Who killed Garrett Phillips? Gruesome murder of 12-year-old tears village apart
GARRETT Phillips was an angelic, blond 12-year-old, who loved ball games and had an endearing naughty streak.
On October 24, 2011, Garrett was playing basketball with friends in Potsdam, upstate New York, when his mother, Tandy Cyrus, called to tell him to go home and do his schoolwork.
The New York Times has detailed how, just before 5pm, he jumped on his skateboard and headed back to the apartment. About 10 minutes later, a neighbour who was watching serial killer drama Dexter slowly realised the screams of “no” and “help” weren’t part of the program.
She went into the hall and knocked on Garrett’s door, then heard the lock click. She called 911.
A policeman and building manager raced to the apartment, where they reported faintly hearing someone walking around, although detectives later wondered if it could have been the sound of Garrett in distress.
In the bedroom, they saw the boy on his back with his head and shoulder against the wall, wearing a T-shirt and checked shorts. “He looked like he was sleeping,” said the building manager, but “his face looked dark”.
Garrett was pronounced dead at hospital that same night.
NUMBER ONE SUSPECT
The youngster’s tragic death threw his small town into turmoil. Everyone shared in his family’s grief, and was desperate to see justice served.
Suspicions quickly fell on Oral “Nick” Hillary, a university soccer coach, originally from Jamaica, who had been in a relationship with Garrett’s mother.
The authorities say Hillary was jealous of Garrett, believing the boy came between him and Ms Cyrus. He and his daughter had moved in with her and her two sons, but things had gone sour and he had left.
Ms Cyrus described her 41-year-old ex as controlling and said there was tension between him and her sons. Her mother agreed. After he moved out, Hillary harassed Ms Cyrus and accused her of disrespecting him, she said.
Police claim Hillary followed Garrett home and strangled him before climbing out of a back window as police arrived, leaving him with a limp.
Brian Phillips, Garrett’s uncle, said he saw Hillary’s vehicle near the apartment before the crime.
In May 2014, Hillary was charged with second-degree murder.
HOLES IN THE CASE
The problem with this picture is that it this is far from the open-and-shut case police, local government, the prosecution and people from the area have painted, the NYT has shown.
For a start, Hillary has two alibis for the time of the murder: he was with his daughter and then at a colleague’s house.
There is no DNA evidence connecting Hillary to the crime scene, despite police collecting numerous fingerprints and tissue samples. There are no witnesses, he has no history of deviant behaviour (besides a minor marijuana charge) and no obvious motive to murder a child.
His first indictment was thrown out for prosecutorial misconduct.
Hillary says he and Garrett got along, and he treated him like his own son. His supporters believe Hillary has been targeted because of both the colour of his skin — most people in the area are white — and the potent desire to identify a culprit in this heinous crime.
“It was like a meteor hitting,” said Ron Tischler, the mayor of Potsdam, which has just 9600 residents.
ALTERNATIVE THEORY
Hillary’s defence says another possible suspect, a sheriff’s deputy who also dated Garrett’s mother, was ruled out too fast.
John Jones had lived with Ms Cyrus before she started dating Hillary. After they broke up, she reported that he had pushed her.
He also allegedly followed Hillary home at 6am and accused him of “having an affair” with Garrett’s mother. The soccer coach filed an official complaint at the time, saying Deputy Jones had threatened to kick his door in.
Deputy Jones admitted to a confrontation but denied being threatening.
Hillary said it was one of several times he was harassed over his relationship with Ms Cyrus, often by friends of Deputy Jones. “It’s not a community with a lot of interracial relationships,” he added.
Jones says he was out walking his dog at the time of Garrett’s death. On the morning after the murder, he accompanied Ms Cyrus to the police station and sat in on her meeting with the lieutenant.
Sources: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/who-killed-garrett-phillips-gruesome-murder-of-12yearold-tears-village-apart/news-story/2d0cfc430b19e124da46d473a1e696ca
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