Attorneys have delivered closing arguments in the trial of a man accused of killing a 10-year-old Davenport girl three years ago.
Fifty-one-year-old Henry Dinkins is accused of kidnapping and murdering Breasia Terrell and dumping her body in a pond near DeWitt. Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunninghan cited evidence of Dinkins buying bleach at a Walmart in Clinton as well as soil samples from Dinkins’ vehicle that linked him to the pond where the girl was found.
“The state asserts that Mr. Dinkins underestimated this child and realized that this child was not going to keep what happened between them a secret,” she said Monday. “…He had to murder that child so that nobody would know he sexually abused that child.”
Dinkins did not testify during his trial. Dinkins lawyer, Chad Frese, said there’s no DNA evidence tying Dinkins to the crime. “This is not a ‘who done it.” This is ‘who proved it,'” Frese said today. “…I find it ironic that there’s not one piece of physical evidence that can say ever that Henry Dinkins touched this girl in any way.”
Breasia Taylor’s family reported her missing the day after she spent the night in Dinkins’ apartment with her younger brother, who is Dinkins’ son. Nine months later fishermen found her body in a farm pond. Dinkins waived his right to a jury trial and a judge will deliver the verdict in his case.
In 1990, Dinkins pleaded guilty to third degree sexual abuse for assaulting a five year old girl when he was 17. Shortly after Taylor’s appearance, Dinkins was arrested and charged with violating sex offender registry rules.