When I first heard about this case a few years back, I felt really sorry for this kid. Now I'm not so sure!!! Did he fool us all???
LIONEL TATE IN TROUBLE AGAIN
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A teenager who once killed a 6-year-old playmate has been charged with criminal mischief after a sheriff's deputy said he broke the glass in his cell door.
Lionel Tate, 18, has been held without bail since May. He was charged with robbing a pizza delivery man at gunpoint and probation violation. Prosecutors filed new charges on Friday.
According to court records, Tate was shouting at deputies on Aug. 25 while "banging on the cell door glass window ... for approximately 30 to 45 seconds."
Tate faces a potential life sentence on the robbery charge because he is on probation as part of a plea agreement in the 1999 death of 6-year-old family friend Tiffany Eunick.
Tate, who was 12 when the girl was killed, was the youngest person to that point sentenced to life in prison in modern American history. He first claimed that he accidentally killed her while imitating wrestlers he had seen on television. The first-degree murder conviction and sentence were reversed on appeal. Tate was released after almost three years in prison.
LIONEL TATE'S BACKGROUND
Where it all began: 14-year-old gets life
While most 14-year-olds have the rest of their lives to look forward to, Lionel Tate will be spending the rest of his in prison. Unlike most boys his age, Tate was convicted of first-degree murder after imitating professional wrestling moves led to the death of his 6-year-old friend, 
Tiffany Eunick.
Following a state law that requires convicted first-degree murderers to receive a life sentence without parole, Judge Joel T. Lazarus handed the sentence to the teen — prompting a national public outcry that the sentence was too harsh given the defendant's age.
According to the defendant and his mother, Eunick's death was an accident and the result of rough play. While the case was being appealed his defense team asked Gov. Jeb Bush for clemency while Tate continued to serve his life sentence.
It all began on July 28, 1999 when Florida highway patrol trooper Kathleen Grossett-Tate picked up Tiffany Eunick and brought her home. A long-time friend of the girl's mother — the two grew up near each other in Jamaica — she had agreed to look after Tiffany that evening. This was hardly unusual. Eunick had come over before in similar circumstances, and played with Grossett-Tate's son Lionel without incident.
After cooking the two children dinner and parking them in front of the television, Grossett-Tate decided to go upstairs. Shortly after 10 P.M., the kids playing grew loud enough to cause the single mother to yell down the stairwell for them to settle down. 40 minutes later her son informed her that Eunick had stopped breathing. Tate claimed that he put Eunick in a headlock and banged her head on a black lacquer table, but a grand jury investigating the case wasn't so sure.
The medical examiner's report turned up a host of internal injuries that hadn't been immediately recognizable by investigators. A part of the young girl's liver had even become detached, sparking speculation that Tate's blows had been much more brutal. When Tate was indicted for the murder as an adult, two aspects of the case helped it garner nationwide attention — the age of the suspect and the bizarre, wrestling-related defense his attorneys were preparing.
Tate lawyer Jim Lewis claimed that the boy killed Eunick accidentally because he was not mature enough to understand that professional wrestling is staged.
After a series of pre-trial motions, the judge decided that Lewis could use a limited form of the wrestling defense — the lawyer could show wrestling videos to jurors, and both sides could produce witnesses to address the effects that televised violence has on children.
Ultimately, the jury seemed to focus less on the influence of wrestling than on the shocking violence of the murder. After returning their verdict on Jan. 25, several jurors spoke with The Sun-Sentinel. "The injuries were so extensive we all felt that wasn't an accident. We had to abide by the law and the law spelled it out. It wasn't just wrestling," said juror William Stevenson.
Prosecutor Ken Padowitz tried to broker a deal last year in which Tate would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of three years in a juvenile center, followed by one year of house arrest, 10 years of probation, various psychological testing and treatment, and 1,000 hours of community service.
Tiffany Eunick.Following a state law that requires convicted first-degree murderers to receive a life sentence without parole, Judge Joel T. Lazarus handed the sentence to the teen — prompting a national public outcry that the sentence was too harsh given the defendant's age.
According to the defendant and his mother, Eunick's death was an accident and the result of rough play. While the case was being appealed his defense team asked Gov. Jeb Bush for clemency while Tate continued to serve his life sentence.
It all began on July 28, 1999 when Florida highway patrol trooper Kathleen Grossett-Tate picked up Tiffany Eunick and brought her home. A long-time friend of the girl's mother — the two grew up near each other in Jamaica — she had agreed to look after Tiffany that evening. This was hardly unusual. Eunick had come over before in similar circumstances, and played with Grossett-Tate's son Lionel without incident.
After cooking the two children dinner and parking them in front of the television, Grossett-Tate decided to go upstairs. Shortly after 10 P.M., the kids playing grew loud enough to cause the single mother to yell down the stairwell for them to settle down. 40 minutes later her son informed her that Eunick had stopped breathing. Tate claimed that he put Eunick in a headlock and banged her head on a black lacquer table, but a grand jury investigating the case wasn't so sure.
The medical examiner's report turned up a host of internal injuries that hadn't been immediately recognizable by investigators. A part of the young girl's liver had even become detached, sparking speculation that Tate's blows had been much more brutal. When Tate was indicted for the murder as an adult, two aspects of the case helped it garner nationwide attention — the age of the suspect and the bizarre, wrestling-related defense his attorneys were preparing.
Tate lawyer Jim Lewis claimed that the boy killed Eunick accidentally because he was not mature enough to understand that professional wrestling is staged.
After a series of pre-trial motions, the judge decided that Lewis could use a limited form of the wrestling defense — the lawyer could show wrestling videos to jurors, and both sides could produce witnesses to address the effects that televised violence has on children.
Ultimately, the jury seemed to focus less on the influence of wrestling than on the shocking violence of the murder. After returning their verdict on Jan. 25, several jurors spoke with The Sun-Sentinel. "The injuries were so extensive we all felt that wasn't an accident. We had to abide by the law and the law spelled it out. It wasn't just wrestling," said juror William Stevenson.
Prosecutor Ken Padowitz tried to broker a deal last year in which Tate would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of three years in a juvenile center, followed by one year of house arrest, 10 years of probation, various psychological testing and treatment, and 1,000 hours of community service.
The first-degree murder conviction and sentence were reversed on appeal. Tate was released after almost three years in prison.
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