Last year
on this day, Krista Denae Babb and Julius Wayne Smith were murdered in the
State of Georgia, USA. Please read the news below before I give my condolences
and comfort to their family members.
The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA
June 5, 2012
Sister of
slain girl against life sentence for accused
Thought
death penalty was on the table
Mark
Millican
markmillican@daltoncitizen.com
— Seara Adair said the man who
allegedly shot and killed her sister in Westside last year — as well as a man
who was a “father figure” to both of them — may get a plea deal for a life
sentence instead of being tried in a death penalty case.
And she doesn’t like it one bit.
The man accused in the murders, Daniel Lloyd Densmore, 33, of Standing Road in
Tunnel Hill, was indicted Thursday by a Whitfield County grand jury on two
counts of murder in the death of his former neighbor, Julius Wayne Smith, 61,
and Adair’s sister, Krista Denae Babb, 14, of Chatsworth.
Adair, 21, said it appears Densmore will be given the opportunity to plead
guilty and receive a life sentence instead of face the death penalty — which
she said she was led to believe would happen.
Authorities said Densmore also set a fire inside Smith’s home on Honeybee Way
in Westside to try and cover up the shootings in September 2011. He was charged
by the sheriff’s office with two counts of felony murder, and a count each of
arson, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Adair said she “had it out” with District Attorney Bert Poston when she and
Wayne Smith’s family met with him. Brenda Hoffmeyer, director of the
Victim/Witness Assistance Program of the judicial circuit, was also present.
“We met Friday to discuss it, me and Wayne’s side of the family,” she said on
Monday. “(Poston) informed us then that Daniel and his attorney wanted to offer
a plea deal ... we discussed it some and I was very much opposed to it. I made
it clear — since a month after my sister passed, my mom passed — so I am the
only person on Krista’s side of the case.”
Adair said her mother had a stroke on Oct. 17 — exactly a month after the
alleged murders — then died four days later.
“(Poston) in the end said it was really up to him, the decision on whether to
accept the plea or not,” she said. “He said he would think about it more over
the weekend and let us know something today, then I got a call from
(Hoffmeyer), letting me know that Bert had decided to take the plea deal.
(Densmore is) going to court Friday and (a plea) would be taken care of then.”
Adair said Poston agreeing to accept the plea deal offered by Circuit Public
Defender Mike McCarthy left her “confused.”
“The reasoning I got was because of what a trial entails, that if a plea like
this is being offered he feels more comfortable than (going through) a trial,”
she said. “But he has said multiple times that he knew without a doubt we would
get a guilty verdict. That’s what I’m so confused about. He made it very clear
by the amount of evidence that we had against Daniel, and how sure he was of
getting a guilty plea.
“He felt like this was the best option because of time and a healing option for
us, was what I got out of that.”
Adair emphasized she is “very opposed” to the DA’s decision and will continue
to fight it.
“The last opportunity I have to change it at all Friday is when I go to court
because I’ll have an opportunity to speak to the judge then,” she said.
Poston said on Monday he couldn’t comment given the “pending nature” of the
case.
“Densmore was indicted last week, he will be in court this Friday,” Poston
said. “I may be able to say more in the future, but legally there are limits to
what I can comment on in a pending case.”
McCarthy did not immediately return a phone call on Monday.
‘What infuriated us’
Adair said she had moved to Marietta before her sister died.
“Before then a lot of our time together was with Wayne, because he was such a
big part of our lives,” she said. “We would spend time with him, going to eat
and going over to his house a lot. Wayne was a friend of my mother’s from a
long time ago. They had at one point attempted to have a relationship, but it
just didn’t work out. And he just ended up being a friend to my mom. And he
stuck around throughout my life and became not just a father figure to me but
to my sister.”
Adair said Smith had “been there since I was born.”
“Then when I moved out and left he kinda like took the role over for Krista,”
she continued. “But he helped my mom out financially, and in every other possible
way he helped her. He was a father figure to Krista, too. That’s what
infuriated us so much about the accusations that there was a relationship
between Wayne and (Krista), because it’s not like that at all — because of the
fact that he’s been in my life since I was a child and then was there for
Krista the same way. So it wasn’t anything (sexual) like that.”
Adair has started a petition at the website change.org to “get as much support
as I can” before Densmore’s court date on Friday, she said. It can be found at
www.change.org/petitions/district-attorney-s-office-conasauga-judicial-circuit-of-georgia-seek-the-death-penalty-in-the-daniel-densmore-case.
On
September 17th, 2011 a 14 year old girl and 61 year old man were shot in the
head, robbed, and the house set on fire. This girl was my sister. That man was
my father figure. The crimes he committed were both cruel and malicious. Under
Georgia law, the crime fits eligibility for the death penalty. However, due to
the overwhelming amount of evidence, the criminal and his attorneys are wanting
to seek a plea deal of two life sentences, without parole. THIS IS NOT ENOUGH.
I feel due to the recent executions performed in Georgia and the media that
surrounded it, has scared the DA out of perusing the death penalty in this
case. Even though I was informed by the DA himself that this case is a very
strong case, and he has almost a 100% certanty that he would be found guilty,
the DA is considering taking the plea deal against my wishes, in order to save
time and resources. Please help me persuade him to seek the death penalty. This
man deserves nothing less.
Unfortunately,
after making this, I learned the DA has already decided to accept the plea
deal. We will have court Friday. That will be my LAST CHANCE to change
anything. I will plead with the judge to disregard this decision. Please sign
and share!
We
don't have long.
The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA
June 9, 2012
Densmore
gets life without parole
Despite
objections from victim’s sister
Mark
Millican
markmillican@daltoncitizen.com
— Because her sister and the
father figure in her life “had to die in their own blood,” Seara Adair told
Judge Cindy Morris that accused murderer Daniel Lloyd Densmore should not be
allowed to live.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate that he should be able
to live out his life being taken care of,” she said, breaking down in
tears. “He took my whole family from me.”
Densmore, a Tunnel Hill resident, confessed in Whitfield County Superior Court
on Friday to the shooting deaths of Julious Wayne Smith, 61, and Krista Babb,
14, in September 2011. Adair said her mother died of complications from a
stroke that occurred a month to the day after the Sept. 17 slayings.
“The doctors said the large amount of stress led to the stroke,” Adair told
Morris. “I lost my family, and I hope that rests on his conscience for the rest
of his life. I plead to you not to allow this plea and try him on the death
penalty.”
Before the hearing began there was light conversation in the courtroom, but
just before 1:30 p.m. when Densmore — hair close-cropped and wearing a red
jumpsuit, his wrists and ankles shackled — was led into the courtroom, two rows
of family members fell silent. Two deputies stood nearby.
Morris requested Densmore sit at the defense table, manned only by Circuit
Public Defender Mike McCarthy. Four representatives from the district
attorney’s office, including DA Bert Poston, sat at the prosecution’s table.
Poston said the murders occurred at Smith’s residence at 136 Honeybee Way off
Mount Vernon Road.
“Densmore had obtained a .25-caliber handgun at Big-D flea market earlier in
the morning and was later observed at the residence speaking with Smith by
Smith’s son-in-law,” Poston told the court.
Poston said lead investigators Chris Guay of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s
Office and Daniel Sims of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation believe Densmore
and Smith entered the residence, after which Densmore shot Smith twice with the
.25 and once with a .38-caliber revolver which belonged to Smith.
Krista Babb, who had spent the night, was likely asleep in an adjoining room
when the original shots were fired and was awakened, Poston said.
“Densmore did not know she was there until after he had shot Smith,” he
said. “Babb was shot once with Smith’s .38 and was killed instantly.”
Densmore left to buy gasoline and returned to start a fire in an attempt to
destroy evidence, Poston stated. Densmore also took Smith’s wallet and other
property, including the .38 revolver. Firemen who responded to the residence
and put out the fire found the bodies and contacted law enforcement.
Poston said Densmore’s original story to authorities didn’t hold up.
“He said initially he left the scene before the shootings,” Poston detailed.
“When that story began to unravel, he claimed Smith had pulled the revolver on
him.”
Densmore told investigators he had confronted Smith about what he said was the
inappropriate relationship between Smith and Babb, and that he acted in
self-defense and shot Babb accidentally.
“The angle of the (handgun) shots and the distance of the shots was not
consistent with Densmore’s story,” Poston said.
He said the evidence showed Smith was a “father figure” only to Babb, and an
autopsy revealed no sexual contact.
When Morris asked Densmore if he wanted to make a statement after Adair had
spoken, McCarthy conferred with him briefly and Densmore shook his head “no.”
Densmore stood and admitted to “both shootings with malice and aforethought”
before Morris sentenced him to life without parole.
“Mr. Densmore has taken his last breath as a free man,” she said, speaking
specifically to family members.
Afterwards, McCarthy called the murders “a robbery gone very badly.”
The negotiated plea
Poston said after the sentencing the negotiated plea came after “several
meetings” with family members of the two victims starting in the fall of 2011.
In February, Poston and his Victim Services Director, Brenda Hoffmeyer, met
with the two families and discussed options for the case at length.
“In particular, the death penalty and what would be involved in seeking the
death penalty were explained,” he said, detailing cases where certain
“statutorily defined aggravating circumstances” are present. The case against
Densmore qualified for death penalty consideration based on the fact that the
murders occurred during the commission of another capital felony, specifically
armed robbery, and that as to Babb, the murder occurred during the course of
another murder, Poston said.
Adair said she felt led to believe that Poston wanted to go through with a
death penalty case because of the strength of the evidence. Poston said after a
meeting this month that Smith’s daughter and other family members expressed a
desire that the case be resolved by guilty pleas as they did not want to go
through a death penalty trial and the appeals that can take years after a
conviction.
Outside the courthouse, Adair said she felt she was outnumbered “six people to
one” by Smith’s family members to herself, and that was the reason Morris
accepted the plea — even though she presented a petition to Morris before the
hearing that she said had almost 900 signatures asking Morris to reject the
plea deal. Smith’s family members did not make themselves available for
interviews after the hearing.
Poston said he has the “utmost respect” for Adair’s stand in the matter.
“She is completely entitled to feel the way she does and to want the death
penalty for the man who murdered her sister,” he said. “I wish that I could
have resolved the case in a manner that was agreeable to all of the surviving
family members of the two victims, but that was simply not possible. Ultimately
that decision falls to me to make, and while the survivors are free to make
decisions or hold opinions based on the emotions that they rightly feel, I am
required by law and by the rules of ethics and professionalism that guide
prosecutors to make an objective decision based on all of the facts and
circumstances of the case, the desires of all affected family members, and the
risks associated with taking the case to trial when the defendant is willing to
plead guilty.”
Poston said after “balancing all of these considerations,” he believed and
“still believes” that a guilty plea and sentence of life without the
possibility of parole is the right way to resolve the case.
“I hope that in time, Ms. Adair will come to agree with or at least accept that
decision,” he said.
Adair said afterwards she “tried my best” to represent her sister and mother.
“I guess this is a rare thing that happens where families are at (odds) about
what they want to do, about whether they want to take (the death penalty) or
not,” she said, adding she was in no mood to be forgiving to Densmore.
“The fact that when it comes time for him to die he’ll be in hospice care is
infuriating to me,” said Adair. “I’m not ever going to stop thinking about that
... the Christian side of me, (forgiveness) is something that we have to do.
The moral side of me, absolutely not. He didn’t even have the (decency) to look
up. I have no forgiveness in my heart for that man.”
Adair said a “Krista Babb Scholarship” is being established at Murray County High
School in honor and memory of her sister, and will be directed toward a student
interested in the arts since her sister liked to draw. She said the scholarship
fund will be built up before being awarded in the next school year.
MY
CONDOLENCES: I agree that it is a great injustice to let this scumbag
keep his life when he committed an atrocious crime of taking away two innocent
lives. Let us show our condolences and comfort to Adair and her family by
donating money to her sister’s scholarship. I hope and pray that God will
comfort their family members. They should learn from Holly Wells’s parents.
