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State of
Missouri vs. Terrance L. Anderson
Case Facts:
In February of 1996 Terrance Anderson
began dating Abbey Rainwater, a high school student in Poplar Bluff,
Missouri, when she was 16 years old and he was 21.
That summer, Abbey
became pregnant with Anderson's child. Her parents, Stephen and Debbie
Rainwater, then invited Anderson to live with them in their house.
Anderson moved in with them, and then began neglecting his job with a
local furniture company and staying out late at night.
He was eventually
discharged from his job in December 1996. That same month, Anderson
grabbed Abbey by the neck and threw her against a wall. Abbey's parents
asked him to move out, and he went to live with his mother.
Abbey's and Anderson's child, Kyra, was born on April 18, 1997,
after which Anderson violently assaulted Abbey on two occasions. During
the second of these assaults, Anderson told Abbey that if she told
anyone about what he had done to her, he would kill everyone who lived
with her, that he would make her watch him kill the baby, and that he
would then kill her and himself.
The next morning, July 25, 1997, Abbey told her parents what had
occurred, and then went to the courthouse and got a restraining order
against Anderson.
Later that day, Abbey spoke with Anderson by phone,
notified him of the restraining order, and told him that he could not
see her and that his visitation with the baby would be arranged through
the court. Anderson then said he knew what he had to do now.
Late that
afternoon, Anderson went to the home of a friend and obtained a .357
caliber magnum handgun.
That night, Abbey was at home with two of her teenage friends, Stacy
Turner and Amy Dorris. Also present in the home that night were Abbey's
parents, her 10-year-old sister, Whitney, and Kyra.
Abbey, Stacey and Amy were downstairs when they heard knocking on
the back door. One of the girls looked out of the small windows by the
side of the door but did not see anyone. They then went upstairs and
told Stephen Rainwater. He told them to go back downstairs to see if it
happened again, while he looked out of an upstairs window.
About a
minute elapsed, and someone knocked on the back door again, but Mr.
Rainwater did not see anyone. He picked up a rifle and walked around the
yard, but again saw no one. He came back in the house and placed the
rifle in a corner of the master bedroom.
Stephen Rainwater then started driving around the neighborhood to
see if he could find any suspicious vehicles or persons. Back home, the
doorbell rang. Abbey, Stacey, Amy and Whitney went to the door and
looked out of the small windows next to it.
They saw Anderson standing
outside the door holding a handgun. As the girls screamed and backed
away from the door, Anderson then kicked in the door, splintering its
frame. Debbie Rainwater told Abbey to run.
Abbey and Whitney ran out the
back of the house; Abbey ran to a neighbor's house and got the neighbor
to call the police, while Whitney stopped fleeing shortly after she got
outdoors. Stacy Turner stayed in the house, hiding in a bedroom closet.
Amy Dorris stayed in the house near Debbie Rainwater.
Anderson approached Debbie Rainwater, who was standing beside a
couch holding the baby. Anderson yelled at her and pointed the gun at
her, telling her she was going to die. She got down on her knees and
begged for her life. Anderson placed the gun against the back of her
head, and fired it. The bullet killed her instantly.
Anderson then grabbed Amy Dorris, who had just witnessed the killing,
went outside with her, and told her to yell for Abbey and the others to
come out, but no one came out of hiding.
While Anderson was in front of
the house, Whitney, who had heard the gunshot, went back into the house
and heard Kyra crying. She found her mother's dead body lying on top of
the baby. She lifted her mother's body, picked up the baby, and
attempted to hide with her in the house.
Anderson found Whitney, however,
and took Kyra from her. Anderson and Whitney then walked to the front
yard, where Amy was still standing. Anderson, who was holding Kyra,
pointed the gun at the baby's head and yelled that he would shoot the
baby if Abbey did not come out.
Anderson saw Stephen Rainwater driving toward the house. Anderson
took Kyra, Whitney and Amy around to the side of the house, so that
Stephen Rainwater could not see them, and told them he would shoot them
if they ran.
Anderson, still holding Kyra, approached Stephen Rainwater
and began talking to him. He then shot Stephen Rainwater in the forehead,
killing him.
Anderson then went back inside the house and ordered Whitney to
search for survivors. Whitney saw Stacy hiding in the master bedroom's
bathroom, but did not tell Anderson.
Two officers from the Poplar Bluff police department arrived at the
residence and saw Stephen Rainwater lying dead. They then saw Anderson,
who was in Abbey's bedroom, open a window.
Anderson held the baby in
front of him as a human shield, waved the handgun in the direction of
the officers, and yelled at them to put down their guns. The officers
told Anderson to put down his weapon, which he refused to do, repeatedly
yelling at them to drop their weapons.
After other officers arrived and surrounded the house, Anderson
eventually came out of the house without the handgun he had been
brandishing and surrendered. Anderson was placed under arrest and taken
into custody.
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