The boy also said he lied again when the same DCS caseworker came to his school the next day.
But the toughest part of testimony to listen to was when the 14-year-old talked about the night of November 3 and the early morning hours of November 4, 2011.
He testified that his school principal had called home and accused him of stealing pencils from art class. The boy said his father came home from dialysis treatment with a stick, duct taped the ends, duct taped his hands together at the wrists and said, "Ya'll wanna go to school and act out, so me and my stick gonna have fun," the boy recalled.
"I tried to explain it to him that I didn't steal anything, but he didn't wanna hear it, so he just got up and threw me down the stairs."
The boy continued on the witness stand with horrific details about that night, saying he eventually accused Tramelle of stealing bottled water from their dad, "So he would start beating one of my other brothers and not me."
That, he said, is when his father duct taped Tramelle’s arms to his sides and beat and burned he and Tramelle until his 10-year-old brother was unconscious. The 14-year-old said their father, Terry Sturgis, ordered him to clean up Tramelle’s vomit and check his little brother to make sure he was still breathing. During one of those checks, he said Tramelle was trying to say something to him.
“I could see his eyeballs going to the back of his head. I tried to listen to what he tried to tell me but I couldn't understand him," he testified.
Later, he said his dad found Tramelle unconscious and ordered him to help give the 10-year-old CPR.
While waiting for the ambulance, he recalled his dad saying "'Oh lord, I promise I won’t…' and it made me mad," the 14-year-old said. "Because he couldn't even say 'I promise I won't beat them again.'"
Three witnesses testified for the prosecution Friday – including the boys’ female cousin who also lived in the home. When Deputy Prosecuting Attorney AJ Ennis asked the young teenage girl, “Did you ever hear your grandmother speak with your uncle about what was going on?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “She told him to stop or he would kill one of them.”
Tramelle’s younger brother, who was 8 when Tramelle died, told Ennis the "worst thing" that happened to him that night was, “Getting whipped by the exercise machine that was metal.”
All three children testified that not only did Terry Sturgis abuse his children last November, but he also ordered a 16-year-old cousin living in the home to beat the 8-year-old boy. According to the kids, she did until he began bleeding.
Several jurors wiped away tears during the 14-year-old's testimony. One juror reached over to pat another juror on the leg as if to console her. Police officers and family members inside the packed courtroom also cried.
The only time the 14-year-old’s voice ever waivered was when he talked about the moments just before and just after Tramelle died.
The trial is scheduled to resume Monday afternoon.
WSBT's Kelli Stopcynzki is in the courtoom for the duration of the Terry Sturgis trial. Stay with us for updates.
