GALVESTON, Texas An accused child-killer s calm confession of how he stomped the life from his 3-month-old son remains embedded in the brain of a veteran homicide investigator.
Jurors heard the testimony Wednesday from Philadelphia police officer Robert Hesser in the capital murder trial of Travis James Mullis.
Mullis, 24, faces the death penalty if convicted in the Jan. 29, 2008, slaying of his son Alijah, whose body was found clad only in a diaper near Galveston s East Beach.
Mullis drove to Philadelphia after the killing and surrendered Feb. 1, 2008, at police headquarters.
Mullis spoke to police officers before they had a chance to read him his rights.
While in an interview room, Hesser asked Mullis for his shoe laces and belt, a standard request to help prevent detainees from injuring themselves.
Suicide Is Not An Issue
He looked down at his shoes, looked back at me and said, Detective, suicide is not an issue here, Hesser said.
Hesser explained the department s policy.
He looked down at his shoes again, looked back up at me and said, These are the shoes I was wearing when I stomped my son s head in, Hesser said.
Hesser looked at the tennis shoes and looked Mullis in the face.
Then he said, There s no DNA, Hesser said. The body wasn t bleeding when I left it.
Hesser didn t write the statements in a report, yet he remembers them more than three years later.
Prosecutor Donna Cameron asked Hesser if the statement was embedded in his brain.
It is, Hesser said. I was kind of taken aback by him referring ... to his son as a body and it.
Mullis was calm and cooperative when he made the statements, Hesser said.
Statement Contradicts Defense Theory
Hesser prevented Mullis from continuing his statement until he could be apprised of and have a chance to waive his constitutional rights.
Mullis then signed away those rights, saying he didn t want an attorney and gave a written statement.
Mullis attorneys, Gerald Bourque and Robert K. Loper, claim their client is not guilty of capital murder because he didn t intend to kill his son.
Mullis written statement, however, contradicts his attorneys assertions. Hesser read aloud the statement for the jury in Judge John Ellisor s 122nd District Court in Galveston.
When asked what he knew of his son s death, Mullis began by saying he had no luck on two job interviews and was facing eviction from the mobile home he shared with his girlfriend, Caren Kohberger, and Alijah. Kohberger was Alijah s mother. The three lived rent-free for months at the mercy of the trailer s tenants, who were acquaintances.
Statement Redacted For Jury
Mullis left the home with a daughter of the trailer owner and took her to the store on the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2008. They stopped at her school then returned to the trailer.
The prosecution redacted from the record Mullis statement that he asked the girl to take her pants down. The girl refused. That part of the statement could be used during a punishment hearing if Mullis is convicted, prosecutors said.
Mullis is charged in Brazoria County with enticing a child, stemming from the incident. Mullis denied the allegation during a jailhouse interview with The Daily News.
Hesser continued reading the statement, saying Mullis made up an excuse to leave the trailer. He needed to retrieve from Houston paperwork related to $38,000 in cash and $67,000 in stocks, which he claimed that he owned.
Mullis took Alijah at Kohberger s request, according to the statement. Kohberger is charged with child endangerment in Brazoria County.
Mullis drove to Galveston and stopped about 6:30 a.m. on a berm near East Beach.
Mullis feared Kohberger already had reported the car stolen to police and accused him of kidnapping. Alijah started to cry.
I Had Hit My Breaking Point
Mullis was scared and took Alijah from his car seat, checked his diaper and tried to console him.
Hesser said Mullis told detectives: I had hit my breaking point. I thought to myself that the only way to stop him from crying was to kill him.
Mullis said in the statement he tried to choke the child, and Alijah started gurgling.
Mullis panicked, took Alijah from the car and put him on the ground, which was a concrete part of the berm. Alijah was on his back with his head turned to the left.
I then stomped on Alijah s head until I felt his skull collapsing, Hesser said Mullis told him. It was three times, maybe four, that I stomped on his head.
Mullis found Alijah wasn t breathing and had no pulse. He threw the car seat down the berm. He then grabbed Alijah by the feet and tossed him in the same direction, Hesser said Mullis told him.
Mullis cried, wondering what to do, Hesser said.
I knew now that I was in trouble for murder, Hesser said Mullis told him.
Mullis pondered driving Kohberger s car into the Gulf at East Beach but decided against killing himself.
He pawned his car stereo and drove east to Florida before heading north toward Baltimore, where he spoke with his childhood mentor. Mullis relied on the kindness of strangers and churches for travel money.
Mullis surrendered to Philadelphia police Feb. 1, 2008, telling officers he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and other mental disorders.
Did You Intend To Kill Him?
Mullis told detectives he knew what he was doing when he stomped on his son s head. He knew it was wrong, according to the statement.
At the time you were stomping your son s head, did you intend to kill him? detectives asked Mullis, who replied, yes.
Mullis apologized.
I just want to say how sorry I am for everything I ve done, Hesser said Mullis told him.
Mullis accepted full responsibility and the consequences, Hesser said.
Hesser was the second witness to testify Wednesday for the prosecution. Galveston crime scene detective Scott Pena spent the morning and part of the afternoon going over evidence he collected, including tennis shoes, which have a sole pattern that police and the medical examiner say is consistent with rectangular marks on Alijah s skull.
Prosecutors are expected to show the jury today Mullis videotaped statement with Philadelphia homicide detectives.
The state is then expected to rest its case. The defense is not expected to present witnesses in the case, and if it doesn t, then the jury could begin deliberating Mullis fate.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com s partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.
