Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Death row inmate claims innocence in death of 4-year-old girl

CARSON CITY – An attorney for death row inmate Kitrich Powell says the death in Las Vegas of a 4-year old girl was an accident and not the result of child abuse.

Gary Taylor, the lawyer for Powell, told the Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday that Melea Allen fell off his shoulder and into the bath tub, causing a blow to the head that caused her death in November 1989.

The victim was the daughter of Sharon Allen, the girlfriend of Powell.

But Deputy District Attorney Steve Owen said the child was bruised “from head to toe” and it wasn’t an accident that the girl fell into the bathtub.

Owens said there was no new evidence to justify a district court hearing to reconsider the evidence.

The court took the arguments under submission but Justice Kristina Pickering directed that the trial testimony of former Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Giles S. Green be presented to the court.

Taylor argued that Green has changed his version of how the death occurred.

Owens said, however, that Green, who is in a nursing home, isn’t changing his testimony and there is no reason to overturn the conviction.

Taylor said Powell suffered brain damage and “there was a colorful showing of actual innocence.”

But Chief Justice Michael Douglas told Taylor that Powell believes nothing is his fault. “That’s not the case,” he said.

The case has bounced back and forth between courts. His conviction in 1991 was upheld by the Supreme Court. But the U.S. Supreme Court ordered another review. That ended with the Nevada Supreme Court again ruling against Powell.

In 2002, a lower court judge ruled that Powell’s previous lawyers were ineffective and the death sentence was set aside. But the Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, reinstated the death penalty in 2006.

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