Christopher Russell
Colin RussellJASPER, Tenn. – A longtime inmate who shared a cell with accused killer Christopher Russell testified Tuesday that Russell told him he shook his 3-month-old child and “pitched” him on a bed.
Jerry “Little Man” Layne, the last witness to testify Tuesday in Russell’s trial on felony murder and aggravated child abuse charges, spent time in a cell with Russell while he was being held at the Marion County Jail last year.
Layne said Russell, the first time they talked, wanted to know what it was like in prison. The next time, he was crying and talked about Colin Eugene Russell’s death.
“He said, ‘At first the baby was crying’ and he said, ‘I got up and got it up and started shaking it. I shook it and shook it and he finally quit crying.’ He said, ‘I set it back down. I went back and got in the bed and I no more than got to sleep and it started crying again,'” Layne said.
“He said, ‘I got up and I got the baby again and I shook and shook and he said he wouldn’t stop crying, so I pitched it toward the pallet on the bed,” Layne said. “I said, ‘You pitched it?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, it hit on the mattress.’ I said, ‘That would have killed a kid.’ He said, ‘Well, that’s what I did. I rolled it over again and it got one breath,’ and he said, ‘I knew he was dead.'”