DNA, surveillance video will link suspect to kidnap and rape of girl, prosecutor says
Eight jurors sat and listened intently as a prosecutor laid out the state’s case against the man charged with kidnapping and raping a 5-year-old Bradenton girl in 2013.
On July 15, 2013, the girl was outside playing on the grounds of the Wayside mobile home park on U.S. 41 where she lived with her family, when a man, unknown to her, approached her, said Assistant State Attorney Ashley Dusnik. He lured her to the nearby India Bazaar convenience store where he bought her some candy. He then convinced her to follow him the nearby Aloha Estates mobile home park where he claimed to live and be having a party.
But instead, the girl said, he held held her down, choked and raped her, Dusnik said.
Dominick Hawkins, 41, is charged with kidnapping a minor under the age of 13 and sexual battery of a minor under the age of 12. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
On Tuesday morning, the jury will hear from the victim, now 11 years old, who is expected to be the state’s first witness.
During her opening arguments on Monday afternoon, Dusnik detailed the DNA evidence, surveillance video footage and witness testimony she said will prove Hawkins is responsible.
Jurors also heard from defense attorney Charley Demosthenous, who claimed that there was a lack of sufficient evidence in the case to convict Hawkins.
After nearly six years, the trial got underway on Monday with jury selection. Given the nature of the allegations, prosecutors had anticipated it could be difficult to find a panel that would be able to hear the case.
“Relax, it’s my first bit of advice to you,” Senior Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky told the first group of prospective jurors. “Just take a deep breath because we are going to be discussing some matters that are quite sensitive.”
After being read the charges, jurors were asked if that was enough to make them feel they couldn’t be fair and impartial or if they had any prior knowledge of the case. It brought at least one woman to tears. The woman’s head was bowed between her legs when Dubensky addressed her directly. She was called to the bench to give her answer privately, and she was immediately dismissed from the case.
But to the surprise of many in the courtroom, questioning later moved more quickly. A panel of five women and three men, including two alternates, was sworn in by mid-afternoon.
Along with listening to the victim’s testimony, the jury Tuesday will also watch a recorded interview with the girl in the hours after the attack. A doctor who examined the girl in the emergency room at Manatee Memorial Hospital and a doctor on the child protection team will also testify about the injuries they each observed.
Additional witnesses will include a man who claimed to have seen Hawkins toss his bag and shirt before trying to board a moving Manatee County Area Transit bus and the friend whose home he later showed up at, before asking for a ride to Sarasota, according to Dusnik.
Surveillance video footage will show Hawkins and the girl in the India Bazaar, and Hawkins trying to board the bus. Demosthenous says that the store owner will be able to testify how he initially thought nothing of seeing Hawkins and the girl together.
According to the defense, detectives’ recorded interview of Hawkins is more of an interrogation in which deceit was used in an attempt to get a confession out of Hawkins. Hawkins did not confess to the kidnap or rape, however.
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 5:39 PM with the headline "DNA, surveillance video will link suspect to kidnap and rape of girl, prosecutor says."