SBS: Ohio: Coroner: Infant Girl Colleen Dobbins' Death a Homicide

COLUMBUS -- A 5-month-old baby girl's death is ruled a homicide by the
Franklin County Coroner's Office, ABC6/FOX28 News' Carol Luper reports Tuesday.
Colleen Dobbins died in March, two days after medics rushed her from her babysitter's home and to a hospital for medical attention. Tests show she was a victim of shaken baby syndrome.
Her father is an assistant lacrosse coach David Dobbins at Ohio State University.  In April, the team honored the Dobbins' family for donating the baby's organs. They wore her initials on their uniforms and featured green bands representing the cause of organ donation.
Police had not filed charges regarding the case as of Tuesday; however, they've said the infant was hurt by the babysitter.
Sgt. Steven Little, of the Columbus Division of Police Homicide Squad, "The child was immediately diagnosed as having severe retinal hemorrhage, which is consistent with shaken baby [syndrome]."
According to the coroner's autopsy report, little Colleen was crying and her care-giver was bouncing the child on the knee. At one point, Colleen became unresponsive.
The coroner ruled the death the end result of traumatic brain injury and homicidal in nature.
ABC6/FOX28 News is not releasing the babysitter's name because no charges have been filed.
"We'll take the package down to the prosecutor's officer for review and possible indictment of the suspect in question for a murder charge."

http://www.abc6onyourside.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wsyx_vid_10885.shtml

SBS: South Dakota: charges against Two Bulls dropped with conflicting medical evidence

May. 3, 2011  : John Hult
A man accused of killing his 14-month-old stepson will not stand trial for murder or manslaughter charges after a judge's ruling this week that questioned the science behind the accusations.

Dustin Samuel Two Bulls, Sr., 22, has been in jail awaiting trial on second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter charges since Deryun Wilson was rushed to Avera McKennan Hospital one year ago with brain hemorrhages that eventually took his life.

Two Bulls still faces as much as 15 years in prison on an unrelated fourth-degree rape charge, but it now is unlikely that anyone will stand trial for the child's death.
"This is still a homicide," Deputy State's Attorney Randy Sample said. "I just can't prove who did it."

Two Bulls' lawyers did not return calls for comment Monday. In a series of motions hearings in February and March, however, they called experts to question the validity of the prosecution's version of events, which was premised on the notion that the baby died of abusive head trauma, sometimes referred to as shaken baby syndrome, at the hands of Two Bulls.
Experts from both sides disagreed on whether shaking alone could result in the type of injuries that caused Wilson's death.

Minnehaha County Coroner Kenneth Snell testified that a shaking death was possible, but he said there is "no way to tell" how long a child with a head injury still could be mobile. He cited the case of a child who appeared lucid after a fall from monkey bars but later died.

Dr. Janice Ophoven, an expert hired by the defense, testified that investigators should look back over the previous three days when attempting to pinpoint the underlying injury behind a death from abusive head trauma. She claimed that shaken baby syndrome is a scientifically unsound diagnosis.
Two Bulls was alone with Wilson for only about 20 minutes in the days leading up to the child's death May 20, Sample said, and several other people had contact with the child for short periods of time.

Two Bulls told Wilson's mother that the child had fallen down some steps when she came home May 19 to discover the injuries.
"We only had a very short window of time in which this individual had the child," Sample said.

In his decision about the scientific testimony, Judge Joseph Neiles wrote that the science alone cannot prove Wilson was murdered.

"Dr. Snell's testimony was that he would not diagnose (shaken baby syndrome) unless there was either a witness to the act or a confession to the act, in addition to the physical findings," Neiles wrote.
Complicating matters further was the judge's finding Monday that Two Bulls had asked for and been denied a lawyer during an interview after his arrest. That decision threw out incriminating statements he had made to detectives.

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110503/NEWS/105030301/1001/news/Charges-dropped-child-death

SBS: Nebraska: Doris Herrin, Adam Jesseph

by Danny Gruber
C-H staff writer

 January 5, 2011

LEXINGTON – Two suspects in a Gothenburg child abuse case appeared in Dawson County Court Tuesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing to determine whether the evidence against them was sufficient enough to transfer the case before the district court.
Doris M. Herrin, 27, and Adam R. Jesseph, 24, were arrested and jailed Dec. 24 for child abuse resulting in death, according to information filed with the court. The pair was arrested as a result of the investigation into the death of Herrin’s daughter, Misty K. Herrin, 3.
Jeff Wightman is representing Herrin and Jesseph’s attorney is Jim McGough, a criminal defense attorney from Omaha. The State of Nebraska is represented by Dawson County Attorney Liz Waterman.
The only witness called to the stand during the hearing was Sergeant Matt Langley from the Gothenburg Police Department. Langley, an 11-year veteran of the police force, testified in regard to findings by the police department during their investigation of the death of Misty.
Doris and Jesseph reported that the girl had fallen while unattended in a bedroom. The treating physician, however, reported that the injuries were inconsistent with that report.
Herrin and Jesseph, both of 202 Ave. B in Gothenburg, brought an unresponsive Misty Herrin into the Gothenburg Memorial Hospital emergency room at about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday.
After being examined for less than one hour, Misty was transported by air to Kearney. She was placed under the care of Dr. Kenton Shaffer, a certified pediatrician, where she had emergency surgery for swelling on the right side of her brain.
“He did not believe she would survive the night due to the injury to her brain,” Langley testified.
The child was removed from life support and pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m. Wednesday.
According to court records, Shaffer diagnosed her as having suffered injuries consistent with having been shaken; brain hemorrhaging on both sides of her brain and hemorrhaging in both of her retinas.
Gothenburg Police obtained a search warrant and collected from the Herrin household a damp towel, urine-soaked pajamas and a large clump of hair from the trashcan.
“It just didn’t make sense,” Langley said of the clump of hair.
McGough objected to the statement about the hair, but presiding Judge Carlton Clark allowed it, as the hearing was only preliminary.
 In closing arguments Waterman pointed out a gap of time of at least an hour before the defendants allegedly attempted to get assistance for the three-year-old girl.
“There was no explanation as to what was going on,” Waterman said.
“The timeline isn’t indicative of anything,” McGough countered.
“It’s what they think happened,” McGough continued. “It’s not supported by any evidence.”
An autopsy has been conducted, but the results were not available to defense or prosecution as of press time.
In his remarks, Wightman agreed.
“There is no evidence as to the cause of the death of this child. It’s very speculative.”
In his ruling, Judge Clark referred to passages of the Nebraska Statute, Section 28-707 and ruled there was probable cause to have the matter heard at the call of the District Court.
Doris and Jesseph are each being held in the Dawson County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond at 10 percent.
Misty’s seven-year-old sister has been placed into protective custody with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services during the court proceedings.
http://www.lexch.com/articles/2011/01/07/news/local/doc4d23a64aa154c631298370.txt

 

SBS: Louisiana: Ashley Rene Reifer charged in baby’s death

 

James Minton/The Advocate

Baker police, including Lt. Glenn Daniel, background, lead Baker resident Ashley René Reifer, 22, to a patrol car Friday for booking at Parish Prison in the Oct. 28 death of a 2-month-old boy at the day care center where Reifer worked. Police Chief Mike Knaps said an autopsy revealed that the infant died of shaken baby syndrome.

BAKER — Police arrested a former day-care worker Friday in the Oct. 28 death of a 2-month-old baby in her care, Police Chief Mike Knaps said.

Knaps said an autopsy revealed that infant Brody Vance Hopper died as a result of traumatic brain injury, also referred to as “shaken baby syndrome.”
Detectives booked Ashley René Reifer, 22, 958 Florida St., Baker, into Parish Prison on Friday night on one count each of second-degree murder and cruelty to a juvenile.
The baby was born Aug. 25.
Lt. James Broussard said detectives received autopsy results in the case on Monday.
The investigation revealed that the infant was in the sole care of Reifer on Oct. 28, from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., when the boy’s father arrived to pick him up from Baker’s Busy Bee Learning Center, 3615 Groom Road, Broussard said.
Knaps said police were dispatched to the day-care center after the father took his son in an infant carrier to his vehicle and noticed that the boy was non-responsive.
Officers found no signs of trauma on the child’s body, Knaps said, but the child was taken to Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary, where he was pronounced dead.
During the investigation, detectives interviewed everyone who was working in the facility, but Reifer, on the advice of her attorney, declined to be interviewed a second time earlier this week, Knaps said.
A baby has weak neck muscles and a large, heavy head, and shaking makes the brain bounce back and forth inside the skull, according to a National Institutes of Health website.
The brain’s movement inside the skull causes bruising, swelling and bleeding, but the injuries may not be immediately noticeable, the NIH fact sheet says.
Broussard said the child’s  parents were notified of the impending arrest Friday afternoon.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/113121389.html