Father said girl could handle beatings, investigator testifies

A former soldier on trial in the death of his daughter told an investigator that she could take routine beatings because she was "Teflon tough."

Army investigator Albert Hazzard told a federal court jury Thursday that he wasn’t sure that Naeem Williams was being completely honest even after he admitted hitting his 5-year-old daughter, Talia, causing to her to fall for the last time.

Hazzard, an Army Criminal Investigation Command special agent, testified this week in Williams’ capital murder trial.

If convicted, Williams, 34, would face the death penalty for the July 16, 2005, beating death of the child through abuse or as part of a practice and pattern of assault and torture.

Hazzard said Williams initially told him that Talia hit her head after slipping and falling in the shower of his Wheeler Army Airfield family quarters. About two to three hours into the seven-hour interview immediately following Talia’s death, Hazzard said, Williams told him that he, not his wife, Delilah, came up with the shower story and that Talia fell on her face after he "popped" his daughter with an open hand in the small of her back.

He said Williams also told him that he had punched Talia before and had beaten her with a belt or his hand "almost every day" to discipline her. If there were any knuckle impressions on Talia’s body, Williams said, he caused them.

He said Williams also told him that Talia could take the punches and belt whips because "she’s Teflon tough" and that his wife never hit Talia.

Hazzard said he asked Williams to demonstrate with a chair how he hit Talia that last time.

Hazzard repeated the demonstration for the jurors. When he struck the back of the chair with a loud slap, it lifted up and rolled forward.

He told the jurors that’s the same thing that happened when Williams did the demonstration and said that if the chair had had four legs instead of wheels, it would have fallen over.

Hazzard said the bruising and knuckle impression on Talia’s chest didn’t match Williams’ version of events, especially in light of Williams’ admission that he punched Talia in the past. But he said accepted Williams’ statement because he had no other information to contradict it.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Ching told the jurors in opening statements last week that Talia died of an injury to the back of her head after falling backward from a blow to her chest.

Hazzard said when he asked Williams how he felt about Talia after he admitted hitting her, he said Williams told him he was "disappointed, sad and angry all at the same time."

"He made it very clear that he was frustrated with a lot of things, (Talia’s) peeing and pooping (on herself) and lying about it," he said. "He was under a lot of pressure."

During the interview, he said, Williams asked about his wife and their 4 1/2-month-old daughter, Azrah.

"He never expressed any remorse, concern or sorrow for Talia," Hazzard said.

Hazzard said he got the impression from Williams that it was all about him, Delilah and Azrah. "Talia was a burden, wasn’t really wanted."

He said he asked Williams whether he would like to write a letter after admitting to hitting Talia, to unburden himself of feelings of guilt. He said Williams declined.