Dad get death penalty for killing, dismembering mother of his three kids; tried to blame 12-year-old daughter for crime (Memphis, Tennessee)

Dad JAMES HAWKINS is sure a shmuck. Not only does he stab and strangle to death the mother of his three kids, he blames it all on his then 12-year-old daughter. Daddy was sexually abusing his daughters, too.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/11/Tennessee-killer-sentenced-to-death/UPI-21531307841662/

Tennessee killer sentenced to death

Published: June 11, 2011 at 9:21 PM

MEMPHIS, June 11 (UPI) -- A jury in Memphis Saturday night decided a Tennessee man should die for killing and dismembering the mother of his three children.

The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported the seven-woman, five-man jury took just under 2 hours to reach its decision to sentence James Hawkins, a 33-year-old warehouse worker with a previous prison record, to death.

Hawkins, convicted of first-degree murder Friday, exhibited no emotion when as Judge Chris Craft read his punishment aloud. No date was set for his execution.

Hawkins had told police his 12-year-old daughter had killed Charlene Gaither, 28, on Feb. 9, 2008, at their Memphis apartment and he had dismembered and disposed of her stabbed and strangled body to protect the girl.

But all three of his daughters testified against him and the one daughter, now 15, testified he had sexually abused her.

"I got some justice for my child, for my baby," Gaither's father Louis Irvin said after the punishment was announced. "We've got to stop some of this violence and hatred. I just thank God for giving me the strength to finish this. Sometimes it's hard being a Christian."