Norton convicted of murdering Tabitha
The Argus-Press
January 22, 1994
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. [AP] - a 35-year-old man was convicted Friday of second-degree murder in the suffocation of his fiancee's 3-year-old daughter.
Kenneth M. Norton Jr. faces up to life in prison for killing Tabatha Horn July 5, 1993, while her mother was hospitalized for epilepsy tests.
Prosecutors said Norton killed the girl while disciplining her, then buried her near the Vestaburg home he shared with Wendy Gokee and nine children.
He drove south to Brighton, saying he was taking the girl to visit Gokee at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. He reported her kidnapped while he briefly left his car at a convenience store. Deputies found the toddler's body four days later. Norton's teenage daughter's testified to seeing Tabatha blind-folded, seated in a chair with her hands behind her back and crying the night before she was reported missing.
Norton testified he didn't kill the girl, but had buried her after finding her dead in bed. He said he feared either his 14- or 15-year-old daughter had killed her.
The Isabella County Jury began deliberating late Thursday, broke and resumed deliberations Friday. It returned a verdict at midafternoon. The jurors had been instructed they could find Norton innocent or convict him of first-degree or second-degree murder, or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.
Norton found guilty of killing 3-year-old
South Bend Tribune (IN)
January 23, 1994
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A man who testified he buried his fiancée's 3-year-old child because he feared one of his daughters might have killed her was found guilty of second-degree murder Friday.
The jury deliberated about six hours over two days before finding Kenneth M. Norton Jr., 35, of Vestaburg guilty in the suffocation death of Tabatha Horn on July 5, 1993.
Norton faces a sentence of up to life in prison when he is sentenced next month by Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain.
``He took something away from me I can't get back. He can get his freedom back,'' Tabatha's mother, Wendy Gokee , told Detroit's WDIV-TV.
``But no matter how many years go by, I can't get back what I lost,'' Gokee said.
Prosecutors alleged that Norton killed Tabatha while disciplining her, then buried her near the
Vestaburg home he shared with Gokee and nine children.
He drove south to Brighton, saying he was taking the girl to visit Gokee when she was undergoing epilepsy tests at University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.
He reported her kidnapped after he briefly left his car at a convenience store.
Deputies found the toddler's body four days later.
Norton's teen-age daughters had testified to seeing Tabatha blindfolded, seated in a chair with her hands behind her back and crying the night before she was reported missing.
Norton testified he didn't kill the girl, but buried her after finding her dead in bed.
He said he feared either his 14-or 15-year-old daughter had killed her, but did not confront either of them about the death.
During the two-week trial, Gokee had stormed off the witness stand at one point and suffered an epileptic seizure after becoming enraged at the antics of some people in the courthouse.
The Isabella County jury had been instructed they could find Norton innocent or convict him of first-degree or second-degree murder, or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.
Vestaburg man found guilty of suffocating his fiancée's daughter
South Bend Tribune (IN)
January 23, 1994
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A man who testified he buried his fiancee's 3-year-old child because he feared one of his daughters might have killed her was found guilty of second-degree murder Friday.
The jury deliberated about six hours over two days before finding Kenneth M. Norton Jr., 35, of Vestaburg guilty in the suffocation death of Tabatha Horn on July 5, 1993.
Norton faces a sentence of up to life in prison when he is sentenced next month by Circuit Judge Paul Chamberlain.
``He took something away from me I can't get back. He can get his freedom back,'' Tabatha's mother, Wendy Gokee , told Detroit's WDIV-TV.
``But no matter how many years go by, I can't get back what I lost,'' Gokee said.
Prosecutors alleged that Norton killed Tabatha while disciplining her, then buried her near the
Vestaburg home he shared with Gokee and nine children.
He drove south to Brighton, saying he was taking the girl to visit Gokee when she was undergoing epilepsy tests at University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.
He reported her kidnapped after he briefly left his car at a convenience store.
Deputies found the toddler's body four days later.
Norton's teen-age daughters had testified to seeing Tabatha blindfolded, seated in a chair with her hands behind her back and crying the night before she was reported missing.
Norton testified he didn't kill the girl, but buried her after finding her dead in bed.
He said he feared either his 14-or 15-year-old daughter had killed her, but did not confront either of them about the death.
During the two-week trial, Gokee had stormed off the witness stand at one point and suffered an epileptic seizure after becoming enraged at the antics of some people in the courthouse.
The Isabella County jury had been instructed they could find Norton innocent or convict him of first-degree or second-degree murder, or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.
Guilty
Clare Sentinel
January 25, 1994
Kenneth Norton Jr., 31, was found guilty Friday of killing 3-year-old Tabatha Horn last July. A Circuit Court jury returned a verdict of second degree murder. He will be' sentenced Feb. 10 by Isabella County Circuit Court Judge Paul Chamberlain following a pre-sentence investigation. The sentence can be any number of years up to life. The jury had the option of returning a verdict ranging from not guilty to first degree murder (premeditated), mandatory life sentence.