UPDATE: Testimony about a bloody knife, a gun and a ride down a dirt road was the focus during the murder trial of Henry Dinkins, the man accused of killing 10-year-old Breasia Terrell.
That testimony came from the defendant’s son, referred to only by the name “D.L.”
The second day of testimony from the boy who is Dinkins’ son and Breasia’s half brother centered on a trip to Walmart in Clinton that led to a dirt road.
D.L. initially testified late last week and questioning from prosecutors and defense attorneys began again Monday morning in Scott County Court.
Defense attorneys and the boy clashed in cross examination about how Breasia was killed after D.L. testified he saw his dad shoot Breasia.
“You’re making me mad and upset,” D.L. told Dinkins’ attorney, Chad Frese, upon further questioning.
“Isn’t it true you came up with this story after you heard someone else talk about it?” asked Frese.
“No,” said D.L. He said he told his mother where Breasia was.
“And your mom did not go look for her?” Frese asked.
D.L. responded that “she did go look for her.”
Breasia’s mother, Aishia Lankford also took the stand, talking about the circumstances surrounding the night her daughter disappeared.
Later Monday afternoon, Andrea Culberson, who shared an apartment with Dinkins, testified Breasia and D.L. came to the apartment July 9, 2020, and played video games along with her and Dinkins, who was Culberon’s boyfriend at the time.
Culberson said Dinkins and Breasia were gone when Culberson got up to go to the bathroom about 3 a.m.
Culberson testified she stayed up until 3:30 am and she heard Dinkins come in.
He went to the closet and grabbed something, she said. She looked out the window and saw Breasia standing by Dinkins’ car.
Under questioning from the defense, Culberson said she had plenty of opportunities to ask Dinkins where Breasia was, but she didn’t.
Under questioning from the prosecution, she said she regrets that “every day.”
EARLIER UPDATE: The son of the suspect in the 2020 death of Breasia Terrell took the witness stand again Monday morning.
The witness, identified only as “D.L.,” initially testified late last week and questioning from prosecutors and defense attorneys began again Monday morning in Scott County Court.
Henry Dinkins is accused in the death of Breasia Terrell, who went missing in July of 2020. He and his family maintain his innocence.
D.L. says in response to questions from the prosecution, said that after Dinkins returned to the apartment, he and Dinkins “went on a dirt road” and D.L. fell asleep. Dinkins’ Impala stopped and D.L. said Dinkins got out of the car and he saw him pour bleach.
Dinkins bought the bleach at Walmart, D.L. said. When asked whether he and Dinkins went to Walmart, he answered “I think so. I had to sit in the car,” D.L. said. When Dinkins went into Walmart, D.L. said he put Dinkins’ phone battery back in the phone and played a game. He said Dinkins had bleach when he got back in the car at Walmart and Dinkins put the bleach in the trunk.
D.L. said they went to a dirt road after Walmart and Dinkins poured the bleach “by some bushes.” He said Dinkins put the bleach back in the car and they went back to the dirt road. D.L. testified that when he asked where they were, Dinkins said, “We’re riding.” At one point Dinkins took a bloody knife from the trunk of the car and wiped it with bleach, D.L. testified, then Dinkins put the knife in his RV.
When asked by prosecutors if he saw Dinkins with a fishing pole that morning, D.L. said “I think so.” They were by water D.L. said. D.L. said he saw Dinkins fishing. Later, D.L. said Dinkins called Breasia’s mother and said Breasia was missing. D.L. said Dinkins did not search for Breasia at the time. D.L. said his mother and Dinkins pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot (in separate vehicles) and he got in the car with his mother.
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The defense began its questioning Monday morning.
“You’re angry at your father because you think he hurt your sister,” Dinkins’ attorney Chad Frese asked. “Yes,” D.L. said.
Frese confirmed that this is the first time D.L. ever talked about going to “some guy’s house.” D.L. said Dinkins was outside and drinking. He said he and his sister were at the person’s house. Breasia was with D.L. and Dinkins. He and Breasia went into the house and Henry was outside drinking, he said in response to questions from the defense.
Under questioning from Frese, D.L. said Dinkins had a spray bottle to clean the knife and wiped the knife in the RV. D.L. said there was blood on the knife.
“You’re making me mad and upset,” D.L. told Frese upon further questioning. D.L. said he saw his dad shoot Breasia.
“Isn’t it true you came up with this story after you heard someone else talk about it?” asked Frese. “No,” said D.L. He said he told his mother where Breasia was. “And your mom did not go look for her?” Frese asked. “She did go look for her,” said D.L.
Aishia Lankford took the stand next. She testified under questioning from Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham and identified Dinkins in the courtroom. Lankford talked about Breasia. “She was very loving.” and said her daughter looked up to Dinkins. Lankford said she met Andrea Culberson at a grocery store and Dinkins introduced them. “She seemed like a nice person.”
Lankford testified that Dinkins would take D.L. on the 9th while she worked an 11-4 shift at the Checkers on East Locust Street. She had been scheduled to work 11-4 that day, but stayed an extra hour because other staff hadn’t yet arrived. She doesn’t know what either child was wearing when Dinkins picked them up.
Lankford delivered a bag of clothes for the children to the apartment. “(Breasia) was learning how to be an AT&T agent (Culberson’s job) and she was really excited about it,” Lankford said. Breasia was excited because Lankford had brought her dog. Neither child had a cell phone, according to Lankford’s testimony.
On the way home, Lankford said she had to pull over because the rain was coming down so hard she couldn’t see, so she played with the dog and listened to music while she waited for the rain to stop. She drove back to her mother’s house and went to sleep. She was scheduled to work 11-8 on July 10.
Lankford reviewed texts and phone calls on her phone log while she was questioned by Cunningham. One message says “I love you Bree and Dink (D.L.)” On July 10, Lankford’s supervisor called and asked her to come in and help open the restaurant. Lankford said Dinkins texted her at 8:08 a.m. and said “Call me.” When Lankford called, Dinkins said “I just woke up and she’s (Breasia) gone.” Lankford called 911 to report her daughter missing. “I was crying. I couldn’t work,” she said.
Lankford said she communicated with Dinkins about where Breasia might be. “He said he was out looking for her and he was going to make a police report,” said Lankford. Lankford’s manager encouraged her to go to the Davenport Police Department. She says she saw Dinkins in his Impala heading east while she was heading west on Locust Street. She followed him to the Jersey Meadows apartment. She spoke to an officer and said “It doesn’t make sense. He’s lying.”
Lankford testified that Dinkins’ t-shirt was dirty. “He just looked off.” She also testified that his shoes were muddy looking and untied. Law enforcement, family and friends searched Credit Island. Someone found a flip-flop, but it didn’t belong to Breasia. It was at this point that Lankford confirmed she had an emotional breakdown.
Dinkins asked for a photo of Breasia in a phone call and Lankford said she sent a photo of Breasia holding two puppies.
Andrea Culberson took the stand after Lankford finished her testimony. Culberson was Dinkins’ girlfriend at the time Breasia disappeared. She said she and Dinkins had been in a relationship for over six years. Culberson said she knew D.L. and Breasia were coming to stay overnight, so she and Dinkins planned to sleep on an air mattress in the living room while the children slept in the bedroom.
“After a while, Breasia became interested in what I was doing,” Culberson said. Dinkins, Culberson and Breasia later played video games on their phones while D.L. played another game on a console. Culberson said both children were given oversize white t-shirts to wear to bed.
Culberson testified that during the night she got up at about 3 a.m. and Dinkins wasn’t there. She entered the bedroom, where D.L. was on the foot of the bed. Culberson said she checked throughout the apartment for Breasia. She tried to call Dinkins, but the call went to voicemail, she testified.
Later, she heard Dinkins come in and he was wearing a different set of clothes and he seemed surprised. “He was in the closet grabbing something,” she said on the stand. Culberson said she didn’t know what was in the closet. She looked outside and saw Breasia standing by Dinkins’ car, but she could see only the top of Breasia’s head, according to her testimony. She saw him drive off and did not see Breasia in the parking lot. This was sometime after 3:30 she said, because she looked at her phone.
Culberson said Dinkins did not bring a bleach bottle into her apartment, it was there before, after she was shown an exhibit with a photo of a bottle of bleach in the apartment.
Culberson responded under Frese’s questioning by saying that she was awake on the couch when Dinkins came in around 3:30. She tried to talk to him but never asked directly “Where’s Breasia?”
A gun was located in the apartment but Culberson said it was hers. She said in her testimony that she never saw Dinkins with any ammunition.
“I had a bad feeling in my gut,” Culberson testified. When Frese asked, she said she never asked Dinkins where Breasia was. Cunningham asked Culberson if she regrets not asking about Breasia and she replied “every single day.”
Cunningham asked if Dinkins went to the Walmart in Clinton to buy bleach and Culberson said there was no reason for him to go.
This is a developing story and Local 4 will have more details as they become available.
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