Jury finds Slidell man guilty of beating infant son to death

A St. Tammany jury took about an hour to find a man guilty in the death of his 6-week-old son in 2017.

According to a report from The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate, 27-year-old Anthony Dearmas was found guilty of first-degree murder in the battering death of his son, Karter Smith. 

Dearmas was accused of punching the baby after becoming irritated by his crying. The first-time father told authorities Karter wouldn’t stop crying, so he punched the baby, who he says then fell off the couch and hit his head.

But the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office says Karter’s seven skull fractures didn’t match that story. 

Karter had seven skull fractures and brain hemorrhaging, according to the Coroner’s Office.

“This head trauma was so significant that we doubt that it came from a fall from furniture,” said Coroner Dr. Charles Preston, “This is more likely a direct pressure kind of injury.”

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Dearmas entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity which, according to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate report, his attorneys entered because of an “ethical obligation to get the jury to see his whole history,” despite court-appointed psychologists determining that Dearmas was not insane at the time of the crime.

The jury heard two days of testimony before Friday’s closing arguments. Dearmas’ defense did not call any witnesses. 

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 19.