Lawyers representing the man accused of murdering Morgan Freeman‘s step-granddaughter claimed she told the suspect she had a sexual relationship with the actor.
The allegation surfaced in a Manhattan courtroom, where Lamar Davenport is on trial for the 2015 death of E’Dena Hines, on Friday.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“E’Dena Hines disclosed to Lamar Davenport and others that her grandfather engaged in a sexually inappropriate relationship with her,” Davenport’s attorney, Annie Costanzo, told the court. According to the New York Daily News, Costanzo was reading from a stipulation agreement approved by the prosecution.
It is not clear what the allegation has to do with Hines’ murder, but it has surfaced in tabloids in the past.
In 2009, the National Enquirer claimed Freeman was having a decade-long affair with Hines, the daughter of a woman he adopted with his first wife, Jeanette Adair Bradshaw, that started when she was a teenager. The tabloid claimed the affair broke up Freeman’s marriage to his wife Myrna and ended his relationship with a mistress, Mary Joyce Hays. A source told the Enquirer that Morgan and Myrna raised Haines “since she was a little girl.”
At one point, tabloids claimed Freeman and Haines were going to get married. The Oscar-winner and Haines issued a statement denying that.
“The recent reports of any pending marriage or romantic relationship of me to anyone are defamatory fabrications from the tabloid media designed to sell papers,” Morgan said.
Hines, who was 27 at the time, added, “These stories about me and my grandfather are not only untrue, they are also hurtful to me and my family.”
According to prosecutors, the 33-year-old Davenport stabbed Hines about 25 times during a drug-fueled rage outside her building in New York City. His attorneys are using an insanity defense, arguing that he was in a PCP-induced psychosis when Hines was killed.
“My opinion was that he lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions and know the nature and consequences of his conduct,” defense expert Jeremy Colley said during testimony Friday, reports the Daily News. “Mr. Davenport did not possess the intent to kill Ms. Hines.”
Earlier this month, the prosecution called witnesses who saw Hines’ death. One witness claimed Davenpot yelled, “I love you. I always loved you!” and “God would have wanted this” during the attack, reports the Daily News.
Davenport faces between 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He was charged with second-degree murder.
