Family speaks out

BROOKSVILLE –
Based on what jurors heard and saw, an acquittal should have been the only choice for them. That’s what Wilana Frazier’s family believes.

They said they were angry and bewildered at the verdict that came down 17 days ago. They think the surge of media attention and the emotional pleas from animal rights advocates railroaded Frazier, who was convicted on two counts of animal cruelty and one count of delinquency of a minor.

Frazier’s fiance, Willie Bates, said jurors also were swayed by the inconsistent testimony from three witnesses, all of whom were still in elementary school.

“I never thought there was enough evidence,” said Bates, who is father to Frazier’s children. He said none of the witnesses said the same thing, and that it bothered him that the prosecution “had so much support.”

“Look, I know what happened to those cats was terrible, but right is right and wrong is wrong,” he continued. “She was innocent.”

Frazier, 25, was arrested in June 2011 after witnesses told the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office that she and her two oldest sons — then ages 8 and 5 — had tortured and fatally beaten one kitten with an aluminum baseball bat and severely injured another.

The second kitten, later named Dexter and adopted by a local animal shelter employee, died of complications from his brain injuries.

Frazier’s second-oldest son, now 6, told a Hernando Today reporter last week that the accusations made against him, his brother and mother were false.

“She didn’t kill a cat,” he said. “Some other kids did.”

The animal abuse took place at Hill n’ Dale Community Park during a basketball tournament. Bates and Frazier’s brother both were competing in the tournament and Frazier was there keeping score.

While keeping a close eye on the games — and handing water to players as they were coming off the court — she also looked after her three children, who were at the park with her, according to court testimony.

Bates, who was among those who testified during the trial, said one of the stray kittens ran onto the court during a game. Some of the dozen or so kids who were playing at the park chased it away, he said.

Afterward, neither Bates nor Frazier could say for sure what happened next. They didn’t see it happen. They said so under oath at the trial.

The trial, according to the attorneys and several who watched, hinged on the testimony of three witnesses, all of whom were younger than the age of 12.

They all said they saw Frazier and/or her sons beating the cats. One of the witnesses said Frazier used a metal pipe and not a bat. Another said he saw water being dumped on one of the kittens. An animal services officer who also testified at the trial said the kitten carcass found at the bottom of a trash can in the park was drenched.

The other witness recalled hearing Frazier yelling and cursing — and encouraging her sons to kill the animals with the bat.

Frazier’s attorney argued that the prosecutor in the case had coached the children’s testimony. Bates agreed.

During the two-hour wait for a verdict, the family consoled one another and prayed.

Tyrone Carter, Frazier’s stepfather, said she was “a nervous wreck” during those two hours. Everyone was stressed.

“They already had her convicted,” Bates said while shaking his head. “We knew it was bad news.”

Frazier, who is in jail awaiting her sentencing, is three months pregnant with her fifth child, her family said.

Her mother, Essie Carter, said she was highly emotional the day sheriff’s deputies showed up at the house to arrest her daughter. One of the deputies threatened to take her to jail, too, she said. She remains angry about the guilty verdict.

Carter raised her voice several times during an interview. At one point, she walked across the front yard, leaned against the chain-link fence and wept.

“Her faith in God is keeping her through it,” Carter said of her daughter.

Frazier, who hadn’t previously been convicted of a felony, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. She is expected to serve more jail time.

“This is a cold-hearted world,” said Carter, who like Bates thinks too many people give the death of an animal the same weight as the death of a person.

When asked if the incident was a learning experience for her grandchildren and family, Carter responded angrily.

“There ain’t no damned life lessons about this,” she said. “It’s bull—-.”