Leslie Parms was the good samaritan who comforted Lyntell Washington’s daughter as they waited for authorities to arrive. Parms found the three-year-old wandering in a parking lot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with her feet covered in dried blood. Leslie said on 20/20: “I started asking her, ‘Well, where’s mommy? Where’s mommy’s car?’ And she pointed to her mom’s car.”
Unfortunately, Lyntell Washington, the girl’s mom, wasn’t in the vehicle. Like the girl’s feet, the car’s interior had blood spatter. A week later, Lyntell Washington’s body was found dead in an irrigation ditch near a sugar cane field. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Lyntell Washington’s daughter lives in Louisiana with her father, Darren Glasper
According to dashcam footage obtained by ABC News, an officer responding to the scene asked Lyntell Washington’s daughter where the blood in the car came from. “Mr. Robbie,” she replied. Washington’s daughter had mentioned ‘Mr. Robbie’ to Leslie Parms as well.
She pointed to ‘Mr. Robbie’ as a suspect again during an interview with a child forensic interview. “I heard a boom,” Washington’s daughter said. The three-year-old said she saw ‘Mr. Robbie’ hurt her mother.
Washington’s daughter currently lives with her father, Darren Glasper, in Louisiana. Glasper told 20/20 that he tries to help his daughter through the trauma: “Sometimes she’d say, ‘I miss mommy. I wish mommy was here.’ I said, ‘I do too, but mommy’s in heaven with the angels now.’”
Darren added that Lyntell lives on through her daughter. “I see that she’s smart, educated,” Glasper said. “She’s focused when she puts her mind to stuff.”
Washington’s daughter’s testimony helped convict Robert Marks of murder
‘Mr. Robbie’ was Washington’s daughter’s nickname for Robert Marks, an assistant principal in Brookstown. Marks met Lyntell Washington, a single mother working at Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy, and the pair started an affair. The couple dated in secret because Marks was married.
Melissa Mason, Lyntell’s friend, told 20/20 that Marks told Washington he’d initiated divorce proceedings but was still living with his wife. “He did say that there was this two-story house and the wife was upstairs, and he was downstairs,” Mason said.
A week before her disappearance, Washington told Jamicia Pink-Fisher, a friend, she was pregnant with Marks’ child. Lyntell was reportedly furious when she discovered that Marks wasn’t getting divorced and was on a cruise with his wife. “Lyntell was saying, ‘I’m going to let his wife know what’s going on,’” Pink-Fisher said.
Lyntell demanded that Max tell her the truth and let her know if he would support her and their child. The couple met later that night, the night Washington disappeared. Thanks to Washington’s daughter, authorities identified Marks and brought him in for questioning.
During Marks’ trial, prosecutors played a video of Washington’s daughter relaying the events of that fateful evening. Chuck Smith, an investigator with the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office, said:
“You hear the little girl in her own voice saying, ‘Mr. Robbie put the blood in my car. I heard a bang. My mama started shaking. My mama’s asleep by the lake.’”
The prosecutors secured Robert Marks’ conviction thanks to Washington’s daughter’s testimony. The jury deliberated for 30 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. Two months later, a court sentenced Robert Marks to life behind bars.