Texas dad gets death in slaying of infant son

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury sentenced a father to death on Monday after convicting him of sexually assaulting his 3-month-old son before stomping him to death in 2008.

Galveston County jurors took three hours to agree on a death sentence for Travis James Mullis, 24, of Alvin, in the death of his infant son, Alijah, according to the Houston Chronicle.

DNA tests presented during the penalty phase of his trial showed that Mullis sexually abused the child before killing him. Police in Philadelphia, to where Mullis had fled after the death, have said he acknowledged stomping on the child’s skull to stop him from crying.

In closing arguments on Monday, Galveston County prosecutor Donna Cameron called Mullis a “monster.”

“The monster is sitting right there in this courtroom, and his name is Travis Mullis,” she said. “There is no medication, there is no treatment for the evil that he is.”

Attorneys defending Mullis had based their case on evidence of a twisted, dysfunctional childhood of neglect and sexual abuse.

“He’s an emotional, mental health quadriplegic,” defense attorney Gerald Bourque told the group of seven women and five men. “It’s not that he’s unwilling, it’s that he’s unable” to sense the feelings of others.

“No one should have to live the life that Travis Mullis has lived and then die and go to hell for it,” he said.

Jurors found Mullis guilty of capital murder on March 11. Passers-by found the child’s diaper-clad body on a remote berm near Galveston’s East Beach.

Prosecutors showed jurors pictures of jail cell writings that included a list of the initials of 62 people they said Mullis felt had mistreated him. Galveston County jail officials also told of a suicide attempt Mullis said was bred of desperation to get out of jail.

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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com