Man gets life for death of boss

Date: 1/11/2008

Family sought tough sentence

By Glenn Smith

The Post and Courier

Friday, January 11, 2008

A judge sentenced Dominic Derricotte to a life prison term Thursday for gunning down his boss at a North Charleston restaurant in a slaying the lead prosecutor described as "an out and out execution."

After three days of testimony, a Charleston jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Derricotte guilty of murder and armed robbery in the Oct. 7, 2006, killing of Jennifer Skurow at Perkins Family Restaurant. Skurow, a 32-year-old manager, was shot in the head and neck during the holdup.

Derricotte, 23, watched with little emotion as Skurow's family pleaded with Circuit Judge Deadra Jefferson to punish him severely for killing such a sweet, hard-working young woman.

Carol Skurow, the victim's mother, choked back tears as she held up a picture of her daughter for the judge to see.

"The first time I kissed Jennifer was right after she was born," she said. "The last time I kissed her, she was in a casket, put there by him — Dominic. I will never get over the loss. Never."

Derricotte, a lanky man with close-cropped hair and a penetrating stare, did not testify. But he again proclaimed his innocence to Jefferson shortly before she sentenced him to life on the murder charge and 30 years for the robbery. His shoulders sagged, but he offered a weak smile and waved to his family as he was led away.

His attorney, Rodney Davis, said Derricotte had no previous criminal record and was regarded by his family as quiet and unassuming. Derricotte graduated from high school in Virginia near the bottom of his class and has shown signs of schizophrenia, which runs in his family, Davis said.

Dennis Derricotte, the suspect's father, said his son was a good boy who was raised to respect life. He asked Skurow's family to consider the possibility that police got the wrong man.

"I pray that someday you can find it in your hearts to forgive my son," he said. "Because maybe, just maybe, there is someone else out there."

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who sought the maximum punishment for Derricotte, said there is no good explanation for why Derricotte killed Skurow, a woman who was kind to him and gave him rides home from work. But the evidence against him was overwhelming, she said.

In her closing argument, Wilson told the jury that a 911 call made by a Perkins worker during the robbery would have been enough to convict him.

Perkins worker Alvin Story told a police dispatcher the robber used to work in the restaurant. "He trained me," Story said. Story also told police he heard Skurow confront the robber, saying, "Dominic, what do you think you are doing?"

"There was no doubt in his mind who was doing the robbing and shooting and killing," Wilson said. "The case could be over with that. Everything else just adds corroboration." Other witnesses reported seeing Derricotte hanging around outside the Rivers Avenue restaurant after his late-night shift ended just before the robbery. Police also found Derricotte's fingerprints on a rarely used fire door, Wilson said.

Derricotte was arrested in his hometown of Stafford, Va., about 16 hours after the crime. A Stafford County deputy this week testified that while Derricotte was in the back of his patrol car, he asked, "Do you think I'll get the death penalty?"

One of Derricotte's best friends also testified that the suspect told him Skurow "deserved to die" when asked about the crime.

"Those are not the words of an innocent man," Wilson said.

Davis said Derricotte's statements were not admissions of guilt but the perplexed and confused utterings of a scared young man. Davis told the jury there were a number of plausible scenarios in which other people could have committed the crime. But investigators quickly settled on Derricotte as a suspect and failed to adequately examine evidence and alternate theories that could have implicated others, he said.

David Skurow, the victim's father, said the family was pleased with the sentence though they thought death would have been an appropriate punishment.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.

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