Jacksonville Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Valerie Rao testified that Cherish Perrywinkle sustained severe injuries from being strangled and raped. Don was wearing the same clothes as the day before-a black t-shirt and jeans and the lower half of his body was soaking wet. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of Donald James Smith, who raped and murdered 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinklle after. There was nosign of Don or Cherish. There are predators everywhere. Cherish's half-naked body, still wearing the same orange dress she is seen wearing at Walmart, was found in front of a church the next day. Each attempt to look at where the virus started is swamped by misinformation. The defense called for a mistrial over the interruption in testimony, but the judge denied the motion,Matter tweeted. Rayne and the three girls looked at some clothes at the Dollar General Store. He gagged her, raped her, he sodomized her, then he strangled her. The swift guilty. Any hope of finding Cherish alive was over. . The injuries that poor kid suffered was absolutely horrific and as you said, don't go googling details of . The June 2013 murder of Cherish Perrywinkle drew huge amounts of news coverage and public attention in Jacksonville, with a jury in 2018 finding Donald James Smith guilty and a judge sending him to Death Row. I need just 5 minutes.". It was a child that was abducted, it was something that the entire City of Jacksonville was concerned about, she says. Smith drove Perrywinkle, her daughter, Cherish, and her two other little girls to the Walmart off ofLem Turner Road, claiming that his wife would meet them there and help them shop for clothes. Later on Day 2, the state played a jailhouse recording of Smith talking to another inmate at the Duval County Jail. @ActionNewsJax, Detective explains a confidential informant said #DonaldSmith was speaking to another inmate using air vents at the jail @ActionNewsJax, DNA expert says the DNA found on Cherish matches #DonaldSmith @ActionNewsJax, Lee is explaining to the jury #DonaldSmith DNA profile. The cause of death, Rao determined, was mechanical asphyxia. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. View our online Press Pack. The judge asked each juror "Is this your true and correct verdict?" @ActionNewsJax #DonaldSmith, Undercover officer says he was contacted by SAO for the #DonaldSmith case. Smith was arrested 10 hours later after his vehicle was spotted by a police patrol officer. Cherish went with him. He strangled her with such force her eyeballs bled, Nelson said. 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. January 17, 2022 ", Smith is heard on the recording saying,"She ain't black, but she had a lot for a white girl.". The child is not incapacitated, and she is going to struggle during this entire process, she said. The force used during the strangulation was so strong that Cherish suffered skin abrasions as well. Because of the nature of the case. @ActionNewsJax, Carter says he collected purple flip flops as evidence. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. His DNA was found on and inside Cherish's body and Cherish's DNA was found on his penis. Before Cherish was brought to the medical examiner's office a rape kit was conducted. The van was white with carpet inside and blinds on the window. On Monday, State Attorney Melissa Nelson described the horrible manner in which 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle was killed in 2013. On June 21, 2013, eight-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle of Jacksonville, Florida, was abducted from her neighborhood Walmart while shopping with her mother and a stranger who offered to buy them clothes. She suffered swelling of her brain as a result of lack of oxygen to her brain, and as a result of which, she died, Rao testified. He told her he waswaiting for his wife andthat they had a $150gift card for Walmart that he would be happy for her to use to buy clothes for thegirls. He lured the child away from her mother with the promise of new clothes after overhearing the mother complaining of being unable to afford new dresses for her daughters. @ActionNewsJax https://t.co/MwTPX7bR9X, Undercover officer placed microphones in vents at Duval County jail to capture communications between #DonaldSmith and another inmate. What she sustained was tremendous force on her next, such that she basically, she could not breathe. Cherish was just eight years old andlived with her mother Rayne, Rayne's boyfriend and Cherish's two younger sisters in Jacksonville in Florida. All she knew was that she had a badfeeling about him and that he must have taken Cherish. Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices! It was testimony that not only caused several jurors to shed tears, but led to the Chief Medical Examiner asking for a brief recess as she appeared to fight back emotion as well. We did hear from Donald in this case. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The shopping trip was very focused around the girls and Rayne stayed with them in the children's section. We are in recess as jurors, and Dr. Rao became emotional while photos of Cherish were shown. Rayne would later say shethought it was fine as McDonalds was inside Walmart so really they were notleaving the store and there were plenty of people still around. It's all part of the second day of the trial of Donald Smith, the man who's accused of taking the girl from her family at a Northside Walmart, raping her, and leaving her dead in brackish water near a church. @ActionNewsJax, The next series of photographs are injuries. . On Valentine's Day, it took jurors only 14 minutes to find 61-year-old Donald Smith guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle in 2013. Donald Smith's trial in the murder of Cherish Perrywinkle is set to begin Monday. Dr. Rao points to #DonaldSmith as the man she had photographed at the Police Memorial Building as part of this case #CherishPerrywinkle pic.twitter.com/v0Z8CjHOuT. They are not hiding in shadows. Of course it is a violent act but he wanted the rape to be viewed as him inflicting rage and violence on Cherish as opposed to him viewing her as a sexual object. Defense is looking for a mistrial because Rao asked for a break. DAY 1:JSO officers responding to Cherish'smurder: 'Protect her, preserve the evidence'. After utilizingK-9 units, little Cherishs lifeless body was found in a nearby swampy ditch. Rayne reportedly had her head down as she listened to the call from the witness stand. The same day, the girl's mother took the stand and tearfully testified she thought Smith was a good Samaritan who was trying to help her family out. "I'm sorry I need to take a break," Rao said. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up an appeal in a high-profile case involving an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl who was abducted from a Walmart and raped and murdered. During the trial, Cherish's injuries were described and shown to the jury. During that time the man introduced himself as Don to Rayne. Rao was discussing the heinous murder of Cherish Perrywinkle, a little girl who was lured away from her mother while out shopping before being found dead just hours later in June, 2013. Smith, the man accused. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. It was testimony that not only caused several jurors to shed tears, but led to the Chief Medical Examiner asking for a brief recess as she appeared to fight back emotion as well. Her body was found in the water , weighted down by bricks and debris and under a tree. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Donald Smith was charged with the kidnap,sexual battery and the first degree murder of Cherish Perrywinkle. Even more disturbing than that was the fact he took Cherish on at least two occasions to the dressing room alone. Rao could not determine what exactly was used, but she determined the bruise pattern was wide, and generally consistent with an article of clothing, like a t-shirt. At 11.20pm, Rayne called 911. Opening statements were held in the trial Monday. September 06, 2019, "There's no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Despitesearching throughoutthenight , it was only the nextmorning at 9am whenpolice got a break in the case.An officerdealing with a separate roadaccidentrecognised Don's van as it drove past. @ActionNewsJax, Judge asks Smith if he is 61 he says "old." Devastating footage was released during the trial last year showing the moment the young girl was approached while out with her mother and sisters. Jurors Cry Over Autopsy Photos On Day 2 in the trial of Donald Smith, many female jurors cried when graphic autopsy photographs of Cherish Perrywinkle were shown in court Tuesday. @ActionNewsJax, Dr. Rao explains fluids from body is taken to check for drugs, she is going through how an autopsy is performed. "I just need five minutes. Her injuries revealed defensive wounds which showed this little 67lbs 8 year old girl fought for her life but she was no match for the monster who had kidnapped her. Jacksonville chief medical examiner Dr Valerie Rao stopped her testimony as images of the child were displayed in the Florida courtroom, saying: She had so much trauma, the anatomy was totally distorted by the injury she suffered. When 20 minutes had passed Rayne began to worry. Rao is visibly shaken as she describes the bruising, scratching and other physical injuries to the body, taking large gulps and appearing watery-eyed as she details the shocking sexual abuse carried out by Cherish's attacker. @ActionNewsJax, In openings Melissa Nelson told jurors that Smith made comments about a group of girls in the jail. Jury is hearing moments when she reported her 8-year-old daughter had disappeared with #DonaldSmith. People reports that the defense tried in vain to keep graphic photos taken of the little girl, Cherish Perrywinkle, out of the upcoming trial, but Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper ruled that the jury will be allowed to see them. This is the dress that was worn by 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle when she was killed. "Why in the world would he take my little girl?" Not so much at his Trial but in a prison recording of a conversation he had with his mother. She says its a 1 in 35 quintillion match, meaning shes confident the only other person responsible could be an identical twin, if Smith had one. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! He suggested getting food at the McDonalds inside the store and asked for Cherishto accompany him and pick out the food she wanted. It was shown as evidence to the jury during the trial of Donald Smith. In a desperate call to police, the girl's mother revealed how she fears the worst has happened to her daughter. Cherish had been strangled with such force that her eyeballs bled-the blood vessels burst in her throat, face and eyes. Jury selection for the case that shocked the Jacksonville community and the nation is schedule to begin on February 12. Dr. Valerie Rao was. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/nnTMgN1vnC, FDLE DNA Expert is on the stand right now. Todays testimony was clearly difficult for some of the jurors, with many openly shedding tears as the autopsy photos were put in front of them. Jury will then deliberate. Jury asked to be back tomorrow at 9:15. Stay with us as the trial moves forward. "I'm sorry I need to take a break" Says Rao. Smith, the man accused of the 2013 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 8-year-old Cherish. There were extensive swabs taken in an effort to match DNA to a suspect, and Nicole Lee, with the Florida Department of Law Enforcements Regional Crime Lab in Jacksonville, says many of those samples did- in fact- point to Smith. The swift guilty verdicts must come as a relieft to the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on the battered body the young girl. Smith overheard Rayne explain to an . It was something the entire city of Jacksonville was concerned about given that it was a child., Jurors are understandably becoming agitated and silently upset while looking at the injuries sustained to Cherish's body. @ActionNewsJax, "All her injuries she sustained were prior to her death." Public Domain Cherish Perrywinkle was murdered by a convicted pedophile who was released from prison just weeks before. But the most extensive injuries were to her genitalia which was torn, swollen, clearly abused, and distorted. Her eyes, however, told the story of the moments just before her death. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. She got into Don's van. The evidence, some of it. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Top Dems push Fox News to stop promoting "propaganda" about 2020 election, Where things stand in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial, Watch Live: Closing arguments to begin in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh. The suspects criminal record dated back to 1977. Clickheretouploadyours. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. According to a police report, Smith brought the girl out of her familys sight while shopping at that Walmart. Road closed due to restricted area on William Ostner Rd both ways from Park Rd to New Berlin Rd. 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