Late Friday afternoon, the son of a suspect in the 2020 death of a 10-year-old Davenport girl took the stand and said he thinks his father took Breasia Terrell.
“D. L.” was with 51-year-old suspect Henry Dinkins, D. L.’s half-sister Breasia Terrell, and Dinkins’ girlfriend Andrea Culberson the night Breasia disappeared in July of 2020, according to officials and D. L. He said he woke up to discover Dinkins and Breasia were gone.
D. L. is the son of Henry Dinkins and Aishia Lankford. Dinkins is not Breasia’s biological father. Aishia Lankford is Breasia’s mother.
Dinkins faces charges of murder and kidnapping after Breasia disappeared July 10, 2020. He and his family maintain his innocence.
More testimony
Dustin Garner, with the Davenport Fire Department, formerly a detective with Davenport Police Special Victims Unit, also took the stand on Friday.
On July 10, 2020, he was sent to assist with a search warrant at the apartment. Outside the residence, Aishia Lankford, Breasia’s mother, showed Garner her phone “to show a call log with Henry Dinkins” and also some texts with him, Garner said.
Garner said a message from Breasia says “Good night mom” and a return message says “Good night I love you Bree and Dink.” These messages were shown as an exhibit. Garner said he was sent to pick up two bags of Breasia’s clothing from Aishia Lankford’s mother, and he took them to a crime scene technician.
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Garner said that on July 20, he was sent to escort Dinkins’ maroon Chevy Impala, which was sealed as evidence, to the public works department. Investigators planned to remove the gas tank to determine how much gas had been left inside. Stuck to the undercarriage, he said, were a few spots of soil and grass. “The vehicle would have needed to be driven off road to get dirt and grass in those areas,” he said.
FBI Agent Richard Fennern, a member of the FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team, took the stand mid-afternoon Friday. “For a cell phone to operate, it needs to connect to a cell tower,” he explained. A cell phone is “constantly scanning and communicating with the network,” he said. Investigators can use historical records to show where an individual was, he said. Fennern said he analyzed data on Dinkins’ phone, including incoming and outgoing calls.
Davenport Police Sgt. Geoffrey Peiffer also testified. “Mr. Dinkins was the last person to be with Breasia Terrell,” he said. “He was the custodial caregiver for her at this residence that night.”
Dinkins, Peiffer testified, bought Clorox at Walmart in Clinton about 7 a.m. before he called Lankford at 8:08 a.m. July 10, 2020, to report Breasia missing.
Under questioning from Dinkins’ attorney, Peiffer said no trace evidence belonging to Breasia was found in Dinkins’ motor home, Chevy Camaro or Chevy Impala, all of which police seized.
The prosecution tried to build a case around Dinkins’ Chevy Impala while the defense is trying to attack that theory in cross-examination.
“You have no evidence – and correct me if I’m wrong – you have no evidence, no witness. no video, no pictures, that puts Breasia Terrell in that Impala that night,” Dinkins’ attorney said.
Culberson provided information that when she looked out the window in the early-morning hours of July 10, Breasia was standing next to the Impala when Dinkins had come back to the apartment, Peiffer said.
The trial is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. Monday in Scott County Court.
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