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Murder of Cherish Perrywinkle

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"Donald James Smith" redirects here. For Canadian entrepreneur, see Donald J. Smith.
Cherish Perrywinkle
Cherish Lily Perrywinkle
Born
Cherish Lily Perrywinkle

(2004-12-24)December 24, 2004
Jacksonville, Florida
DiedJune 22, 2013(2013-06-22) (aged 8)
Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of deathLigature strangulation
Body discoveredJune 22, 2013
Resting placeRiverside Memorial Park
NationalityAmerican
Parent(s)Rayne Perrywinkle (mother)
Billy Jarreau (father)

Cherish Lily Perrywinkle (December 24, 2004 – June 22, 2013) was an 8-year-old girl from Jacksonville, Florida who was abducted from a Walmart on June 21, 2013.[1] She was seen on CCTV cameras leaving the store with a man named Donald James Smith (born September 4, 1956) who was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.[2]

Life and murder

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Cherish Lily Perrywinkle was born in Jacksonville, Florida on Christmas Eve of 2004 to Rayne Perrywinkle and Billy Jarreau, who were never married and had custody battles.[3]

On June 21, 2013, around 8:00 p.m., Rayne, Cherish, and her two younger sisters went shopping when they first met Donald Smith at a Dollar General, where he offered to buy them clothes they could not afford with a $150 Walmart gift card. The Perrywinkles then got into his white van and went with him to Walmart, where they shopped for the next two hours. At 10:30 p.m., Smith offered to get them cheeseburgers at the in-store McDonald's and Cherish followed him. However, surveillance footage shows that they walked out of the store instead, which was the last time Cherish was seen alive. About half an hour later, Rayne called the police to report that her daughter had been abducted; an Amber alert was issued five hours later.[4] The next morning, Cherish's body was found in a creek behind Highlands Baptist Church. It is believed that Smith had bound her in the back of his van, where she was sexually assaulted and strangled to death.[5]

Smith's arrest

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Police immediately identified Smith as the abductor, with his van being one of the main focuses. Around 9:00 a.m. the next day, officers saw his van on the interstate and cornered him before he surrendered and was promptly arrested. Smith was known to police as a local sex offender with a long criminal history including numerous offenses against minors. He had been released from jail only three weeks before Cherish's murder.[6]

Trial

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Smith's trial began in February 2018. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and sexual battery and was sentenced to death in May 2018.[7] The jurors were in tears after witnessing crime scene photos of the murder as the defense tried to suppress the images. Julie Schlax, the defense attorney, urged the jurors to focus on the law and not their raw emotions.[8][9]

In April 2021, the Supreme Court of Florida upheld Smith’s conviction and death sentence.[10][11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Photos: Timeline: The murder of Cherish Perrywinkle". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  2. ^ "Inmate Population Information Detail - Donald J. Smith". Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "'It's Not Justice' : Father of 8-Year-Old Murder Victim Speaks Out After Perpetrator Sentenced to Death". lawandcrime.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  4. ^ "The abduction and murder of Cherish Perrywinkle". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  5. ^ "Supreme Court of Florida v. Donald James Smith" (PDF). floridasupremecourt.org. April 22, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  6. ^ Shoichet, Catherine E.; Machado, Alina (24 June 2013). "Police: In Florida girl's slaying, generous offer led to deadly crime". CNN. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  7. ^ "Judge sentences Donald Smith to death for rape, murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle". Lakeland Ledger. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  8. ^ "'Burn in Hell:' Fla. Mom Lashes Out at Man Who Raped and Murdered Daughter, 8, After He's Sentenced to Death". PEOPLE.com. May 2, 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  9. ^ "Grisly details surrounding 2013 slaying of 8-year-old girl revealed during trial". ABC News. February 13, 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  10. ^ Donald James Smith v. State of Florida, 320 So. 3d 20 (Florida 2021-04-21).
  11. ^ "Donald Smith's appeal rejected in murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle". News 4 Jax. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

Cited works and further reading

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  • Crewe, Sabrina (2015). The FBI and Crimes Against Children. Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers Inc. ISBN 978-1-422-20570-9.
  • Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark (2012). The Cases That Haunt Us. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-743-21239-7.
  • Petherick, Wayne; Petherick, Natasha (2015). Homicide. London: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-128-12529-8.
  • Prentky, Robert A.; Barbaree, Howard E.; Janus, Eric S. (2015). Sexual Predators: Society, Risk, and the Law. Oxfordshire: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-87045-0.
  • Ramsland, Katherine; McGrain, Patrick N. (2009). Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-37960-4.
  • Richards, Cara (2000). The Loss of Innocents: Child Killers and Their Victims. Washington: Scholarly Resources. ISBN 978-0-520-28287-2.
  • Rinek, Jeffrey L.; Strong, Marilee (2018). In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent's Relentless Recruit of America's Worst Predators. London: Quercus Editions Ltd. ISBN 978-1-529-40188-2.
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