The U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to hear an appeals case from a Mississippi man who killed his infant child.
The appeal from Devin Allen Bennett, a Rankin County man who was handed the death penalty in 2003 after his son Brandon died at two months old, was rejected by the nation’s high court after previously having his claim of ineffective counsel denied by the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Bennett’s fight to avoid death row began in 2006 when he filed a motion for post-conviction relief, arguing his initial attorney failed to include evidence of his mental health disorders, history of substance abuse, and childhood trauma spurring from physical abuse. Judges from state levels agreed in 2021 that even if Bennett’s attorney changed strategies, the outcome would be the same.
At the time of Brandon’s death, the 12-pound baby suffered two skull fractures and multiple hemorrhages. While Bennett told authorities at least seven different stories about Brandon’s cause of death such as falling out of his car seat or being kicked out of bed, an autopsy revealed that the fatal injuries were “consistent with a direct blow to the head” in which Bennett was found guilty of delivering.
A date for Bennett’s execution has not been set. Since 1976, 23 people convicted of capital murder have been executed in Mississippi.
