Jury finds Alexander Marr’s mother guilty in 4-year-old’s death

The mother of Alexander Marr has been convicted of manslaughter in the 4-year-old’s brutal death.

The Manatee County jury’s verdict was reached just after 5 p.m. Friday after less than three hours of deliberations.

Dianna Marr, 34, now faces up to 30 years in prison. She was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child 18 years old or younger by culpable negligence.

She will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. March 31.

Marr — who was questioned throughout the investigation and trial about why she was so calm and unemotional after finding her son dead — began to sob uncontrollably after the verdict was read.

Alexander would never wake up to celebrate his fourth birthday on the morning of April 12, 2015.

Her mother displayed anger and later shed a few tears as Marr was taken in custody.

On the other side of the courtroom, former coworkers of Marr sat watching and hoping there would be some justice for the badly beaten boy. One person ran out of the courtroom and burst in sobs in the hallway.

Marr’s father also was pleased to know there finally would be justice for Alexander.

“I love my daughter because she’s my daughter, but she made some terrible choices,” a somber Gary Marr told the Bradenton Herald Friday night. “I feel terribly for the child that is no longer here.”

Marr was disheartened as he learned the details of the abuse the grandson — whom he was never given the opportunity to meet — had suffered. Gary Marr, who has been estranged from his daughter for 17 years, said Alexander’s death could have been prevented.

“A little boy should never have to suffer like that. I know what it’s like to be abused,” Garry Marr said as was overcome with emotion.

Outside the courthouse, prosecutors were limited to what they could say about the case because Dianna Marr’s sentencing is pending.

“We appreciate all the time, energy and focus that the jury put in this week out of their normal lives, and we appreciate the verdict,” Assistant State Attorney Garrett Franzen said.

The jury received the case early Friday afternoon after listening to three hours of closing arguments. The boy’s mother failed to protect him, the prosecution said.

But her defense team argued there was no way she could have known her live-in boyfriend, Trevor Cardarelle, 27, was going to beat her son to death while she was soundly asleep.

“The most basic responsibility of a parent is to protect and care for a child,” Deputy Assistant State Attorney Heather Doyle said. “Alexander Marr did not have to die on his fourth birthday. He deserved a chance to live.”

Marr could have taken the boy to the hospital, called 911, pounded on the wall that connected her duplex to the unit her sister lived in, or she could have just run outside to a neighbor to ask for help, Doyle argued.

“Dianna Marr is not just anyone to Alexander Marr,” Doyle said as she slammed her palm on the podium. “She is his mother.”

But defense attorney Daphney Branham argued it wasn’t reasonable to expect that Alexander’s mother should have known. Marr, she argued, was sound asleep when her Cardarelle got out of bed, heard Alexander crying and went to shut him up.

The defense also argued that Marr should not be judged or convicted because she was not hysterical or emotional after finding her son dead.

“There is no law that says how she needs to react,” Branham said.

On April 12, 2015, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the duplex in the 700 block of 59th Avenue Terrace West, where Alexander lived with Marr and Cardarelle after Alexander was found unresponsive.

The boy’s death was later ruled a homicide after an autopsy, and the investigation revealed the boy died after being beaten about the head and torso, leaving him with a fractured skull, brain trauma and a lacerated liver.

Cardarelle had also been charged with aggravated manslaughter by culpable negligence. In October, a jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of culpable negligence. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and given credit for time served.

Marr’s jury listened to three hours of closing arguments Friday morning.

“I don’t believe she would turn a blind eye after seeing her baby being beaten if she heard her baby being beaten,” Branham argued. “She had plans for her baby. It was his birthday.”

During the state’s rebuttal, Franzen asked the jury to consider how it was possible that she didn’t see the bruises that covered his body when she found the boy dead.

“I’m not going to throw the pictures in your face. You’ve seen them,” Franzen said.

“Who doesn’t see those injuries? How does a mother not see those injuries?”

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Jury finds Alexander Marr’s mother guilty in 4-year-old’s death."