Death row inmate does not get to reopen appeal process | Crime

A death row inmate from Millington does not get to reopen his appeals process by claiming mental retardation 19 years after his conviction of raping and murdering an 8-year-old girl, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Thursday.

According to the Commercial Appeal, David M. Keen, 50, was sentenced to death for the 1990 attack on 8-year-old Ashley Nicole 'Nikki' Read, whose body was found wrapped in a blanket and floating in the Wolf River near the boat ramp at the north end of Mud Island.

He admitted strangling the young daughter of his girlfriend and disposing of her body. Keen then played bingo, slept and later joined a search party looking for Nikki Read before finally confessing and leading police to her body.