Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Friday, June 22, 2018

IN LOVING MEMORY OF 8-YEAR-OLD CHERISH LILY PERRYWINKLE (DECEMBER 24, 2004 TO JUNE 22, 2013)


We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will honor and remember 8-year-old Cherish Lily Perrywinkle who died on June 22, 2013. 

We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make her one of The 82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget her. Let us remember how she lived and not how she died. We will always support her family members. Please go to this previous blog post to learn more about her.

There was some justice served as her killer, Donald Smith was sentenced to death on May 2, 2018. 

Cherish Perrywinkle, 8, was abducted on 06/21/13 and later raped and killed. Police have arrested Donald J. Smith, 56, in her murder. Smith is a registered sex offender who was just released from jail on May 31, 2013.


Mom to child killer sentenced to death: 'BURN IN HELL'
A heartbroken mother told twisted death row-bound child killer Donald Smith she wants him to “burn in hell.”

A heartbroken mother told twisted death row-bound child killer Donald Smith she wants him to “burn in hell.”

Smith was sentenced Wednesday to ultimate justice in a Jacksonville, Fla. courtroom for the 2013 murder of Cherish Perrywinkle. She was 8.

“I could say ‘burn in hell,’ that’s what I want to say. I want him to burn in hell,” Cherish’s mom, Rayne Perrywinkle, told reporters.

The jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.

“When she (Judge Mallory Cooper) said ‘death penalty,’ that’s when my tears started coming out,” Perrywinkle said, adding, “I don’t move forward, I just exist now.”

Smith — a convicted child molester — had befriended Perrywinkle and offered to buy her children clothing at a Jacksonville Walmart.

He then suggested getting them food at the front of the store, and Cherish went with him. She vanished.

The little girl’s body was found the next day in a marshy area.

During the penalty phase, a woman Smith tried to kidnap and molest when she was a child delivered a power-packed victim impact statement.

The jury heard that the grey-haired killer is a diagnosed psychopath without an iota of empathy. It took them 15 minutes to convict him.

Rayne Perrywinkle said she’s determined to have something positive come from her daughter’s tragic death.

She wants child sex predators like Smith locked up forever.

“I want to strengthen laws to get predators locked up where they should be, so they don’t have the chance to keep getting out to murder children, to lure parents such as myself that were naive,” Perrywinkle said.

“I just wish Cherish was here to see it.”
INTERNET SOURCE:


Judge: 'May God have mercy on your soul,' Donald Smith sentenced to death
Updated: May 3, 2018 - 9:40 AM

Convicted killer Donald Smith was sentenced to death by the judge Wednesday for the 2013 murder of Cherish Perrywinkle.

"Donald James Smith, may God have mercy on your soul," Judge Mallory Cooper said as she sentenced him.

The jury took 14 minutes to find Smith guilty of kidnap, rape and murder of the 8-year-old in February. Smith had little reaction as the guilty verdict was read to him.

The death penalty was recommended to the judge by the jurors on February 22, after a little over two hours of deliberation.

Smith has a criminal history as a registered sexual offender. His mother, Patricia Moore said her son was first arrested in 1977 for exposing himself to children, but she thought it was a misunderstanding. He was then arrested for sex-related offenses in the '80s and '90s.

Smith was also charged in 2003 with pretending to be a Florida Department of Children and Families worker and calling a 9-year-old girl, asking her sexual questions and threatening her family.

Cherish was kidnapped from a Northside Walmart and killed by Smith, authorities said.

In 2013, JSO admitted their officers made mistakes as they doubted Cherish's mother Rayne Perrywinkle'sstory and said she acted strangely.

Juror Paul Hinson got a hug and a ‘thank you’ from Rayne Perrywinkle after the sentencing Wednesday in the Duval County Courthouse lobby.

Hinson is one of the jurors who unanimously recommended the death sentence for Smith. He attended court proceedings after the trial to see that justice was done to Smith.

“It is not going to be officially over until he’s put to death, but that’s whenever they decide to do that. That’s when it’s going to be,” Hinson said.

Action News Jax law and safety Expert Dale Carson said it could take years before Smith is executed. He said that’s how long the appeals process could take, and evidence such as the child’s autopsy photos could play a role along with other factors.

“That is one of the appeals that will happen, and others related to the types of information developed during the trial,”Carson said. “Objections, the court’s sustained objections, all of them work together to create great fodder for the appellate system.”

Carson said Smith will now go to Baker County for a medical evaluation before going to prison to await execution.

A man has been sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of abducting, raping and slaying an 8-year-old girl in Florida.

A man convicted in less than 15 minutes for raping and murdering an 8-year-old Florida girl was sentenced to death on Wesdnesday.

The man, Donald Smith, 62, had been found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and rape in the 2013 death of the child, Cherish Perrywinkle.

According to the young girl’s mother, Rayne, Smith had been watching her and her three daughters while they shopped for clothes at a discount store on June 21, 2013. She testified that he noticed her working out a way to pay for the clothes and was waiting outside for them when they left, unable to afford the items. She said Smith offered to take them to a nearby Walmart and make purchases using a gift card.   

She was weary but accepted. Rayne then said that after hearing the young girls complain about being hungry, Smith offered to go to a McDonald’s within the store. Cherish followed him and was never seen alive again.

The young girl’s mutilated body was later found in a creek. She had been raped and stranggled, and her injuries appeared to include blunt-force trauma to the back of her head.
Dr. Valerie Rao, the Jacksonville chief medical examiner, testified that Perrywinkle sustained severe injuries and had a "‘totally destroyed anatomy.”

It took her three to five minutes to die from “lack of oxygen to her brain,” Rao said.

Smith, who has a criminal history dating back to the 1970s, was described by defense experts as a psychopath lacking in impulse control. Doctors also described Smith as callous, uncaring, manipulative and without empathy.

His case will automatically be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.

Fox News’ Frank Miles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.



OTHER LINKS:
1a. Mom to child killer sentenced to death: 'BURN IN HELL'
A heartbroken mother told twisted death row-bound child killer Donald Smith she wants him to “burn in hell.”


1b. 'Burn in hell': Man, 62, is sentenced to death for rape and murder of girl, eight, who he abducted from a Walmart after promising to buy her impoverished family food and clothes


1c. Judge: 'May God have mercy on your soul,' Donald Smith sentenced to death


1d. A man has been sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of abducting, raping and slaying an 8-year-old girl in Florida.



2014

2015

2016