JORDYN DUMONT TRIAL:Gaston Co. man accused in toddler's death doesn't testify as defense rests

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Jurors heard a confession in the murder case of 3-year-old Jordyn Dumont.

There's no question who killed the toddler.

Jurors now have to decide if her murder was an act of torture.

Right after the defense rested its case on Friday, Billy McCullen, the man accused of killing Jordyn, was offered the opportunity to deny anything prosecutors presented.

"Do you wish to testify on your own behalf?" the judge asked McCullen.

"No, sir,” McCullen responded.

"Do you wish to call any other witness or have your attorney do so?" the judge asked.

"No, sir,” McCullen said.

The defense rested without calling a single witness.

McCullen told the judge his confession, which was played for jurors, speaks for itself.

"I just didn't want everyone to think I'm some monster,” McCullen said.

"He said it pissed him off when she would not take a nap or wouldn't eat,” said Gaston County Police Department Det. Brian Dalton.

McCullen admitted he slung Jordan across the room and punched her hard three times and then hid her body in the woods near her home outside of Bessemer City and reported her missing.

McCullen told detectives he wasn't responsible for the numerous other bruises later found on Jordyn's arms and legs.

A medical examiner testified Friday that some of the bruises may have been made four days before her death.

"Not all of the bruises came from him,” said defense attorney Brent Ratchford.

After that testimony, the judge decided to keep the charge against McCullen for first-degree murder by torture.

Jurors will likely begin deliberating by late Monday morning.

The assistant district attorney said Jordyn died of blunt force trauma caused by McCullen, her mother's boyfriend.

McCullen cried in court when he saw Jordyn's picture on a press release submitted as evidence on Thursday.

He didn't look up when disturbing crime scene photos were shown, and he had no reaction when the video of his confession was played in court.

"I didn't mean to kill her. I didn't,” he said.

McCullen said he confessed because he was haunted by seeing Jordyn’s face when he closed his eyes.

He told investigators he was playfully swinging Jordyn around when she slipped and hit the couch.

He said she was fine right after she fell.

"I made the biggest mistake of my life and I want to die,” McCullen said.

Minutes later, she wasn't breathing, even after he tried CPR.

"I tried everything to bring her back and I couldn't. " McCullen said.

(McCullen)

He then said he panicked and hid her body in the woods, but detectives told him his confession doesn't match the wounds found all over the girl's body.

McCullen then said he did more than drop Jordyn.

"I lost my temper, man,” he said.

McCullen said he hit Jordyn hard, three times in the stomach. He then said he reported her missing, knowing what had happened.

Police interviewed him while the search was still active.

(Jordyn Dumont)

On Wednesday, there was a stirring moment in court when jurors watched a video showing the spot in the woods where the girl's body was found outside of Bessemer City.

A searcher found her after noticing a child's sock, officials said.

"Injuries inflected at the hands of that man," ADA Megan Rhoden said in court.

Prosecutors said the injuries happened while Jordyn's mother was at work.

McCullen called 911 to cover his tracks, prosecutors said.

He cried in court as he listened to the 2-year-old recording of his voice.

"My wife's still working,” the caller told dispatch. “She is supposed to be home, and I don't know where her daughter is. (cries.)"

At one point, McCullen searched the house while the dispatcher waited, officials said.

"Jordyn. Jordyn, baby, please come out," the caller said.

Minutes after that call, McCullen spoke to police, seemingly beside himself with grief, officials said.

"He was in a panicky state," a police officer said in court.

Prosecutors said it was a ruse that McCullen kept up as the search went on for hours.

Hundreds of volunteers showed up on the second day of the search. McCullen then asked to speak to a detective.

"Only then did the defendant tell Detective Dalton what he had done to Jordyn and what he had done to her body afterward," Rhoden said.

McCullen's attorney said that still doesn't mean he is a murderer.

"The state of North Carolina is going to ask you to believe that this is cold-blooded, premeditated, thought about it, meant-to-do-it murder,” Ratchford said. “It is not. It is not first-degree murder."

Ratchford suggested that jurors should consider other charges that won't send his client to prison for the rest of his life.

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