Dad charged with murder in death of 3-month-old daughter (Lawrenceville, Georgia)

After a while, dads like REUBEN VALRIE start to sound all alike.

Often the mother appears to be the only one who works for a living, with Daddy being appointed the "stay-at-home" parent. This is often because Daddy is unemployed/unemployable for any number of issues--lazy/irresponsible, drug and/or alcohol addicted, criminal record--none of which are explained in this particular case.

It is also common for Daddy to make up all kinds of (multiple) bullsh** explanations, none of which begin to explain the extent of the child's injuries. The baby "fell out of bed"--and got multiple rib fractures, a lacerated liver, internal bleeding in her head AND abdomen. Or she tipped over her car seat and got all these fatal injuries? Oh puleeeze....

And finally, I can't figure out why these dimwits either A. Don't call 911 and/or take the child to the hospitals for HOURS after the so-called "accident, or B. Wait till Mom gets home and discovers the "accidentally" injured child. This daddy opted for B.

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/feb/19/testimony-slain-infant-was-home-alone-with-father/

Testimony: Slain infant was home alone with father

By Tyler Estep
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE — By his own admission, Reuben Valrie was alone all day with Aliyana, his 3-month-old daughter. They ran errands alone. There were no guests after her mother went to work and her older siblings went to school.

Sometime on Jan. 15, Aliyana Valrie died.

A preliminary hearing held Wednesday morning offered more insight into why her father has been charged with murder.

Upon returning to the family’s apartment on Lawrenceville’s Sweetwater Road on the evening in question, Kedre Nix reportedly found her young daughter unresponsive. She and Valrie called 911 and paramedics responded, but revival efforts both there and at Gwinnett Medical Center were unsuccessful.

No external injuries were visible at the time, Gwinnett County police Det. Cole Crosby testified Wednesday, but the medical examiner’s office contacted authorities the following day — the autopsy reportedly revealed “indications of significant trauma.”

Aliyana, who was born prematurely and had spent a long stretch of time in the neonatal intensive care unit, had suffered multiple broken ribs, a lacerated liver and damage to her adrenal glands, Crosby said. There was also internal bleeding in her abdomen and head.

Crosby said he wasn’t sure if the medical examiner had determined a specific cause of death yet, but original arrest warrants charge Valrie with “grabbing and shaking the child, causing internal injuries that led to her death.”

#The 28-year-old suspect sat quietly in court Wednesday, hands clasped together, eyes closed and nodding to himself as Crosby went through several different versions of the story he allegedly told police.

According to Crosby, Valrie initially outlined his activities on Jan. 15 without suggesting any “significant event” that could have led to Aliyana’s death. Once confronted with the girl’s internal injuries, however, he offered multiple explanations.

Valrie allegedly told police that Aliyana had been in her car seat when it “fell over,” then posited that she had fallen out of bed. He then claimed he had picked her up and almost dropped her, resulting in a “quick, harsh motion” that snapped her head back.

“He said she was different after that,” Crosby said.

Gwinnett County Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Terry reportedly told police that wouldn’t have been enough to cause Aliyana’s extensive internal injuries. According to Crosby, Terry was not able to provide police with a specific time frame for the infant’s death but said that she “wouldn’t have lived long” after sustaining those injuries.

No alleged motive was offered in court Wednesday. Nix, the mother, told police that Aliyana “had trouble sleeping the night before and had kept them up.”

The medical examiner’s investigator that originally responded to Gwinnett Medical Center told authorities that Valrie appeared to be “acting sad” when compared with Nix.

Despite the objections of defense attorney Wesley Person, the charges of murder and second-degree cruelty to children filed against Valrie were bound over to superior court Wednesday. Person called the allegations against his client “pure speculation.”

“We have no cause of death,” he said, pointed out that CPR could have been performed improperly. “We have injuries that could be attributed to life-saving procedures.”