Mario Andrette McNeill, who was convicted last week of kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, told a judge Tuesday that he wants no one to speak on his behalf during his sentencing.
Saying he fully understands he could be sentenced to death, McNeill said, “My goal was freedom. I lost my freedom. What does it matter after that?”
McNeill, who presented no defense during his 12-day trial, also said he didn’t want his mother or anyone else to testify on his behalf during the sentencing phase. McNeill is facing death or life in prison without parole.
Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons asked McNeill whether he could tell his mother that he didn’t want her to testify on his behalf.
McNeill looked at his mother, Juanita Bell, and said, “I don’t want you to testify on my behalf. Love you.”
Then Ammons said, “You understand you are completely and totally tying your lawyers’ hands?”
Defense attorney Terry Alford said McNeill instructed him not to participate in the sentencing hearing or offer any closing.
“Obviously, that’s against our wishes, against our desire, against our professional opinion,” Alford said. “We are at an impasse.”
McNeill’s half-sister, Tijuana Bell, his cousin, Chavez Brown, and his pastor and softball coach, the Rev. Roy Birch, were also scheduled to testify during the mitigation.
Ammons asked McNeill, who appeared to be smiling slightly, if there was anything that would change his mind.
“It bothers me that you think this is funny, but maybe this is a coping mechanism,” the judge said. “They can take you to Raleigh and execute you, do you understand that?”
