Teen accused in fatal stabbing may have suffered battered woman syndrome

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Photo: Melissa Phillip

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Courtney Burks, left, and her co-defendant, Shaquan Bennett, are escorted from an appearance in the Harris County 179th Criminal Court Monday, March 27, 2017. The two 18-year-olds are accused of killing a 56-year-old man, whose body was found earlier this month in a burning dumpster in east Houston. They were charged Thursday with capital murder. less

Photo: Melissa Phillip

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Two men stand near Houston police as they investigate the scene where a body was found in the 4600 block of Market Street, Friday, March 17, 2017, in Houston.

Photo: Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle

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Houston Police officers investigate after a burned body was discovered int he 4600 block of Market Street in Houston, Texas Friday, March 17, 2017.

Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle

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Police investigate the scene where a body was found in the 4600 block of Market Street, Friday, March 17, 2017, in Houston.

Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

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While shocking, grisly cases involving burned bodies are not exceedingly rare in Houston.

Keep going for a look back at some of the most high profile case in recent years.

While shocking, grisly cases involving burned bodies are not exceedingly rare in Houston.

Keep going for a look back at some of the most high profile case in recent years.

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February 2017 — Jason Demond Gates and his girlfriend, Mercedes Angel McDonald, were charged with capital murder after authorities discovered the burned body of a 58-year-old man in the back of a pickup truck in southeast Houston. His arrest came nearly a year after the crime. less

Photo: Crime Stoppers

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January 2017 — Seth Joachim Haynes, 20, was charged with murder after allegedly fatally shooting Alex Straway, 23, and burning his body inside a car.

Photo: Beaumont Police Department

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January 2016 — Curtis Lee Holliman, 32, had been living with attorney Kirby Taylor and his son Dexter since 2008. Holliman allegedly took offense at being laughed at by the two men, went upstairs at the residence and returned with a flammable liquid that he sloshed on both men, court documents show. Holliman was accused of using a barbecue lighter to set the two men on fire, a blaze that left the father covered in burns more than 30 percent of his body and killed the son. less

Photo: Houston Police

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September 2015 — Jamie Walter, a 27-year-old homeless man with a long history of mental illness, was charged with murder when three bodies were found in northwest Houston—two burned in a barrel. One of the men was identified as his father. Walter allegedly beat the two burned men with a hammer in April 2015, his father’s death likely occurred in June. less

Photo: James Nielsen, Staff

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2014 — Carlos Antonio Alvarado was charged with the murder of his wife and their four children by strangulation. Alvarado, 45, dismembered his wife’s body and burned it when he suspected she was having an affair, prosecutors said at his trial. less

Photo: Brett Coomer

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2014 — Dereck Dante Esparza, 44, was accused of strangling 40-year-old Angelica Garibay, whose body was found burning outside a laundromat in February 2015. Police said Houston firefighters were dispatched to the scene for a small grass fire, after they put out the flames, they discovered the Houston woman’s body beneath a piece of plywood. less

Photo: HPD

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2013 — Mona Nelson was found guilty in the abduction and burning death of 12-year-old Jonathan Foster on Christmas Eve 2010. Nelson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. less

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff

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2010 — Randy Terrell Sylvester led police to his children’s bodies a week after they went missing in 2008. Sylvester initially blamed their deaths on kidnappers who took them because he owed them money, but it was discovered that he killed his son and daughter and burned their remains on Father’s Day 2008. Sylvester was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. less

Photo: Kevin Fujii, Chronicle

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2008 — Timothy Shepherd was found guilty of the death and dismemberment of Tynesha Stewart. Shepherd burned his victim’s remains on two barbecue grills.

Photo: Julio Cortez, Chronicle

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An 18-year-old accused of luring a 56-year-old man to a home for sex where he was fatally stabbed and his body burned in a east Houston dumpster was being manipulated by an abusive boyfriend, her lawyer said Monday.

Courtney Burks and boyfriend Shaquan Bennett appeared in orange jail uniforms before state District Judge Randy Roll Monday on charges of capital murder, accused of robbing then killing David Standley on March 17.

“It’s hard to call it a dating relationship,” said attorney Windi Pastorini, who represents the young woman. “She was more like a hostage or victim. She was scared to death of him. I think she was a desperate woman who needed someone who could provide for her.”

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Pastorini said her client may have suffered battered woman syndrome. She also raised the possibility that Bennett was a pimp for Burks.

It’s a story that prosecutors said they will likely challenge, since blaming a co-defendant is a common defense strategy.

“I certainly think that will be a point of contention between the two defendants,” said prosecutor Kathy Kahle. She said both teens gave statements to police, but she had not seen them before the hearing.

Police said that during the apparent robbery, the teens allegedly stabbed Standley with a knife and bludgeoned him with a blunt object.

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Standley’s body was found around 5:45 a.m. on March 17, in a burning dumpster in the 4600 block of Market Street. The dumpster is in the same block as Bennett’s home, court records show.

Standley was found with a welt over his right eye and a large bump on his forehead. His body was covered with a blanket and buried under a pile of trash.

James Stafford, the lawyer representing Bennett said he is still investigating the allegations.

“I don’t know what their respective roles are,” Stafford said after the brief hearing. “They’re very remorseful, very sad and very frightened. Neither one of them have any criminal history, so this is the first time they’ve been processed in and it’s a very intimidating event for them.”

If convicted of capital murder, both teens could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek death. That decision is typically made months after an arrest.

Both are being held in the Harris County jail without bail.