Closing Arguments Expected Monday in First of Ewing Murder Trials

The bench trial of Corey Butler, 31, resumes Monday with closing arguments. Butler is the first of the three Monroe men to go on trial for the of Loganville. He waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table. He is now facing a verdict and sentencing from Alcovy Circuit Superior Court Judge Eugene Benton.

The family of the murdered woman has been in court for the trial since Thursday, often shedding quiet tears as they listened some of the testimony. According to the family, it was difficult to listen to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner testify to the injuries Ewing sustained during the beating. Crime scene photos of large amounts of blood on the floor, walls and furniture also were difficult for them.

But some of the most difficult testimony for them to endure was from Angela Jackson, 51, a woman who had a sexual relationship with CF Ewing. According to Jackson's testimony, she would regularly stop by the house to get money from CF. The money was in exchange for sex. There had been talk of it being money for child support, but she said it was CF who wanted it classified that way and she just went along with it.

"There was no baby. He's an old man, I'm an old woman - he knows there was no baby," Jackson said.

She told the court that it had gone on for about eight years and CF Ewing had even bought her a car. That was too much for some of the children of the murdered woman, who left the courtroom in tears. Despite the difficult testimony, though, CF has remained in the courtroom since he testified on the first day of the trial. Under oath, CF admitted to the sexual relationship and acknowledged that Butler had first come to the house a few days before the attack, with Jackson. She had stopped by to get some money from CF and he had removed it from his wallet and handed it to Butler, who was in the passenger seat of the car.

Butler is alleged to have returned to the house a few days later, with Barry Marquez Partee and John Jody Blackwell, who were both 18 and high school seniors at Monroe Area High School at the time. According to court testimony, they went there on the pretext of wanting to buy a red Dodge truck that CF had told Butler he had for sale. CF testified that it was after he had taken Butler for a test drive in the dodge that Butler had forced him into the house at gun point and the attack on both CF and Epsie Ewing ensued. Epsie Ewing died a month later as a result of the injuries she sustained.

Partee, now 22, shocked the court Friday when he reneged on a plea agreement that he had entered into less than 30 minutes before. Partee was expected to give testimony on the events that happened on the day of the attack. However, when he took the stand he claimed to have been coerced by his attorney to give false testimony. His testimony was immediately halted and his plea deal nullified. He will now face a jury trial and the death penalty is back on the table.

The trial resumed Friday with the GBI medical examiner taking the stand, followed by Jackson, Loganville Police Detective Mike Westbrooks and the physician who treated Epsie Ewing at Atlanta Medical Center.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.

See also:

• Trial of First of the 3 Men Accused in the 2009 Murder of Epsie Ewing To Begin Next Week
• Butler Waives Right to Jury Trial in Ewing Case - DA Takes Death Penalty Off the Table
• UPDATE: Pretrial Motions in Ewing Trial Cancelled

• Accused Murderers of Loganville Woman Back in Court
• Date Set for the First of the Ewing Murder Trials
• Two Defendants in Ewing Trial Expected in Court Thursday