Paris Anding convicted of lesser charge — voluntary manslaughter — in baseball bat killing of Marcellus Andrews last summer in Cedar Falls

Paris Anding shows how he hit Marcellus Andrews during his
murder trial Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Waterloo, IA
(MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor)

Although the most serious charge faced by Anding was second-degree murder, for which he could have received up to 50 years, KCRG reports that the jury also had the option of finding him guilty of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, assault causing serious injury or assault causing bodily injury. They did so, choosing voluntary manslaughter.
     The jury returned its verdict today at about 2:30. Jurors deliberated 3-4 hours on Thursday and went home, after having sent five written questions to the judge.
     In Iowa, voluntary manslaughter is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison.
     Andrews was taunted with antigay slurs shortly before being killed, said witnesses, but at the time Waterloo police said they weren't informed of what their witnesses told the media, and refused to treat the murder as a hate crime. The incident resulting in Andrews' death capped a running feud between a female friend of Andrews and the father of her child.
     Despite the invectives about his sexual orientation, Andrews' family and friends claimed he wasn't gay.
     Anding's attorneys said he clubbed Andrews to protect his aunt from Andrews, whom they claim was wielding a pole. Prosecutors say Andrews had been threatened earlier, that Anding's aunt was an instigator of the final confrontation and that she herself was wielding a stick.
     Anding hugged his attorneys, Steve Addington and Jill Eimemann, upon hearing the outcome.

Jurors in trial of Paris Anding for baseball bat murder of Marcellus Andrews go home after deliberating 3 hours; 5 questions send to judge

KWWL

UPDATE: ANDING CONVICTED OF LESSER CHARGE.
The jury got the case shortly before half past noon and has sent five questions to the judge dealing with malice aforethought, inferences about bringing a weapon, heat of passion acts, consideration of instructions and jury disagreement. Between three and four hours later the jurors went home for the day without reaching a verdict. Read more at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier here and from KCRG  here.

Paris Anding's crack legal team has him take the stand in Marcellus Andrews murder trial: 'I didn't think I was going to hit him dead on his head'

Paris Anding shows how he hit Marcellus Andrews during his
murder trial Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Waterloo, IA
(MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor)

Prosecutor Williams pointed out that Anding omitted the fact that he hit Marcellus Andrews with a bat during his first interview with police but easily volunteered that Jeremy Lowe had kicked Andrews when Andrews fell.

Dr. Marcus Nashelsky, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, explained that he found a fatal injury to the back of Andrews’ head.

...Nashelsky said he discovered a 3-inch-wide oval fracture to the back of the skull. A second crack, this one straight and about 5 inches long, came off the oval and ended around his ear and temple area, he said.

     “There would be required a lot of energy and lot of energy ... to cause the extensive injuries that were in Mr. Andrews’ head,” Nashelsky said.

     He said the impact had caused the brain to swell and ultimately lead to Andrews’ death. Nashelsky said the fatal head wound was consistent with being caused by a single swing of a baseball bat.

After the defense rested, the state didn’t bother offering any rebuttal witnesses. The jury won’t report today, and closing arguments are scheduled to begin Thursday morning. Complete story by Jeff Reinitz of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier here.

Paris Anding trial for murder of Marcellus Andrews: examination of evidence

Bat left in Cottage Street yard and turned in to Cedar Falls
police, who allege it was used to kill Marcellus Andrews

Jeff Reinitz of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier is covering the trial:

On the tape, Chopard went over Anding's version of events, and Anding soon admitted he hit Andrews on the third or fourth retelling. He said he punched Andrews, Andrews went down and then Jeremy Lowe kicked Andrews in the face.
     Prosecutors allege Anding slugged Andrews in the head with a baseball bat, and two witnesses reported seeing Anding leave his home with a bat when he met others to head for Cottage Street..
     But in the interview room Aug. 23, Anding continually denied wielding a bat or even owning a bat, telling Chopard that he didn't play baseball.
     The investigator then confronted Anding with a photo that apparently showed him with a bat. On the video, Anding told Chopard it was an old picture.
     Anding continued to deny he used a bat but changed his story when Chopard interviewed him a second time on Sept. 8. In that interview, he demonstrated how he swung it with two hands during the fight.
     More...

Friday: more testimony in trial of Paris Anding, accused of murdering Marcellus Andrews with baseball bat

Trial of Paris Anding in killing of Marcellus Andrews: a fight of estranged couple that had little to do with either Andrews or Anding

In day two of the trial of Paris Anding, accused of killing Marcellus Andrews with one swing of a red baseball bat to the back of Andrews' head, testimony revealed a running series of confrontations between Anding's friend, Michael Snow, and his baby mama, Tudia Simpson, Marcellus Andrews' friend.

From Jeff Reinitz of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier:

Snow and Simpson were allegedly in a vehicle chase that ended when Simpson smashed out the back window of Snow’s Delta 88 with a rake. Simpson and her cousin, Nakita Wright, then approached Snow at Phillips’ home. Andrews drove the two, according to Wright.
     After that incident got defused, Snow, Phillips, Anding and others then showed up at Wright’s Cottage Street home at about 12:45 a.m. Phillips allegedly yelled gay slurs at Andrews, who was looking after the house while Simpson and Wright walked a block over to investigate a commotion.
     The two heard the yelling and returned to the house.
      Black Hawk County Attorney Tom Ferguson said a number of fights broke out, and Anding swung a red baseball bat, striking Andrews in the back of the head. Andrews fell to the ground, and Jeremy Lowe then allegedly kicked Andrews in the head.
     Andrews died a few days later at the hospital.

Waterloo, Iowa jury seated in trial of alleged killer of Marcellus Andrews

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In the below video, you'll once again see Waterloo Safety Services Director Dan Trelka saying, in respect of the Waterloo PD's refusal to bring hate crime charges, "What does it matter? We all bleed red."
     Evidently, since Trelka personally disagrees with the rationale of more severe sentencing for hate crimes, which, unlike other crimes, can terrorize communities, he simply ignores them, thereby single-handedly vetoing their raison d'etre. Isn't that wonderful?
     AKSARBENT could understand prosecutors being hamstrung by the refusal of witnesses to be willing to credibly testify that Paris Anding uttered homophobic hate speech and therefore not bringing hate crime charges, but Trelka is so arrogant that he doesn't even bother to offer a credible excuse for refusing to take advantage of an opportunity to send a message to gay bashers.

Arrest in beating death of Marcellus Andrews: KCRG report

Marcellus Andrews beating death suspect arrested: Paris Akeem Anding, 19

Paris Akeem Anding, via wcfcourier.com

UPDATE: KCRG coverage of arrest; later, after Anding's court appearance, a disturbance in parking lot involving his relatives.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that officers have arrested Paris Akeem Anding, 19, of 310 Crescent Place, Thursday on charges of second-degree murder. He was taken to the Black Hawk County Jail, where he is being held without bond.

Here is the Waterloo Police Department press release:

Thursday, 08 September 2011 16:52

This afternoon, Thursday, September 8, 2011  the Waterloo Police Department arrested 19 year old Paris Akeem Anding of 310 Crescent Place, Waterloo in connection with the death of 19 year old Marcellus Andrews.  Anding was booked into the Black Hawk County Jail on a charge of Murder in the second degree. No bond was set.  The charge stems from an incident that took place in the early morning hours of August 19, 2011 in the 200 block of Cottage Street which resulted in the death of Marcellus Andrews.

Anding was also booked on an outstanding warrant for Aggravated Assault on a non-related charge.  

Bond was set at $10,000.00 for that warrant.

No further details are being released at this time as this is an on-going investigation.

Lieutenant Michael McNamee
Waterloo Police Department
Investigations Division 

Marcellus Andrews killing: now Waterloo newspaper is getting flak; defends itself in Sunday editorial

Waterloo's newspaper is, so far, deferring to the police and those friends and family members of Marcellus Andrews who insist that his fatal beating was not a hate crime. Some of the Courier's readers are livid. Yesterday the newspaper defended its position:

The Courier has received communications from people outraged that Andrews' death is not being referred to as a hate crime. The police department is being criticized in some of them. They're not the only ones, as evidenced from an excerpt from one letter to the editor:

     "The killers of Marcellus Andrews reportedly screamed foul, anti-gay epithets. In not specifically condemning anti-gay bigotry, The Courier failed to enunciate that Waterloo is not a hate-accepting city. This is a civil rights battle, one for which all must stand. That some choose to remain seated is unconscionable."

     Let's be very clear. The Courier stands strongly for civil rights as they are outlined in our state and federal constitutions. We decry bigotry in its many forms...

     In the meantime, what transpired leading up to Andrews' death is unclear - or at least not yet public knowledge.

     And we have thought it wise to give some deference to those a little closer to the case. That includes those investigating the event, as well as the victim's family...

 Here's what Grinnell College says about how Iowa law views hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents...

Waterloo, Iowa Human Rights Commission holds 'Community Conversation' after beating death of Marcellus Andrews

The Waterloo Courier covered the meeting.

His sister, Nichella Andrews, 22, supports the police in ruling out a hate crime. Witnesses' accounts of what allegedly happened have been blown out of proportion, she said. A cousin, Renicia Haywood, 18, noted that a person who displays perceived feminine actions is not necessarily gay.
     "They didn't come to beat him up because he was gay," Haywood said. "There's more to the story."
     "Gay or not, perceived as gay still ends up being a hate crime under those conditions," said Jim Day, vice president of the Black Hawk County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Perception of gay and being gay still both qualify."

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad: Inappropriate to link homophobic killing of Waterloo teen to discussion tenor he sets as governor

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Gronstal and wife Carolyn

Compare and Contrast... Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Council Bluffs Democrat, vowed again to use his position to block debate over a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Iowa. He has said repeatedly that he won't help write discrimination into Iowa's constitution.
     Meanwhile, today, at his weekly press conference, Republican Governor Terry Branstad was told by a reporter that the recent fatal beating of Marcellus Andrews might have been related to his sexual orientation and then was asked what he thought his role as governor was, to control the tenor of the debate about gay rights in Iowa, given its fierceness. printed his response:
     Refusing to connect any dots, Branstad replied, according to The Des Moines Register: "I think it's inaapropriate to try to link these two."
     “The fact of the matter is, we need to protect the health, safety and well-being of all the citizens, regardless – if somebody is murdered, it needs to be investigated and prosecuted and people held responsible for it.
     “But I see no link whatsoever and I think it’s inappropriate to try to blame people that are not associated with having committed a crime. I think we need to focus on the people who committed the crime and they need to be brought to justice.”
     Witnesses allege that Andrews’ attackers yelled “faggot” and other anti-gay slurs during the incident attack.
-----------------------------------

Gov. Branstad

In other Terry Branstad refusal-to-connect-the-dots news, his spokesman brushed off questions about the $56,000 that Derek Hill's wife and mother-in-law gave Branstad's campaign last year and Hill's subsequent appointment as administrator of the Iowa Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and his current status as a finalist for a top Iowa Air National Guard post.
    Speaking on behalf of the governor, Tim Albrecht said donations by an individual or a family member should not disqualify someone from serving the state.
     But wait, there's more Terry Branstad news! Democratic leaders and the state employees union are suing him for vetoing parts of a measure which would have prohibited shutting down 36 Iowa unemployment offices, then redirecting the money elsewhere. The plaintiffs say he can't do that with a line-item veto — and they cite a successful 2004 Republican court challenge against then-Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack.
      Finally, Branstad defended the expense of his taxpayer-funded 43-city "jobs bus tour," coming on the heels of loud criticism by the Iowa GOP of President Obama's recent Aug. 15-17 bus tour, which it called a “fraud of a bus tour to spin his failure to put Americans back to work.”
     As always, the Iowa GOP made its accusations with a straight face.

David Pakman rips Michele Bachmann's deafening silence on fatal Waterloo gay bashing of Marcellus Andrews

Note: To read all AKSARBENT posts on the fatal beating of Marcellus Andrews, click on the "Labels" entry at the bottom of this post.


(Via Joe.My.God. See bloglist)

Michele Bachmann likes to talk about her prowess as a "job creator," but when someone asks her why she took tens of thousands of federal job training dollars and her clinic's patients got about $140,000 in state and federal funds for treatments which additionally funded its payroll, she doesn't have a thing to say.

When it suits her convenience, Bachmann paints a Norman Rockwell Americana  picture of Waterloo, Iowa (like when she announced her candidacy), but when a 19-year-old gets clubbed (or stomped) to death in her idyllic hometown  by thugs yelling homophobic epithets a few weeks later, she doesn't have a thing to say.

AKSARBENT thinks it sees a pattern...

Below: Michele Bachmann on Waterloo (skip to 3:45):

"How thankful I am for Waterloo. For this wonderful, decent, god-fearing community... This was such a fine community to be born in, to grow up in, to work in (Bachmann left Iowa at age 13), to be a part of. I'm just thrilled with pride when I think what Waterloo put into our family... This is what we need more of; we need more Waterloo...

Marcellus Andrews funeral in Waterloo: 'There's a lot of respect for him amongst our young people.'

KGAN's coverage is here.

Note: to read all AKSARBENT posts on this story, click on the "Labels" entry at the bottom of this post. 

Marcellus Andrews slaying: new details emerge

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Kyle Munson, of the Des Moines Register, has written an unusually penetrating account of the aftermath of the beating death of Marcellus Andrews of Waterloo, asking questions that clarify a lot of murky but pertinent details that almost every other news account has either ignored or not followed up on.
     AKSARBENT, of course, has abbreviated and paraphrased and inserted its own opinion in brackets, so click on the above link to read Mr. Munson's perceptive, nuanced and intelligent recounting of this story up to now, not just AKSARBENT's crude bullet points.

• Police have stressed they think the beating was prompted by a long-running dispute. [Yet they repeatedly have been unwilling to acknowledge that Andrews was on one side or another of said dispute. But they point to the long running "dispute" as the reason for Andrews' killing, not his perceived sexual orientation.]
• Andrews wasn’t part of alleged vandalism to a car last week that preceded the Cottage Street confrontation in the early hours of Aug. 19, [Lt. Michael McNamee now says, unambiguously.]
• Andrews happened to be sitting on the porch of his friend Nakita Wright’s home when he was accosted. (McNamee said there seems to have been a former romantic tie between one of the attackers and one of Andrews’ female friends.)
• McNamee reiterated his claim that Andrews’ sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation had “nothing to do with the incident itself.”
• Andrews’ family and friends thus far have chosen not to speak directly about his sexual orientation.
• The pastor who will conduct Andrews’ funeral Saturday, the Rev. Marvin Jenkins of Union Missionary Baptist Church, has said that homosexuality is “not acceptable to God.”
• Local DJs on African-American community radio station KBBG-FM 88.1 — which began broadcasting 35 years ago on Cottage Street — characterized Andrews’ death as “a clarion call to come together” and “a wake-up call for our children.”
• McNamee characterized it as a “fairly quiet summer” for police before Andrews’ death. Some black community leaders agree that violence has been curtailed compared with just a couple of years ago.
• Seven years ago, Thyanna Parsons, 23, also was a captain of the Crusaders when she was an innocent bystander killed in the middle of a gang shooting.
• Andrews was an organ donor, and his kidneys, liver, heart and eyes will go to other people.

Marcellus Andrews' candlelight vigil in Waterloo, Iowa Thursday 8/25/11

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Kyle Munson, columnist for the Des Moines Register, described the scene in his YouTube annotation:

Jamodd Sallis, youth pastor at Union Missionary Baptist Church, speaks to mourners on Cottage Street as they gather around a makeshift shrine with their candles held aloft to honor Marcellus Andrews, the 19-year-old who was beaten to death Aug. 19 in Waterloo. Witnesses allege that anti-gay hate speech was used by Andrews' attackers in the beating.

Vigils held for gay-bashed Iowa teen, Marcellus Andrews, murdered in Michele Bachmann's hometown, Waterloo, Iowa

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In Des Moines. (Click here to see KCCI report.)

(Jim Baldridge responded to Waterloo PD reasoning that hate crime charges could not be brought against the killers of Marcellus Andrews because they "had a history:" "It doesn't matter if they'd been fighting for ten years. "We're hoping that the state will step in and make Blackhawk County or the Waterloo PD look at this as a hate crime."



In Waterloo:


In Davenport:
(If video below does not appear in your browser, click on this post's headline.)

Hours before vigils, Waterloo PD issues new press release on why it's not pursuing hate crime charges in death of Marcellus Andrews; no specifics cited

Note: to read all AKSARBENT posts on this story, click on the "Labels" entry at the bottom of this post.

It looks like Lt. Mike McNamee is no longer the go-to guy for police outsiders in this matter. After Waterloo police denied that any witnesses told any of its investigators anything about the homophobic slurs and taunts which those same witnesses later told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier preceded Andrews' beating death, the department now says:

Although offensive and disparaging words were being used during this incident, it does not rise to the threshold required by Iowa code to indicate a bias-motivated crime.

The applicable Iowa statute is this:

729A.2 VIOLATION OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS -- HATE CRIME.
"Hate crime" means one of the following public offenses when committed against a person or a person's property because of the person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability, or the person's association with a person of a certain race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex,
sexual orientation, age, or disability:
1. Assault in violation of individual rights under section 708.2C.
2. Violations of individual rights under section 712.9.
3. Criminal mischief in violation of individual rights under section 716.6A.
4. Trespass in violation of individual rights under section 716.8, subsections 3 and 4.

Click to enlarge

Now a movement is afoot in California, spearheaded by GetEQUAL via change.org's website, to petition the F.B.I. field office in Omaha to investigate the matter as a federal hate crime.

Marcellus Andrews death: Waterloo cops claim not a single witness mentioned any gay slurs to them (oddly, they did to the local newspaper)

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UDATE: Hours before vigils for Andrews start, Waterloo PD issues new press release

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier had this to say Wednesday:

Although witnesses told The Courier that they heard Andrews being taunted before the fight, police said the slurs weren't mentioned in interviews with officers.

So, the investigators at the Waterloo police department apparently considered a former cosmetology student turned interior design student so badass that a gang would want to make sure he never threatened them again by sitting in an enclosed porch?

Alright, let's suppose the investigators did ask the obvious and that none of the witnesses told them about the slurs.

Why would this happen?

Could it be because the witnesses felt that if the Waterloo police thought that Andrews was gay, that they wouldn't bother to fully investigate?

But if they really didn't say anything to the cops, why would they then turn around and spill the beans to the local paper?

Who's telling the whole truth?

Perhaps AKSARBENT is reading too much into this.

After all, Lt. McNamee has already told CBS affiliate KGAN in Cedar Rapids that Andrews and his killer/s "just happened to run into each other."

Marcellus Andrews vigils, memorial and funeral schedule for Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Note: to read all AKSARBENT posts on this story, click on the "Labels" entry at the bottom of this post.

Nadia Crow of EasternIowaNewsNow.com has provided a vigil/memorial/funeral schedule for Marcellus Andrews, who was beaten to death in Waterloo, Iowa on Friday, August 19, 2011.

Cedar Falls: University of Northern Iowa at Campanile at Central Campus at 8:30pm-11:30pm (no real candles allowed)

Cedar Rapids: Tree of Five Season on East Bank of 1st Ave Bridge at 8:30pm-10pm (will include speakers)

Des Moines: The Blazing Saddle at the State Capitol at 8pm-10pm

Dubuque: Town Clock Plaza at 8:30pm-10pm

Waterloo: at 200 block of Cottage Street, 8pm

The memorial for Marcellus Andrews is Friday at Union Missionary Baptist Church in Waterloo. His funeral will be at 11 am Saturday.

AKSARBENT asks: Do you live in Waterloo? Did you know Marcellus? Do you believe the Waterloo police are correct in claiming that his fatal beating was not a hate crime? Please comment below. Also, please let others know when Friday's memorial will start, as the time was not published by AKSARBENT's source, listed above. Thanks.