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News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON
Richard Anthony McTear Jr. already had a long rap = sheet before=20 being charged Tuesday in the death of his ex-girlfriend's infant = son.
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Published: May 7, 2009
TAMPA - Seven weeks ago, Richard Anthony McTear Jr. broke Jasmine = Bedwell's=20 door, hit her several times, broke items throughout her apartment, held = her=20 down, and poured household cleaner on her face and head, sheriff's = deputies=20 say.
A neighbor called deputies, and charges were filed with the state = attorney's=20 office.
Five weeks ago, McTear threatened to go to Bedwell's home and kill = her infant=20 son, according to deputies. They say he later bruised her enough for her = to be=20 taken to a hospital. More charges were filed.
Investigators say McTear followed through on his threat against her = son early=20 Tuesday by beating Bedwell, throwing the child onto a concrete floor and = then=20 kidnapping 3-month-old Emanuel Wesley Murray and throwing him out of a = moving=20 car onto Interstate 275. The infant was found dead.
McTear was arrested hours later Tuesday morning after a short chase. = He is=20 charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, kidnapping, = felony=20 battery and burglary with battery.
A day later, law enforcement and child welfare officials defended = their=20 handling of the situation. They said efforts were being made to protect = Bedwell=20 and her baby; the system just didn't work quickly enough.
"She's been a victim all her life," said Jeff Rainey, chief operating = officer=20 of Hillsborough Kids Inc., the umbrella agency that oversees = Hillsborough=20 County's child services providers. "She had all the right things in = place. It's=20 just so sad that McTear took over her life."
Bedwell has been with Hillsborough Kids for about three years and has = been=20 receiving independent living service, which helps teenagers transition = out of=20 foster care and into adulthood.
Last month, Bedwell sought an injunction against McTear for domestic=20 violence. She didn't appear for a scheduled court appearance Monday, = though, and=20 the case was dropped.
"She did initially get a restraining order, and we were there when = she got=20 it," Rainey said. "You have to go back to court to maintain the = restraining=20 order, and no one from Hillsborough Kids was aware of the court date on = Monday.=20 If we were aware, we would have been there."
Probation officials also sought to revoke McTear's probation last = month,=20 saying he failed to report as ordered and had moved without = permission.
McTear had told them he was living with Bedwell. But on April 8, she = told=20 them McTear had moved out. She also told them to expect new criminal = charges to=20 be filed against him because he had hit her three different times.
Bobbi Flowers, a professor at Stetson University's College of Law, = said=20 small-time offenders with rap sheets like McTear's can present a problem = to=20 prosecutors and judges. She said that with constantly shrinking = resources, such=20 offenders more frequently end up plea bargaining for probation or other=20 less-restrictive sentences.
"Plea bargaining will sometimes allow them to skate through the = system," she=20 said.
Nikki Daniels, of the Family Justice Center in Tampa, said that even = if=20 Jasmine Bedwell had made it to court Monday, the injunction against = McTear=20 hadn't been served yet. "The hearing would've been continued another two = weeks=20 while they tried to serve him," Daniels said.
Rainey confirmed that Jasmine had been referred to The Spring, a = domestic=20 violence center, but declined to go.
Daniels said domestic violence victims shouldn't be criticized when = they fail=20 to show up at injunction hearings or choose not to seek such = protection.
"It is just a piece of paper," she said. "It is more likely to make = the=20 abuser more angry and more abusive."
McTear was no stranger to the justice system.
=E2=80=A2The first Tampa police arrest against McTear came in = November 2001, when he=20 was 14. He was charged with misdemeanor battery-domestic violence. In = that case,=20 police said the Webb Middle School eighth-grader kicked and slapped his = mother=20 from the back seat of a vehicle.
=E2=80=A2In March 2006, McTear's child was found wandering alone = outside McTear's=20 apartment, Temple Terrace police say. An investigator found the man = asleep.=20 Investigators charged McTear with child neglect, but the charge was = later=20 dropped because of lack of evidence.
=E2=80=A2In November 2007, he was charged with domestic battery = against a woman, but=20 she later waived prosecution.
=E2=80=A2In yet another domestic violence case, McTear entered the = apartment of his=20 then-girlfriend Louvena Cromartie through an unlocked back door in = February=20 2008. McTear punched Cromartie in the face and pushed her to the ground, = Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. Cromartie = was=20 knocked unconscious. McTear pleaded guilty to felony battery and was = placed on=20 probation through June 2010, records say.
The Department of Children & Families, the child protection = division of=20 the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Hillsborough Kids Inc. will = review=20 the case to see whether there were any missteps.
On Wednesday, a heavily shackled McTear stood before Hillsborough = Circuit=20 Judge Walter Heinrich. The judge pored over McTear's record, noting the=20 21-year-old was on probation, facing other charges for striking another = woman=20 and possibly facing the death penalty for Emanuel's death.
"Obviously, you won't be getting out of jail anytime soon," Heinrich = said,=20 denying him bail.
Reporter Sherri Ackerman, News Channel 8 reporter Krista = Klaus and=20 Tribune researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter = Josh=20 Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691. Reporter Tom Brennan can be = reached=20 at (813) 259-7698.
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