Family: Convicted Attempted Murderer Got Off Easy In Prior Case
MIAMI (CBS4) - The courtroom was full Monday. All the players were there; The attempted murderer, smiling in the prisoners' box. The police officer he tried to murder, in the front row with his family, wearing a pin striped suit, crisp dress shirt and tie. But the expected sentencing of the attempted murderer did not happen.
Nineteen year-old Willie Barney, convicted of armed robbery and attempted murder Friday for a September attack on off duty Miami-Dade Officer Wislyn Joseph, was facing up to life in prison. The sentencing hearing was postponed, however, after defense attorney Robert Barrar moved for a retrial. Barrar claims judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat committed error by refusing to allow the defense to strike some prospective jurors from the panel. The judge delayed the sentencing and set the hearing on the motion for a retrial for May 13th.
A courtroom packed with police officers and victim friends and family emptied out, clearly disappointed by the delay.
Also disappointed was Donna Kerr, who had been watching from the third row. Kerr's husband was allegedly murdered by Barney and two accomplices on September 18th, 2012 in the front yard of his Miami Gardens home. He was killed for the gold chain around his neck. The murder was part of an alleged spree of robbery, killing and mayhem Barney and his pals committed over a period of weeks, ending with their arrests September 23rd.
"We were married thirty years," Donna Kerr said of the relationship with her murdered husband, a chef. "It was a shock. It's still unbelievable."
The murder victim's mother, Esmie Kerr, spoke of her son and the loss allegedly inflicted by Barney - a 19 year-old serial offender - and his accused accomplices Dedrick Brown and Travares Santiago.
"They took my heart away," said Esmie Kerr. "My son was very nice, my first child of six. He was loving, kind and good."
Tears welled in the eyes of the victim's brother, Donovan Kerr.
"It's so sad to see my brother lost like that. It's unbelievable. He was the oldest brother, he was the guidance and everything for us," Donovan said.
As the Kerr family spoke of unspeakable loss, they also felt violated by a system that permitted Willie Barney to be free to commit alleged murder. Barney had a prior conviction for armed robbery. He was sentenced as a youthful offender to just one year in the lock-up. After violating his probation in the armed robbery case he was sent back to prison for just two years. He had been out only a matter of weeks when he allegedly committed five armed robberies, the attempted murder of the off duty police officer, and the robbery and murder of Barrington Kerr.
"Even right now, I'm disappointed," Donovan Kerr said, disappointed for his loss, and disappointed in a system that the family sees as going slow - and easy - on offenders like Willie Barney.
Barney and his accomplices, to paraphrase the poet Frost, have many judicial miles to go before they sleep, and may yet face eternal sleep. A high level source tells CBS4's Gary Nelson that prosecutors may put the death penalty on the table in the murder of Barrington Kerr.
