Austin, TX: Boy, 11, who was stabbed by man who killed his mother, testifies

By Steven Kreytak | Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 06:03 PM

An 11-year-old boy who was stabbed in an attack that left his mother dead in 2003 took the stand today in the trial of Milton Dwayne Gobert, who is on trial for capital murder.
Demetrius Cotton spoke with a soft voice from the witness stand in state District Judge Bob Perkins’ court while 30 people in the courtroom gallery looked on. The microphone on the witness stand came to his forehead until it was adjusted by prosecutor Allison Wetzel.
Gobert, 37, is accused of killing Demetrius’ mother, Mel Kernena Cotton, 30, on Oct. 6, 2003 in her North Austin apartment. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.
Gobert’s lawyers have said that he killed Cotton only after she drew a knife on him. Gobert, his lawyers said, stabbed the boy accidentally when he tried to enter the fracas. They said that Gobert went to the apartment that night to continue what they described as an intimate relationship between the two. Prosecutors have said that Gobert was angry at Cotton for helping his ex-girlfriend move out of their apartment while Gobert was at work, and that he thought some of his things were taken during the move.
While Demetrius testified in state District Judge Bob Perkins’ court, Gobert was seated about 50 feet away at a table next to his two lawyers.
In testimony that lasted about an hour, Demetrius told the jury that he did not know the man who killed his mother. He said the man had a black duffle bag and had demanded money from his mother.
It started, Demetrius said, when he awoke that night in 2003, when he was 5, to the screams of his mother coming from her bedroom.
He got up and found a man who he described as “tall and bald and buff” standing over her, stabbing her with a knife, he said.
His mother had duct tape on her mouth; the man was wearing gloves, Demetrius said under questioning by Wetzel.
“I went over there and tried to pull him down by his leg,” Demetrius said.
The man put duct tape on Demetrius’ mouth and legs, cutting the tape with the knife, Demetrius said.
Then the man pushed him out of the room and locked the door. The screaming continued inside.
Demetrius returned to his room and fell asleep, he said. He awoke when the man came in, got on top of him and choked him with two hands, Demetrius said.
He passed out.
When he woke up Demetrius was bleeding from a hole in his chest and the man was gone, Demetrius said.
He went into his mother’s room and felt her neck, he said.
“When you felt her neck what did you feel,” Wetzel said.
“Nothing,” Demetrius said. “She was gone.”
The boy said he kneeled next to his mom for a while, holding her cold hand before going to find something to stop the blood that was flowing from his chest.
He got a washcloth from the bathroom, tried unsuccessfully to put a Band Aid on his chest and retrieved a Popsicle from the refrigerator before returning to his room and falling asleep again, Demetrius said.
He thought of calling for help but the man had cut the phone cord and smashed his mother’s cell phone, he said.
He awoke to his aunt’s knock at the door.