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T21:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=14011"},"modified":"2012-04-16T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2012-04-16T21:06:35","slug":"man-gets-2-life-terms-for-killing-brother-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=14011","title":{"rendered":"Man Gets 2 Life Terms For Killing Brother, Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In February, a jury founded a 31-year-old man guilty of murdering two men and then attempted to conceal the crime. Last week, a judge sentenced him for the double murders.
\nJudge Emmett Lamar Battles decided Derrick Cullins<\/strong> deserved two life sentences for the murders of his brother, Carl Walters<\/strong>, 21, and Walters\u2019<\/strong> friend, 20-year-old Ryan Darkins Davis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sentencing on April 13 brought the ordeal that began on April 9, 2009, to an end for two families. It began with the discovery of a nude body in a wooded area in Plant City on April 7, 2009. The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office detectives identified the young Black man as 21-year-old Carl Walters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On February 2, 2010, children playing in a wooded area in Plant City discovered skeletal remains. The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office said they were the remains of 20-year-old Ryan Darkins Davis<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Davis<\/strong> was last seen leaving his mother\u2019s home with Walters<\/strong>. Two days later, a passerby discovered his body. He had been stabbed 18 times. Davis\u2019<\/strong> body was not found at the time and police listed him as an endangered person. His skeletal remains were identified forensically ten months later.<\/p>\n

During the joint investigation that followed, between the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Tampa Police Department, a warrant was executed 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<\/strong> who was his half brother, had unexplained cuts on his fingers, a bite mark on his chest, and blood on his clothing and shoes, police said.<\/p>\n

Police arrested Cullins<\/strong> on April 11, 2009, and charged him with second-degree murder in the death of his brother, Walters<\/strong>. An aggressive search for Davis<\/strong> was launched by the Tampa Police Department.
\nInvestigators searched the landfill after discovering evidence that Cullins<\/strong> had disposed of something in the days following the murders.<\/p>\n

Denies Guilt<\/strong>
\nCullins<\/strong> has never admitted to committing the murders. During the sentencing phase Cullins<\/strong> said, \u201cI did not make these egregious crimes, these heinous acts. \u2026 Of course, they are in heaven now and that is a comforting thought. \u2026 The actual murderer, I believe is going to hell, and will reside there for eternity. \u2026 I pray that things get well for everyone.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mother Hurt By Comments<\/strong>
\n\u201cEven though he is going to serve two life sentences, it still hurts. I\u2019m appalled that he is not even remorseful and he is still lying even with all of the evidence against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pitiful he can\u2019t even admit to what he\u2019s done even though he was handed the harshest sentence. I haven\u2019t found it in my heart to forgive him, it\u2019s still hurtful, my son is still gone\u201d Mrs. Robin Harris<\/strong>, mother of Ryan Darkins Davi<\/strong>s said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor In February, a jury founded a 31-year-old man guilty of murdering two men and then attempted to conceal the crime. Last week, a judge sentenced him for the double murders. Judge Emmett Lamar Battles decided Derrick Cullins deserved two life sentences for the murders of his brother, Carl […]<\/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-14011","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\/14011","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=14011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}