- | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- November 2, 2007
Evidence released Thursday in the Dunbar Village rape case shows defendant Avion Lawson is eager to make a deal with the prosecutor.
Lawson wrote twice to prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek and asked for a meeting with her and his lawyer, Bert Winkler. In one of the letters, he also wrote that the motive was robbery because the group thought there was gold jewelry inside.
Despite reports saying 10 people took part in the gang rape, Lawson said six people attacked the mother and son.
“If you need more information, I would [be] willing to do that, first ask Bert,” Lawson, 14, wrote. The letters to the prosecutor and others to family and friends from Lawson were the bulk of the 471 pages of evidence.
Lawson, who was arrested July 3, denied involvement in the crime before DNA evidence on a condom linked him to the June 18 rape. In his letters he said he, too, was a victim and blamed the attack on another suspect, Tommy Lee Poindexter, 18.
“He had a gun to my head and I couldn’t do nothing,” Lawson wrote. “If I would of ran I would of got shot or be dead. So I had no choice. He put it to my head and said ‘Do it.’ And when I stopped I tried to leave. He told me to get back down or he’ll kill me.”
Belohlavek could not be reached for comment despite a call to her office. Poindexter’s attorney, Public Defender Carey Haughwout, along with Winkler declined to discuss the case before court proceedings.
Along with Lawson and Poindexter, Jakaris Taylor, 16, and Nathan Walker, 17, face life in prison if convicted of armed sexual battery and other felonies. Police said the group, along with six others, rushed the home in the West Palm Beach housing project, repeatedly gang-raped the mother, beat the son, 12, and then forced him to have sex with his mother. Another hearing is set for Feb. 7.
Lawson was apologetic in one of the letters to Belohlavek and said it was “stupid of me doing that.”
“If you would of seen what happened, it’s like your worst nightmare,” Lawson wrote. “Especially what happened to the boy. And it seems like they were having fun. They were laughing and videoing.”
Lawson wants to go home. He said in letters that he is only allowed three showers a week and stays in his jail cell 23 hours a day.
“I cry every night,” he wrote. “I just want to go home. I just want to go home.”
Jerome Burdi can be reached at jjburdi@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6531.
ONLINE For recently published stories and video reports on Dunbar Village, go to Sun-Sentinel.com/dunbarvillage
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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“I cry every night. I just want to go home. I just want to go home.
You cry every night? You WANT TO GO HOME?
Imagine what it must be like for that mother and her young son. Imagine the psychological terror they will have to live with for the rest of their lives, every day, reliving the atrocities you and those other savage humans put them through.
“the group thought there was gold jewelry inside.”
Wow.
A hard-working mother of a young son just obviously has accumulated tons of gold jewelry. She has built up a treasure trove of gold bullion in her home on a working-class single mother’s income. Yeah, right.
“If you need more information, I would [be] willing to do that, first ask Bert,” Lawson, 14, wrote. The letters to the prosecutor and others to family and friends from Lawson were the bulk of the 471 pages of evidence.”
Cutting a deal with the prosecutor to CYA, eh?
“Lawson, who was arrested July 3, denied involvement in the crime before DNA evidence on a condom linked him to the June 18 rape. In his letters he said he, too, was a victim and blamed the attack on another suspect, Tommy Lee Poindexter, 18.”
The evidence is pointing towards you, so start the tap-dancing.
“He had a gun to my head and I couldn’t do nothing,” Lawson wrote. “If I would of ran I would of got shot or be dead. So I had no choice. He put it to my head and said ‘Do it.’ And when I stopped I tried to leave. He told me to get back down or he’ll kill me.”
Oh, so you were ignorant of why you and your “friends” went to that defenseless mother and son’s home? What? You all went there to have tea and crumpets with them, and not to brutalize and attempt to destroy them? Not just to rape and batter the mother, but to also force her child to have sex with her against his will?
No.
You knew when all of you went to that mother’s home, ALL of you were intent on ruthlessly committing barbaric crimes against that little family. Seeing the justice that awaits you down the road has brought fear into you, but, only fear for yourself. Nevermind the fear that you and your “friends” have put into that mother and her child.
‘Lawson was apologetic in one of the letters to Belohlavek and said it was “stupid of me doing that.”
No, it was stupid of you in your vicious cruelty against this family to attack and savage them, as well as leave pertinent evidence behind (forgot about those used condoms from the rape, eh?)
“If you would of seen what happened, it’s like your worst nightmare,” Lawson wrote. “Especially what happened to the boy. And it seems like they were having fun. They were laughing and videoing.”
How much of that “laughing” did you do, eh?
“Lawson wants to go home. He said in letters that he is only allowed three showers a week and stays in his jail cell 23 hours a day.”
You want to go home?
“Home” is more than just a building with four walls. Home is where a family’s safety should be. Home is where a mother and her child should reside without the threat or fear of humans like you bursting in on them to commit brutalities beyond comprehension. Home is more than just a building with walls, a floor, a roof, and windows.
HOME is where innocent people should be secure in their lives . You and your “friends” destroyed that for that mother and her son.
You are only allowed three showers a week.
Wow, I’m crying tears for you.
Think of that mother and her young son. They will have to take “showers” (physical, and psychological showers) for the rest of their lives to try and wash away the memories of the abominations that you and your “friends” did to them. They will have to cry tears of sorrow in waking up from nightmares you and your “friends” instilled into them from your terrorism you wrought on them that night.
As for 23 hour lockdown.
Consider that a sign of courtesy of the jail system protecting you from the rest of the inmate population. Consider it maximum protection, because once word gets out into the general inmate population what you did to that mother and her son, well, your life won’t be worth a plug nickel.
“I cry every night,” he wrote. “I just want to go home. I just want to go home.”
You are already “home”.
Afraid it’s your bed.
You’re going to have to lie in it.
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