Lionel Tate, who killed a 6-year-old girl, could be released from prison soon if the deal is approved.
By Associated Press
Published January 4, 2004
MIAMI - A teenager who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a 6-year-old playmate will sign paperwork accepting a plea deal today, a move that further clears the way for his release from prison.
Lionel Tate talked with his mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, on an hourlong conference call Saturday, said Tallahassee attorney Henry Hunter, who represents her.
Hunter said Tate, 16, will be visited in prison by his mother today and sign papers agreeing to a deal in which he pleads guilty to second-degree murder and receives three years in prison, most of which he already has served. He will also serve one year of house arrest and 10 years on probation.
"It's hard for his mother to have him plead to second-degree (murder) when she still feels it's an accident," Hunter said. "To expedite matters and for Lionel to move forward, she can live with it."
After Tate signs the agreement, it would still need to be ratified by a judge. Hunter said he hoped that hearing would take place within a week.
Tate's attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Saturday. He previously has said he hopes Tate is freed by Jan. 29.
Tate's attorneys had argued that he was imitating professional wrestling moves he saw on television and did not mean to kill Tiffany Eunick, a 48-pound girl who was punched, kicked and stomped to death in 1999. Tate was 12 and weighed 160 pounds at the time.
Tate was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. A state appellate court threw out the conviction and sentence last month, saying Tate's mental competency should have been tested before trial.
Prosecutors then decided to again offer the same plea deal he and his mother declined before his trial, giving the teen a rare second chance.
Grossett-Tate would have preferred her son be offered a plea deal on a manslaughter charge instead of murder, because the Tates still contend that Eunick's death was accidental, Hunter said.
"He doesn't like the second-degree," Hunter said. "But he's ready to plead and come home."
