Kerry O’Connell, the Assistant District Attorney who gained a conviction Jan. 15 of Rysheim Smith for the murder of a 6-year-old boy 40 months ago, struck the right balance in her summation to a Manhattan jury in assessing blame.
“The child-welfare agency didn’t protect Zymere Perkins, even though they were in the best position to do that,” she said of the child who was repeatedly battered by Mr. Smith, and sometimes by his own mother. “But at the end of the day, Geraldine Perkins and Rysheim Smith are the only people criminally responsible for Zymere’s death.”
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