WHITE PLAINS – A Westchester County Court jury Thursday evening found a Mount Vernon man guilty on all charges that he brutally attacked his girlfriend’s twin two-year-old daughters, killing one and severely injuring the other.
The jury deliberated for 2 ½ days before convicting Derran Morris, 24, of murder, manslaughter, and two counts of assault. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
On July 5, 2016, the mother of the girls, Monique Turner and Morris walked into Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital emergency room carrying Addison Turner and her twin sister in their arms. They told reception that Addison was not breathing. Twenty minutes after they brought the girls in to the ER, Addison was pronounced dead.
The other twin, who was injured but breathing, was rushed by ambulance to Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Doctors there determined she had suffered life-threatening abdominal trauma, including lacerations of the liver. Mount Vernon Police were notified.
On autopsy, it was determined Addison has suffered severe bruises, trauma and deep laceration of her liver resulting in extensive blood loss. Her cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma and was ruled a homicide.
The investigation found that Morris had been alone with the children for several hours. Turner, Morris and the children lived together at the time.
