Girl's death unresolved 4 years later

Onslow woman charged with poisoning girl seeks to suppress evidence in hearing today

JACKSONVILLE NC - Legal disputes linger over the death of Kayla Yvonne Allen more than four years after the 7-year-old Onslow County girl died of what investigators said was poisoning from insecticide. Attorneys for Kayla's legal guardian, the woman accused of murdering her in August 2003, are seeking to suppress evidence in a hearing today in Onslow County Superior Court. A trial date for Carolyn Futrell, 37, on charges of murder and felony child abuse will be set later.

Prosecutors charged Futrell after an autopsy determined that Kayla died from ingesting insecticide. Investigators said the girl was found in bed near a bottle with a milky white liquid, later determined to be insecticide. Futrell told investigators that she had been having a problem with ants and put the insecticide Atroban in an empty water bottle that she kept under a sink. The prosecution contended in court documents that it is unlikely the girl could have accidentally swallowed the liquid, which has a strong odor and tastes like gasoline.

In pretrial motions, defense attorneys argued that no testimony about the insecticide should be allowed because samples of the material were destroyed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner after testing. They said the substances were not available for independent testing.

Regardless of the outcome of the criminal case, a battle over Kayla is likely to continue. Family members and their supporters say they will seek to have the girl's body exhumed in Onslow County and reburied near relatives in Michigan. Heather Baker of Michigan, Kayla's aunt and the administrator of Kayla's estate, said the delay in bringing the case has "taken an emotional toll on everybody." She said Kayla would have turned 12 in November.

"The dates come around time after time and with no closure," she said. "It's made it even worse."

Joanna Wright, president of Hope4Kidz, a Houston organization that works with foster children, has focused attention on Kayla's case with an Internet site that includes photos, a song and an appeal for donations. Wright said individuals have donated a burial plot and $674 toward expenses.

"Our big goal beyond the trial is get Kayla moved to Michigan," Wright said in a telephone interview.

Baker and Wright criticized both prosecution and defense attorneys. They are concerned that the case will end with a plea agreement and a lenient punishment.

Ernie Lee, chief assistant prosecutor in Onslow County, and Futrell's attorneys, Richard Miller and Kevin Peters of Wilmington, declined in separate interviews to discuss the case in detail.

Asked about claims that the defense had delayed the case, the defense attorneys said they have waited for prosecutors to turn over material they requested in the discovery process.

"We did not get the completed discovery until Nov. 1," Miller said.

Miller and Peters are attorneys with a state-funded program that represents defendants in capital cases. Although conviction for first-degree murder carries a possible death sentence, prosecutors said in court records they will not seek the death penalty. The court file in the case is already 18 inches thick. Court documents describe a tumultuous life for Kayla. She was born in Michigan when her mother, Nicole Allen, was in high school. Her biological father left to work in a carnival.

Nicole, who moved to Jacksonville in 1997, said in an interview in 2004 that she had trouble landing a steady job and a place to live, so she gave custody of Kayla to her brother Jeff Allen and his girlfriend, then Carolyn Langford and later Carolyn Futrell. Jeff and Carolyn married and obtained legal custody of Kayla in May 1999.

In March 2001, Jeff Allen relinquished custody of Kayla to Carolyn as part of a separation agreement. An Onslow County judge terminated Nicole Allen's rights in April 2003.

Kayla's relatives accused Carolyn of at least six incidents of child abuse in three years. In 2002, Kayla's grandmother, Diane Goika, visited Kayla and took her back to Michigan without permission. She was charged with kidnapping, and Kayla was returned to Carolyn Futrell. Court records say Goika committed suicide in November 2003. Family members blamed depression stemming from Kayla's death.

Nicole Allen, Kayla's biological mother, said in an interview Thursday she had fought unsuccessfully for custody of Kayla.

Now, she said, she wants justice. She also said she wants Kayla's body moved from the Futrell family cemetery in Richlands.

"She was born Kayla Allen, and she died Kayla Allen," she said.

Jerry.Allegood@newsobserver.com or (252) 752-8411