Tuesday, July 19, 2005


Man accused of killing his 'gay' baby son
Ronnie Paris would shake, wet himself and vomit as his father forced him into a box and repeatedly slapped him on the head in an effort to prevent him from being gay, the child's mother, Nysheerah Paris, testified Monday. The boy was 3 years old when he died from swelling on both sides of the brain on January 28.

Others backed up the mother's testimony on the first day of the capital murder trial of Ronnie Paris Jr., 21, of Tampa, Florida. Paris is accused of physically abusing the toddler until the boy slipped into a coma.

"He was trying to teach him how to fight," the boy's aunt, Shanita Powell, told the court. "He was concerned that the child might be gay."

"He didn't want him to be a sissy," Shelton Bostic, the defendant's Bible-study friend, testified. ...