Coroner: Dad's story doesn't explain son's death (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

JAMES PIERCE: Another testosterone-fueld young father who should have been out working and supporting his kids instead of doing infant care? This idiot was observed yelling at his 4-month-old son AFTER THE BABY WAS HOSPITALIZED. Evidence suggests that this was not the first time Daddy had abused the baby either.

Also notice that "girlfriend" (who is NOT identified as the mother) had wanted to leave this useless scum and "the child." So is this the mother? Sure doesn't sound like it. Or is this a custodial father and his gal pal? If so, where's Mom?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://thesidebar.freedomblogging.com/2011/07/08/coroner-fathers-story-doesnt-explain-sons-death/6811/

Coroner: Father’s story doesn’t explain son’s death

July 8th, 2011, 12:19 pm
posted by Lance Benzel

4:50 p.m. — Judge Schwartz ruled there is enough evidence for the case against Pierce to proceed to trial.

Bond was set at $200,000, and arraignment was scheduled for 9 a.m. July 18.

A Colorado Springs father charged in the beating death of his 4-month-old son told police the boy was injured in a fall from his bouncer chair, according to a coroner who disputed the claim in court Friday.

At a preliminary hearing for defendant James Pierce, El Paso County Deputy Coroner Dr. Leon Kelly said Jayden Pierce’s tumble onto a carpeted floor couldn’t explain injuries that were found during an autopsy.

Kelly ruled the April 15 death a homicide after noting partially healed rib fractures, bruising on the child’s face, head and chest, and brain injuries consistent with repeated blows to the head, which Kelly listed as the cause of death.

“Could falling out of a bouncer chair cause the injuries you observed?” prosecutor Brian Cecil asked.

“No, it can’t,” Kelly responded.

Pierce, 19, was arrested 10 days after his girlfriend, Carli Marino, called 911 after awaking at 9 a.m. April 15 to find Jayden unresponsive in their apartment in the 1600 block of East Woodmen Road. Today’s hearing marks the first time details in the case have been made public.

The teenage father is being held without bond, and appeared in court in an orange El Paso County jail jumpsuit.

According to testimony by a police detective, Pierce has admitted difficulty controlling his temper and drew the attention of authorities shortly after his child’s birth, when he was heard yelling at the screaming child at a hospital. The El Paso County Department of Human Services was sent to investigate.

Colorado Springs police detective Rebecca Arndt said that on the night before Jayden’s death, Pierce was alone with his son, and used his Apple IPhone to search the Internet about “shaken baby syndrome” and for tips on healing bruises.

Kelly said the fatal brain injuries occurred within 24 hours of death. The bruises were one to three days old, and the rib fractures were caused at least six weeks earlier.

Defense attorneys pointed to evidence that it was Pierce who first sought help for the child, after noticing that he appeared “lifeless” in the early morning hours of April 15 and was unable to keep his head upright. The couple drove the boy to Memorial Hospital North but ended up turning around and heading home instead, a police detective testified.

Marino told police the child seemed to be improving, so she decided they should monitor the child and return if symptoms returned.

Pierce, however, said Marino didn’t want to attract further attention from Child Protective Services, a claim that public defender Marcus Henson seized upon as he sought to shift the focus toward Marino, who had been quarreling with her boyfriend and spoke of leaving him and the child.

Marino hasn’t been charged in the death.

Defense attorneys also sought to undercut Kelly’s medical findings, getting him to acknowledge that bruising can become more conspicuous after death.

Henson noted that Pierce told police he had attempted CPR on the child before they arrived, suggesting an alternate cause of the bruises on the boy’s chest.

The hearing is set to continue at 1:30 p.m. after a break for lunch. Fourth Judicial District Judge Larry E. Schwartz will rule whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to a trial at the hearing’s conclusion.