CROWN POINT, Ind. -- An 11-year-old girl calmly identified accused serial murderer Alton Coleman Friday as a man who wanted to play a 'little game,' then raped her and killed her 7-year-old niece.
Annie Hillard of Gary showed little emotion during 41 minutes of testimony at Coleman's murder trial, saying he and a woman attacked her and Tamika Turks in woods at Gary June 18, 1984.
When Deputy Prosecutor Thomas Vanes asked Annie to point out her attacker, without hestitation she pointed toward the defense table.
Vanes walked to the table and told her to say stop when he passed behind the attacker. Calmly and clearly she said 'stop' when Vanes reached Coleman, who showed no reaction.
Coleman is charged with murder, attempted murder and deviant sexual behavior. Coleman's suspected accomplice, Debra Brown, 23, also is charged in the attack, believed to be part of a bloody six-state crime spree across the Midwest during the summer of 1984.
Coleman and Brown are suspected in eight killings and face the death penalty in Ohio. Brown awaits a separate trial in Crown Point.
Annie's testimony came after Judge Richard Maroc rejected a defense motion to block it. The defense questioned the consistency of the girl's identification of Coleman from a series of photographs shown her on six occasions.
Annie testified she and Tamika spent the night together, then went to a candy store and a hot dog stand, where they were confronted by Coleman and a woman who asked if they wanted to see some clothing. She said she told them 'no,' but the woman walked along with them. Annie said they wound up in the woods, where Coleman reappeared.
She said Coleman told them he wanted to take them to his grandmother's home, then said he wanted to 'play a little game.' Coleman, Annie said, took Tamika's shirt, cut it up with a pocket knife and tied up the girls.
Annie said Tamika began crying as she lay prone on the ground just 3 feet away. Annie said the woman put a hand over Tamika's mouth and nose, and Coleman began stomping the girl's face and chest. She said the adults carried Tamika a few feet away. She said Tamika apparently was not breathing.
Annie said she was untied and forced to commit oral sex on Coleman, then forced to commit oral sex on the woman while the man raped her.
'They both put their belts around me and tried to choke me,' she said. Annie said she fell asleep, later awoke and wandered out of the woods, where passersby found her and called police.
