NJ Man Who Sexually Assaulted, Fatally Smothered Fiancee's Toddler Back In Court

MILLVILLE, NJ — A new trial has been ordered for a South Jersey man currently serving a sentence of life in prison after being convicted of the felony murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault of his fiancée's 3-year-old daughter in 2006.

Latimar Byrdsell, convicted in 2013, had his felony murder conviction overturned and a new trial ordered by the state appellate division, according to court documents.

The state ruled that since Byrdsell's attorneys did not retain a DNA expert at trial, they were "constitutionally ineffective" as DNA testing could have affected the verdict.

On the day of the toddler's death, Byrdsell was alone with her from 1:45 p.m. when her mother left for work until emergency responders arrived in response to 911 calls Byrdsell made at 9:38 p.m. and 9:43 p.m., according to court documents.

Byrdsell maintained his innocence in an interview with police the next day. After about five hours of interrogation, he asked for the recording device to be turned off, according to documents. Byrdsell then signed a typed summary prepared by detectives nearly eight hours after the interrogation began.

The summary said that Byrdsell had started drinking that afternoon and at about 8:30 p.m. the toddler began acting up.

He told her to be quiet, picked her up, laid her on the bed on her stomach and put a pillow over her head, according to court documents. When she moved, he pushed the pillow down. Byrdsell removed the pillow after she became quiet and he noticed she was not breathing normally.

Byrdsell denied sexually assaulting the child and said that injuries to her genitals happened when he put the pillow over her head.

He appealed his case and in 2022, DNA testing was performed on the child's samples. No DNA was found at first, but additional testing identified DNA that excluded Byrdsell, according to court documents.

"At the evidentiary hearing, Byrdsell's trial attorneys testified they declined to conduct DNA testing out of concern that unfavorable results would be disclosed to the State, an error in their understanding of the law," the appellate division said.

The state argued that the sexual assault and death were linked. During the trial, the state relied heavily on Byrdsell's statements to police. But he never confessed to the sexual assault, and significant portions of his interrogation were not recorded. There was no physical or forensic evidence linking Byrdsell to sexual assault.