A psychologist shared details on Friday about convicted murderer Marcelle Jerrill Waldon’s childhood, intellectual capacity, history of hearing voices and mental state when he murdered a prominent Lakeland couple — information not heard during his week-and-a-half-long trial in January.
The jury recommended the death penalty by a vote of 11-1. But it is now up to Circuit Judge Kevin Abdoney to determine Waldon’s fate: life in prison or death by lethal injection.
Why it matters: Waldon, 39, was found guilty of stabbing former City Commissioner Edie Yates Henderson and her husband, developer David Henderson, to death in their Lake Morton home on Nov. 10, 2020. The brutal and seemingly random crime shocked Lakeland residents.
Hyman Hirsch Eisenstein — a forensic neuropsychologist and frequent witness for murder defendants — testified during a Spencer hearing, which gives lawyers a chance to present additional evidence before a sentence is imposed.
Initial refusal: During the trial, Waldon refused to put on a defense, despite pleas from his attorneys and Abdoney. And on Friday, he at first refused to attend the hearing.
“I can’t say that I’m surprised — he also refused to be here for the status (hearing) a few weeks ago, and in my contact with him since the last day we were in court together, he has maintained, because he’s continued to maintain, that he has no interest in pursuing the penalty phase, that he does not want mitigation presented,” defense attorney Daniel Hernandez told Abdoney.
However, Abdoney said he wanted to hear from Waldon himself what his wishes were and ordered him to appear via Zoom from the South County Jail in Frostproof.
Turnaround: After a brief recess to give guards time to take him to a room in the jail with access to Zoom, Waldon appeared on screens throughout courtroom 7A — handcuffed and wearing orange inmate scrubs with two guards standing watch.
Waldon did an about-face and said he would like to attend, adding that a Zoom appearance would be sufficient.
Childhood abuse: Eisenstein then took the stand, with Hernandez questioning him as Waldon’s image loomed on screens over their shoulders.
Eisenstein said he had spent 18 hours interviewing Waldon and another 50 hours questioning his family members and reviewing Waldon’s legal, medical and school files. Eisenstein said he spoke with Waldon’s mother, Althea Waldon Thomas; his biological father, Henry Morris; his sister, Kiara Thomas; and Waldon’s girlfriend who is also the mother of his two of his three daughters, Amanda Speese.
Eisenstein described a fractured childhood of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his stepfather, Nathaniel Thomas, along with abandonment by his biological father.
“The father really was not involved in too much of his growing up,” Eisenstein said. “The father left when the mom was pregnant. Marcelle visited the father once when he was 12 or 13 years in Mississippi. Recently they began a relationship and have been in contact with each other.”
School years: Waldon was given several tests when he was 13 because he was failing his classes at Lakeland Highlands Middle School:
- An IQ test to determine his intellectual capacity. Waldon scored a 56. According to MedicineNet, IQ scores between 90 and 109 indicate average intelligence.
- An adaptive behavior composite that put him in the low range, similar to a 7-year-old child.
“Even though he met the criteria for intellectual disability, the school psychologist and staffing committee opined that Marcelle would be best assisted by being placed in this specific learning (disability) program, rather than the educably mentally handicapped program,” Eisenstein said.
Waldon failed the seventh grade and transferred to Kathleen Middle School, where he was placed in small-group instruction. He did better there, receiving B’s. But when he matriculated to Kathleen Senior High School, he was placed back in regular classes and began failing again.
“Marcelle did not graduate high school, did not pass any of his FCAT tests, there is no record of Mr. Waldon obtaining a GED,” the psychologist said.
Work history: He also testified that Waldon could not hold down a regular job. He worked in a variety of temporary positions, including in roofing, sewers, construction and warehouses. He might have learned to drive a forklift at some point.
Head injuries: Medical experts say head injures, especially repeated ones, can lead to brain damage and mental health issues. Eisenstein said Waldon had several:
- A serious bicycle accident as a child when he was riding without a helmet, banging his head on the ground.
- In the fourth or fifth grade, his school bus was hit by a truck, injuring several students. That night he had a bad headache, but he never received medical treatment for it.
- Waldon played football in a city league, although he did not recall hitting his head.
- At 22, he passed out while attending a football game, hitting his head on concrete. He was unconscious for several minutes and taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.
Psychiatric history: For years, Waldon’s sister and a girlfriend have maintained that he has had severe psychiatric issues since he was a teenager, including hearing voices telling him to kill people. Eisenstein presented some documented evidence:
- In 2010 at age 26, Waldon was admitted to Peace River Psychiatric, hearing voices and hallucinating. He stayed for three weeks, however detailed records of that hospitalization were destroyed and no longer available.
- In 2011 at age 27, Waldon was admitted to Treasure Coast State Hospital in Indiantown displaying symptoms of psychosis. He was prescribed two milligrams of the antipsychotic medication Risperdal twice daily. He continued this medication during his incarceration and reported feeling better. Records of this hospitalization were no longer available.
- In 2012 at age 28, he returned to the Polk County Jail. His diagnosis was changed to anxiety disorder. He reported a history of anxiety, hearing voices, feelings of fear, jumpiness and an inability to concentrate. Once released, he discontinued his psychiatric medication and treatment.
His family reported odd behaviors, including difficulty maintaining proper hygiene, even though he was taking showers for hours at a time. He would continuously talk to himself and laugh inappropriately.
Drug use: Waldon also has a history of alcohol abuse and drug use. Eisenstein said he began drinking alcohol at 17, started smoking cigars at 18 and marijuana at 19.
He “reported doing marijuana on a daily basis until age 24, when he stopped,” Eisenstein said. “He would drink a quart of beer a day, drink liquor and occasion, took a variety of pills, including mollies and snorting cocaine occasionally. Family members reported … an increase in alcohol and drugs precipitated additional abnormal behavior.”
Retesting: In 2023, while he was awaiting trial, he was given another IQ test, scoring between 79 and 84. Eisenstein said Waldon can hear information and repeat it back, but has great difficulty in seeing something and processing it.
When asked to draw a complicated picture, he drew it so large that he didn’t have enough space on the page to finish it.
“He couldn’t plan,” Eisenstein said. “It’s called macrographia. Again, this is a sign for planning and signs of frontal lobe dysfunction.”
Major psychiatric illness: Eisenstein said that Waldon has “a major psychiatric illness that he has been unable to really deal with. There’s been times that it’s been obviously so bad that he was forced (into) treatment, but there hasn’t been consistent treatment over the years. But these are all the various different symptomatology and issues that Mr. Walden has been facing his whole life.”
Eisenstein concluded that Waldon is “really not reality-based in many ways” and that his family knew “something was off with him,” which he also noticed.
Hernandez asked Eisenstein if — based on the number of hours he spent with Waldon, as well as conducting tests, speaking with family members and looking at records — he believed “the capital felony was committed while the defendant was under some extreme mental or emotional disturbance.”
Eisenstein answered that Waldon “meets the criteria” for someone in an extreme mental state.
“His statement to you was that he didn’t do it, so he’s not discussing it?” Hernandez asked.
“That’s correct,” answered Eisenstein, who also said he was never asked by defense counsel to determine if Waldon was insane. He said he believes Waldon is sane, but his capacity to understand what he was doing was impaired.
Florida law allows someone who is mentally ill to stand trial if the state can show that they knew what they were doing was wrong.
Covering up the crime: Assistant State Attorney Michael Nutter challenged Eisenstein, asking if he had read the police affidavit detailing the crime and the charges. He had not.
“So, for example, you are unaware of any potential steps that the defendant took to avoid apprehension?” Nutter asked. “So, for example, you’re unaware that he tried to burn down the crime scene using the microwave bomb … And you’re unaware that he burned one of the victim’s cars … and you’re unaware that he deleted incriminating evidence of his cell phone?”
Eisenstein answered “correct” to all the questions.
Finally, Nutter asked: “And deleting evidence is evidence that someone knows that what they did is wrong?”
“Perhaps,” Eisenstein answered.
Next steps: A piece of evidence that was not available Friday was a scan of Waldon’s brain. Abdoney said he has authorized the expense and Waldon’s attorney said he would work to schedule it. The next hearing in the case is Aug. 16 at 9 a.m.
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