McKinney, Texas – Jacky Scott Garrett, 43 of Frisco, received an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after the jury found him guilty of the Capital Murder of his 22 month old adopted son, announced Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis.
Garrett and his wife Emily took custody of their son Logan and his twin sister in March 2011 and finalized their adoption on September 30, 2011. Just eleven days later, while Emily was out of state, Garrett took semi-conscious Logan to the home of a neighbor, who was a spine surgeon. At the time, Logan’s body was limp, and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. Garrett described to the neighbor that he thought he might have knocked the breath out of his child while they were wrestling. After about 20 minutes, when Logan’s condition remained poor, 911 was called. Garrett minimized Logan’s injuries and described his child as “okay.” He stated he thought he knocked him out while they were playing. He later added that he might have knocked the breath out of his child a couple of times.
During the trial, the defense described Garrett as a kind man, but jurors heard the 911 call where Logan moaned and groaned and Garrett never offered a word of comfort to his dying son. Frisco paramedics did their best, and Logan was rushed by ambulance to Children’s Medical Center in Plano. His heart stopped beating and he quit breathing on arrival. The medical team worked tirelessly to revive him, but pronounced him dead after their efforts were unsuccessful.
The Collin County Medical Examiner ruled Logan’s death a homicide by blunt force trauma to the abdomen. During autopsy, the Medical Examiner also found serious extensive bruising on his buttocks. Garrett indicated that bruising resulted from playing horsey the previous week.
Caregivers and former friends of the Garrett’s testified that Logan and his twin sister had multiple incidences of injuries over a six to seven month period including black eyes, genital and buttocks bruising, and head wounds. There seemed to always be an excuse for the injuries and noted that playing horsey had been the excuse for prior incidences of bruising.
After Logan’s death, his twin sister was examined. She had an untreated healing fracture in her foot, was diagnosed with failure to thrive, and had hair that appeared to have been pulled from her head. She has since been adopted by a loving family and is doing well.
Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Crystal Levonius and Daniel Lewis prosecuted the case and were assisted by District Attorney Investigator Kenny Newton. Judge John Roach, Jr. presided over the case.
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