A Miami woman “snuffed the life” out of foster child Rilya Wilson, then concocted a web of lies to cover up the murder, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
The caretaker, Geralyn Graham, hated Rilya so much that she kept the girl restrained with “flex cuffs” and in a dog cage, prosecutor Joshua Weintraub told jurors during his opening statement.
“She thought, after eight months, that the child had demons and was evil,” Weintraub told jurors. “She referred to her as “it” because she didn’t want to wear an angel outfit at Halloween. She wanted to wear a Cleopatra mask.”
Monday marked the muchn-anticipated first day of trial for Graham, 66, who is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated child abuse.
Rilya’s disappearance — her body has never been found — sparked massive upheaval and reform at the Department of Children & Families in 2002, leading to a series of unbridled public hearings, a scathing report, legislative changes and a Miami visit by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
Rilya was born to a crack-addicted mother, and by 2000, was living with Graham and her domestic partner, Pamela Graham, under DCF supervision.
The agency did not realize the girl had disappeared until April 2002, more than one year after she was last seen. The reason: Her case worker, whose job was to check on the girl regularly, had not bothered to do so — and instead falsified numerous reports.
According to prosecutors, Graham forced her lover, Pamela, to lie about Rilya’s whereabouts. Graham told investigators that a DCF employee whisked Rilya away for mental health treatment.
And Graham later admitted to jailhouse inmate that she smothered the child with a pillow case. The inmate, Robin Lunceford, came forward because she was outraged about the death of an “innocent child,” Weintraub said.
But without Rilya’s body, prosecutors can’t even prove the girl is dead, defense attorney Scott Sakin told jurors. “She could be at the Dadeland Mall shopping ... or in school in the Bahamas,” Sakin said.
Sakin shifted the blamed to the state’s child welfare agency, saying “Rilya was abandoned by DCF shortly after she was born” and heaped scorn on Lunceford, who had her life prison sentence busted down to 10 years.
“She’s a professional snitch. She’s a rat,” Sakin said.
Lawyers offer opening statements in Rilya Wilson murder case
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Lawyers offer opening statements in Rilya Wilson murder case
