The case of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell concluded on October 12, 2023, when Henry Earl Dinkins was given two life sentences without the possibility of parole. The young girl’s remains were found in a pond in March 2021.
On September 15, 2023, following Dinkins’ admission to the crime, he was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping. Further, the court instructed Dinkins to compensate Aishia Lankford, Breasia’s mother, with $150,000.
During the sentencing, Aishia Lankford sought clarity from Dinkins about her daughter’s final hours, stating to him, “You took away everything.”
The search for Breasia, who went missing in July 2020, was exhaustive, involving numerous agencies.
Being a registered sex offender with previous convictions, Dinkins, 51, was seen as a likely suspect soon after the disappearance. Judge Henry Latham led a two-week-long trial in which around 50 individuals testified. Breasia’s younger half-brother, also the son of Dinkins, was among these witnesses. He said that Breasia had spent the night with him and his father and at some point Breasia and Dinkins had disappeared. In the morning, Dinkins went out to buy bleach, and took the boy, who was eight-years-old at the time, to a spot that resembled where Breasia was later found. His testimony, coupled with phone and video records, verified Dinkins’ activities on the day of her disappearance.
The argument from the defense regarding the absence of direct physical evidence was outweighed by testimonies and electronic data evidence.
