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April 16, 2012
Nichole Turner sentenced to 35 years in death of 5-year-old
Update 2:15 p.m.: A Travis County Jury has sentenced Nichole Turner to 35 years in prison.
Turner, 24, was convicted on Friday of injury to a child in the case of 5-year-old Julian Soliz. Julian, a kindergartner at Wells Branch Elementary, was found dead in the tall grass of a Wells Branch yard on April 10, 2010.
Prosecutors say Turner, who was the girlfriend of Julian’s father, beat the boy so badly that he died of internal bleeding.
Update: After about 2 hours and 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury has reached a decision. The courtroom is waiting for Turner, who is in custody, to return to the defense table. The jury is not in the room.
Update: The jury is now deliberating.
Kyle Collins, Turner’s lawyer, tried to convince the jury that his client deserves probation. She cared for Julian when his mother and father abandoned him, he said. She took him to school, fed him and loved him, he stated, when no one else would.
Prosecutor Victoria Winkeler, however, argued that Turner deserved no less than 25 years. Turner, she said, didn’t care for him well and beat the boy. If she was overwhelmed, she should have called Child Protective Services.
Instead, Winkeler said, Turner took her frustrations with her boyfriend (Julian’s father) on Julian.
Update: After four witnesses, the defense has closed. The prosecution called no witnesses.
Both sides will soon present arguments before the jury. Right now the charge that will be read to the jury is being prepared.
Defense witnesses speaking on Turner’s behalf included friends, a former coworker and Nichole’s grandmother, Gracie Turner. All described Nichole Turner as a good person who went to church, worked hard, cared for her children and loved her family.
“As a grandmother, I know in my heart she is not guilty,” Gracie Turner said.
Earlier: Nichole Turner, who was convicted Friday of injury to a child in the death of 5-year-old Julian Soliz, faces the punishment phase of her trial today in the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center.
Turner, 24, was convicted by a Travis County jury after two hours of deliberation. Jurors believed the prosecution’s version of events: that Turner, who had a troubled relationship with Julian’s father, beat the child so badly that he died of internal injuries on April 10, 2010.
The jury can sentence her to anything from probation to life in prison. Court proceedings are being held on the ninth floor.
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April 12, 2012
Julian Soliz was fun, happy, father testifies
Julian Soliz was a happy 5-year-old and everyone loved him, the boy’s father testified in Travis County District Court on Thursday morning.
“He liked to dance, sing and play, just like any other kid would,” Leonard Soliz said.
Soliz, 23, was the first witness on the fourth day of the trial of Nichole Turner. Turner, 24, is accused of beating Julian so badly in April 2010 that he died of internal bleeding. She is charged with injury to a child and could face life in prison if convicted.
Turner, who had dated Leonard Soliz for several years, was Julian’s sole caregiver at the time of his death. Soliz had not lived there for more than a month and had seen his son two or three times during that period, he said.
During her examination, prosecutor Victoria Winkeler bluntly asked the questions that the jury might have been asking themselves throughout the trial:
Where were you all this time? Why did you just leave your son with a woman you obviously didn’t want to be with?
Soliz said he had been living with a new girlfriend and was avoiding Turner. He didn’t answer most of her calls. When he did speak to her, he lied and said he was staying with his parents because he didn’t want any conflict, he testified.
He left Julian with Turner because she loved him and he felt the boy was safe with her. Soliz said he never saw Turner hit Julian and did not know if she was capable of seriously beating his son.
“She fed him, she clothed him, she took him to school every day,” said Kyle Collins, Turner’s lawyer. “You thought it was a safer place for him?”
“Yes,” Soliz answered.
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April 11, 2012
Trial continues in child's beating death
The trial of Nichole Turner is continuing today in Travis County District Court, as law enforcement officers detail what happened shortly after 5-year-old Julian Soliz was found dead in a North Austin yard.
Turner, 24, is accused of beating Julian so badly in April 2010 that he died of internal bleeding. She is charged with injury to a child and could face life in prison if convicted. Turner had been dating Julian’s father, Leonard, and Julian was living with her at the time of his death.
This morning, Travis County sheriff’s office Detective Paul Salo testified that after Turner reported Julian missing, he interviewed her to find out the basics: what had happened in the days before the disappearance, what the family had done the night before, who had access to the child.
About 30 to 45 minutes into that interview, Salo testified, the detective received a phone call from another law enforcement officer and was told that Julian had been found dead.
At that point, Salo said, the conversation with Turner went like this:
Julian has been found, he told her.
Oh, where’s he at? Turner said.
He’s dead, Salo said.
He’s what? Turner said.
He’s dead, Salo answered.
Turner began to cry, Salo testified. She later told him that she had been Julian’s sole caregiver over the last week and that the boy had not been to school for the last two days, according to the testimony. No other adults had been near Julian in the two days preceding his death, Salo said.
Testimony will continue throughout the day in District Court Judge Jim Coronado’s courtroom.
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March 28, 2012
Trial in death of 5-year-old boy set for April 9
A woman charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who had been left in her care in 2010 is scheduled to go to trial next month.
State District Judge Jim Coronado today scheduled Nichole Shante Turner’s trial for April 9.
Also today, Turner pleaded not guilty to the charge of injury to a child, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison.
Turner, pictured, is accused of causing the death of Julian Soliz by striking the boy with her hands and a blunt object.
Soliz’s body was found in the Wells Branch area April 10, 2010, about a mile from Turner’s northern Travis County apartment.
Turner was arrested about three months later. She soon made bail and has been free since.
Turner, who was 22 at the time, had been watching Julian and her two young children at the time of Julian’s death, according to an arrest affidavit and court statements. She told detectives that she had been watching the boy since his father had been arrested about a month before he died.
Turner told investigators that she gave the boy a “whooping” as punishment for lying on April 6, according to an arrest affidavit. She later told detectives it was April 7, the affidavit said.
“She described how she hit Julian with a black leather belt because he had told a lie,” the affidavit said. “Nichole described that as she was doing this, she got a hold of Julian’s hand and he was moving around while she was hitting him with the belt. Nichole said she hit Julian on his buttocks with the belt three or four times. Then when Julian’s pants were down, she hit him with her hand on his buttocks.”
According to the affidavit, she told an investigator that as she was hitting the child, he fell to the ground and that she held him by his wrist.
Julian’s father, Leonard “Ivan” Soliz, who was released days after his March arrest, has said that he left Julian in Turner’s care and that he had not seen his son during the week before Julian’s death.
Turner’s lawyer Kyle Collins told the American-Statesman shortly after her arrest that his client is innocent and that it’s “not fair” that a woman who took care of Julian Salazar Soliz “without pay and without a thank-you from his natural parents” is being accused of injuring him.
During today’s brief hearing, a prosecutor said that she offered Turner a plea bargain that called for a 40-year-sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Turner has rejected that offer.
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January 20, 2012
Austin man accused of watching sexual assault online
An Austin man has been arrested and accused of watching and recording streaming Internet video of a 5-year-old girl being sexually assaulted by a New Jersey woman, according to an arrest affidavit.
Robert J. Ramos Jr., 32, is also accused of creating a fictitious Facebook account where he pretended to be a teenage girl and used it to coerce a 14-year-old girl into sending him nude, sexually explicit pictures of herself, according to the affidavit, filed in U.S. District Court in Austin.
In November, Ramos told an FBI agent that he used the following criteria to pick his Facebook friends: “Did I want to see them naked, might they be bisexual, and might they take pictures of themselves,” according to the affidavit.
Ramos was arrested Thursday and is being held without bail pending a hearing on bond next week.
He is charged with sexual exploitation of minors/production of child pornography, and distribution, transmission, receipt and possession of child pornography.
Court documents filed in Ramos’ case do not name the woman accused of assault but prosecutors in New Jersey on Thursday announced federal child exploitation charges against 32-year-old Jennifer Mahoney of Manalapan, N.J., about 30 miles south of New York City.
An affidavit charging Mahoney said that during a December interview she told an FBI agent that she sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl two times in August or September. Mahoney said that she had streamed live video of one of the acts to a co-conspirator whom she believed was in Arizona and another person. She also said that she recorded other sexual acts with the girl on her IPhone and emailed the videos to the same two people.
Law enforcement determined that the co-conspirator was in Texas and not Arizona, the affidavit said.
While authorities in Austin had interviewed Ramos and searched his home in November, it was not until Dec. 21 - eight days after FBI agents interviewed Mahoney - that they discovered video clips of the sexual assaults of the 5-year-old girl on his computer, according to court documents.
The videos depict a woman identified as Mahoney sexually assaulting the girl on a bed - while the girl appears to be asleep - and in a bathtub, according to court documents.
That video has no audio but shows the woman laughing and talking with someone over the internet via a webcam, the documents say.
In a statement, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer called the allegations against Mahoney: “Shocking in their depravity.”
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January 11, 2012
Prosecutor: Girl who complained of abuse recovering from suicide attempt
An Austin girl who prosecutors say attempted suicide in September after reporting that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted has made significant strides in her recovery and has returned home.
The girl’s family said in September that her prognosis was dim as she fought for her life, but she was released recently from a rehabilitation hospital, said Travis County Assistant District Attorney Allison Benesch.
Benesch is prosecuting the case against Bobby Rodriguez, 39, who is accused of sexually assaulting the girl at her family’s apartment when she was younger.
Rodriguez, who has denied the accusations, faces multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by contact and indecency with a child by exposure.
The girl, who is not being identified because of the nature of her allegations, was 12 in September.
Her family members feared that her health could mean that the case against Rodriguez would be dismissed. Benesch said the case remains pending and in the pretrial discovery stage.
The girl’s uncle said in September that she had very little brain activity but Benesch said her speech and memory are improving and that she is undergoing extensive therapy.
To read an October Statesman story on the girl’s suicide attempt and how it shows the fragility of sexual assault victims, click here.
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October 17, 2011
Mother of abused girl and DA urge public to detect, report child abuse
A mother whose adopted daughter was abused and neglected stood with Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg at a press conference today to urge members of the community to learn about dealing with child abuse and to tout Austin’s Center for Child Protection.
Lehmberg also invited community members to the premiere this evening of a new documentary that focuses on the work of the Center for Child Protection, which provides a home base for collaborative child abuse investigations in a child friendly environment. The center also provides counseling for victims and families of child abuse.
Lehmberg said that helping to found the Travis County Children’s Advocacy Center, now the Center for Child Protection, was one of the most successful things she has done in her career.
The documentary, “When the Bough Breaks,” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. today at the AT&T Conference Center, 1900 University Ave., at the University of Texas. It is free and open to the public. There is a reception beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The mother who stood with Lehmberg, whose name is not being published to protect the identity of her daughter, is a foster mother whose adopted daughter was sexually abused and neglected.
When she was 6 she had the emotional maturity of an infant, did not speak and refused to allow anyone to touch her, her mother said.
Through therapy at the center, including by working with a therapy dog, she has made an incredible recovery.
“Now she hugs me and she gives me unconditional love,” the mother said.
She said she knew her daughter, who is now 10 and still receives therapy at the center, had improved when, next to a picture she had drawn, she wrote “my heart is alive.”
“I owe that all to the Center for Child Protection,” she said.
Lehmberg said anyone interested in learning more about how to detect and the importance of reporting child abuse should go to onewithcourage.com.
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September 9, 2011
Former Connally teacher gets 6 years for inappropriately touching students
A former Connally High School teacher was sentenced today to six years in prison for inappropriately touching some of his students, including five young females who he asked to remove their clothes so he could take measurements of their bodies, according to prosecutors.
Eddie Lolis, 29, was sentenced by state District Judge Mike Lynch under a plea deal Lolis made with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to six counts of improper relationship between an educator and student. Five of the charges related to improperly touching girls at Connally in the fall of 2010 and another involved inappropriately touchign a girl at Lanier High School in 2008, said Allison Benesch, a Travis County assistant district attorney.
Lolis, at right, who had been free on bail, was jailed after he was sentenced.
One of the girls, who is now 17, was in court and addressed Lolis after he was sentenced. She said that Lolis caused her significant psychological problems but that she forgives him, according to her father.
“She says that it really changed her life,” he said. “She lost confidence in everything she does but she said her comeback starts today.
“I was just so proud of her.”
The charges against Lolis are second-degree felonies that carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
Lolis, who resigned while under investigation in October 2010, was a biology teacher and boys basketball coach at Connally, which is in the Pflugerville district but is located in Austin on North Lamar Boulevard near Parmer Lane.
An arrest affidavit lays out the allegations against Lolis made by two of the girls.
One of them told police that in late September 2010, Lolis offered her $10 if she allowed him to measure her for a project for a physics class at Texas State University.
He then made arrangements to get the student out of class and took her to the boys’ locker room, where he measured her bare breasts and buttocks with measuring tape, according to the affidavit.
Lolis gave the student $10, telling her “not to tell anyone because teachers shouldn’t give students money,” according to the affidavit.
The following day, Lolis told the same student that “there was something else she could do for $50,” according to the affidavit. He took her into the equipment room in the boys locker room area where he touched her genitals, according to the affidavit. He then told the student that “the more he paid her the more she had to do,” according to the affidavit.
The student refused to continue, and Lolis paid her $20, according to the affidavit.
Lolis told another female student on Oct. 1, 2010, that he needed to get her body measurements for a university project in order to graduate, according to a second affidavit. The student “stated that she trusted Lolis since he was one of her teachers last year and did not see anything wrong with getting measured,” the arrest affidavit said.
Lolis took the student to his empty biology classroom and ran measuring tape along her breast area, according to the affidavit. He also asked her to take off all of her clothes so he could get a “full measurement of her curves,” but she refused to do so, the affidavit said.
Lolis paid the student $10 for allowing him to measure her but she refused to take the money until Lolis insisted that “Texas State University wanted her to take the money,” the affidavit said.
Lolis told police that there was no Texas State project and that he measured the victims so that he “could see them.”
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April 4, 2011
Mom gets 20 years for smearing feces on daughter's catheter
This story has been updated since it was originally posted with comments from prosecutor Rob Drummond and defense lawyer Bob Phillips.
A woman who police say was captured on video smearing feces on her 3-year-old daughter’s catheter pleaded guilty to injury to a child today and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
State District Judge Julie Kocurek sentenced Emily Beth McDonald, 25, under the terms of a plea bargain that McDonald, pictured below right, reached with prosecutors.
McDonald, who cried briefly during a short hearing, did not say anything before she was taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies.
Outside court her lawyer, Bob Phillips, attempted to explain her behavior. Phillips said McDonald was “under extreme psychological stress” at the time of her crime, stress he said was brought on by factors including fatigue and depression.
He said that McDonald put feces on her daughter’s catheter while the girl was hospitalized because McDonald sought to elevate the girl’s fever, something she had hoped would make doctors continue an antibiotics regimen that they had planned to end.
“Obviously it was a criminal act, and it was wrongheaded, but it was done with a pure heart,” Phillips said.
Prosecutor Rob Drummond called McDonald’s behavior “medical child abuse,” something he said is very rare.
“It doesn’t have any other rationale than any other form of child abuse would have,” he said. “Our goal in this case was to protect Emily McDonald’s children and to hold her responsible.”
McDonald has three children under the age of 10 who now live with their respective fathers, Phillips said.
The girl victimized by the feces is “thriving and well and going to be fine,” Phillips said.
That girl was admitted to Dell Children’s Medical Center on April 15, 2009, with a high fever and “a long history of chronic diarrhea,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Blood tests came back positive for bacteria commonly found in feces.
Hospital officials eventually set up a hidden camera in the girl’s room after she continued to have setbacks in her recovery and after they had to replace her intravenous lines several times because of infections or clots, the affidavit said.
On May 31, 2009, hospital staff reviewed the footage and saw McDonald smearing feces on a cap to the girl’s central venous line, the affidavit said.
A central venous line is a catheter, often inserted into a patient’s chest or neck, that leads to a vein or directly into the heart. It allows the quick insertion of medication or fluids and allows monitoring of cardiovascular health.
McDonald told police that she had smeared feces on the line cap five times during her daughter’s six-week hospital stay, the affidavit said.
McDonald has been in and out of jail since her 2009 arrest. Since Thanksgiving she has been free on $100,000 bail. About a dozen family members, neighbors and members of her church accompanied her into court and sat behind the defense table in the courtroom gallery.
Phillips said that among them was her husband, who has stuck by McDonald.
“If this woman was an evil woman, then you’d expect the family and everybody else to abandon her.”
McDonald was scheduled to go to trial in Travis County next week. She had faced up to life in prison on a first-degree injury to a child indictment that had accused her of intentionally and knowingly causing serious bodily injury to her daughter by smearing her medical device with feces.
Instead she pleaded guilty to second-degree injury to a child — recklessly injuring the girl.
The state abandoned an allegation that McDonald used a deadly weapon, which if proved would have ensured that McDonald serve half of her sentence before being eligible for parole.
It is unclear now how long she must serve before being eligible for parole. Both Drummond, the prosecutor, and Phillips, the defense lawyer, said parole and good behavior rules are complicated and neither would estimate when that would be.
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February 2, 2011
Round Rock woman pleads guilty to child porn possession
A Round Rock woman pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court in Austin.
Merianne Boller Swingle, 50, faces up to 10 years in prison at her sentencing, which has not been scheduled. She remains free on a bond that did not require her to pay any money upfront.
Federal authorities have said it is very rare for females to be caught collecting child pornography. There is no indication in Swingle’s court file of what led authorities to investigate her.
As part of a plea agreement with Swingle, federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two counts of distribution of child pornography, which are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
A summary of her crime filed today by prosecutors and signed by Swingle said that FBI agents executed a search warrant on her home on Feb. 27, 2009, and seized her computer. A forensic analysis found 160 images of child pornography — including some of prepubescent children engaged in sexual activity — on the hard drive, the summary said.
During an interview after the search, Swingle admitted “to having possessed, viewed, and obtained child pornography over the course of several years,” the summary said. She also gave agents consent to access “various internet accounts belonging to defendant,” where agents found 81 additional images of child pornography, the summary said.
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November 29, 2010
Mom accused of poisoning daughter with feces out of jail again
A woman accused of smearing feces on a catheter leading to her daughter’s bloodstream was released from jail on Thanksgiving morning after someone posted a $100,000 bond on her behalf, according an employee at the Travis County Jail.
Emily Beth McDonald, 25, is charged with injury to a child, a first-degree felony, and is set for trial Jan. 10 in Travis County.
According to a police affidavit, video surveillance set up by officials at Dell Children’s Medical Center in 2009 captured McDonald smearing feces on a cap to McDonald’s then 3-year-old daughter’s central venous line.
McDonald was freed on a personal recognizance bond shortly after her June 2009 arrest.
In July, state District Judge Julie Kocurek ordered McDonald back to jail after finding that McDonald violated an order that she not have contact with children.
A CPS worker had testified that during an unannounced visit to McDonald’s parents’ home, she encountered McDonald standing just behind her niece.
It is not clear who signed the recent bond that led to McDonald’s release. Generally, bail-bonding companies require a non-refundable deposit of about 10 percent of the bond before they will sign for someone’s release.
While her previous personal recognizance bond required McDonald to stay away from children while awaiting trial, there are no similar conditions on her current release, according to a sheriff’s office employee at the jail.
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November 12, 2010
Mom accused of smearing feces on daughter's catheter pleads not guilty
A woman accused of smearing feces on a catheter leading into her daughter’s bloodstream pleaded not guilty today to a charge of injury to a child.
Emily Beth McDonald, 25, entered the plea during a pretrial hearing at which state District Judge Julie Kocurek scheduled McDonald’s trial for January 10, according to McDonald’s lawyer, Bob Phillips.
McDonald faces up to life in prison on the first-degree felony charge.
According to a police affidavit, video surveillance set up by officials at Dell Children’s Medical center in 2009 captured McDonald smearing feces on a cap to McDonald’s then 3-year-old daughter’s central venous line.
A central venous line is a catheter, often inserted into a patient’s chest or neck, that leads to a vein or directly to the heart. It allows the quick insertion of medication or fluids and allows monitoring of cardiovascular health.
McDonald’s daughter was admitted to the hospital on April 15, 2009, with a high fever and a history of chronic diarrhea, the affidavit said. After blood tests revealed bacteria commonly found in feces, hospital officials set up the surveillance, the affidavit said.
McDonald, shown above with Phillips during a court hearing earlier this year, was freed on a personal recognizance bond after her June 2009 arrest but in July Kocurek ordered her jailed again for violating a term of her release that required her to stay away from minor children.
A Child Protective Services worker testified at that time that during an unannounced visit to McDonald’s parents’ home in Manor in July she found a child at McDonald’s side.
McDonald remains in jail today with her bail set at $100,000.
Phillips has said that McDonald’s daughter has recovered from any injuries she suffered in 2009.
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July 26, 2010
Prosecutor: Mom accused of poisoning daughter with feces found with a child
Since it was originally published, this story has been supplemented with information about which judge signed the personal recognizance bond that freed Emily McDonald pending trial.
Emily Beth McDonald, the woman accused of smearing feces on a catheter leading to her daughter’s bloodstream, was found by a child welfare official last week with a child, a violation of her pretrial release, according to prosecutors.
A hearing has been scheduled Friday on a prosecutor’s request that state District Judge Julie Kocurek revoke McDonald’s bond before trial.
McDonald, 24, who could face a life sentence for injury to a child, is free on a personal recognizance bond that was signed by state District Judge Charlie Baird before the case was assigned to Kocurek. Kocurek later ordered McDonald not have contact with any children.
During a May hearing McDonald’s lawyers unsuccessfully requested that Kocurek allow her supervised visitation with her children, who at the time were 4, 5 and 7.
It was her 4-year-old daughter that McDonald is accused of injuring in May 2009, at Dell Children’s Medical Center.
According to a motion filed by prosecutor Jackie Wood, a Child Protective Services worker made an unannounced visit to McDonald’s parents’ home in Manor on Tuesday and found McDonald with an approximately 3-year-old child at her side.
In an interview, Wood said she did not know the identity of the child with McDonald.
“The defendant placed her hand on the child’s head and stated, ‘Now that you are awake, I have to go upstairs,’ and left the room,” the motion stated.
Wood argued in the motion that McDonald’s actions and the nature of the accusations against her “indicate she is a great danger to children.”
“The defendant’s flagrant disregard for the court’s order further illustrate this danger,” Wood wrote.
The 4-year-old girl was admitted to Dell Children’s Medical Center on April 15, 2009, with a high fever and “a long history of chronic diarrhea,” according to an arrest affidavit. Blood tests came back positive for bacteria commonly found in feces.
Hospital officials set up a hidden camera in the girl’s room after she continued to have setbacks in her recovery and after they had to replace her intravenous lines several times because of infections or clots in the lines, the affidavit said.
On May 31, hospital staff reviewed the tape and saw McDonald smearing feces on cap to her central venous line, the affidavit said.
A central venous line is a catheter inserted into a patient’s chest or neck into a vein or directly into the heart. It allows the quick insertion of medication or fluids and allows monitoring cardiovascular measurements.
McDonald told police that she had smeared feces on her daughter’s central ventricular line cap five times during her daughter’s six-week hospital stay, the affidavit said.
At the time of the May hearing, McDonald’s lawyer Bob Phillips said her two youngest children are living with her husband, who is their father, and the oldest child is living with her own father.
Phillips, who could not be immediately reached, called her a “troubled young woman” who “needs treatment and counseling.”
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May 7, 2010
Judge denies child visitation request by mother accused of putting feces in daughter's IV tube
State District Judge Julie Kocurek today denied a request by Emily Beth McDonald’s lawyers that the young mother be allowed supervised visits with her children while awaiting trial for injury to a child.
McDonald, who was released from jail on on a personal recognizance bond shortly after her June 2009 arrest, is accused of putting feces on her then-3-year-old daughter’s feeding tube last year. She faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Kocurek said she was following the recommendation of Child Protective Services. A CPS supervisor testified at a hearing this morning that she would not feel comfortable supervising visitation for someone charged with causing serious bodily injury to her child.
Kocurek called the allegations against McDonald “very, very serious” and said she would have never signed the personal bond releasing McDonald from jail pending trial. That bond was signed by state District Judge Charlie Baird.
“The recommendation of Child Protective Services is well founded, it is reasonable, and it will stay in place,” Kocurek said.
McDonald, 24, who was in court with more than a dozen friends and family members, cried after Kocurek’s ruling.
Her lawyers had argued that scientific research shows that McDonald’s children — who are now ages 4, 5 and 7 — would suffer long-term psychological harm from being separated from their mother. Two witnesses they called, including a counselor for the child and a forensic psychologist who reviewed their case, concurred.
Prosecutor Jackie Wood objected to any visitiation.
“It’s a bit of a fluke that we are here on a bond heaing in the first place,” Wood said. “A lot of people who try to murder their children actually wait for their trial in jail.“
Wood suggested that even supervised visits would not be sufficient to protect the children from McDonald, who is accused of trying to harm her daughter last year while the girl was in a hospital.
During the hearing, Wood noted that a surveillance video of McDonald rubbing feces on her daughter’s feeding tube last year, the girl was aggressively kicking at her mother.
“This is a situation where murder almost took place,” Wood said.
McDonald’s defense lawyer Bob Phillips responded by telling Kocurek that the state has no evidence showing McDonald intended to kill.
The girl was admitted to Dell Children’s Medical Center on April 15, 2009, with high fever and “a long history of chronic diarrhea,” according to an arrest affidavit. Blood tests came back positive for bacteria commonly found in feces.
Hospital officials set up a hidden camera in the girl’s room after she continued to have setbacks in her recovery and after they had to replace her intravenous lines several times because of infections or clots in the lines, the affidavit said.
On May 31, hospital staff reviewed the tape and saw McDonald smearing feces on the intravenous line, the affidavit said.
McDonald was indicted in August on one count of injury to a child, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. No trial date has been set, but lawyers several times referred to the possibility of an October trial.
Outside court, Phillips said he was disappointed. “She’s a troubled young woman. She needs treatment and counseling,” he said. “That’s what we are seeking for her.”
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February 10, 2010
Man gets 99 years in video recorded child sex abuse
UPDATE 3 PM
A Travis County jury today sentenced Adrian Navarro to 99 years in prison for making a 5-year-old girl perform a sex act on him and attempting to make a 1-year-girl perform a similar act, actions that Navarro recorded on digital video.
Navarro received 99-year sentences for aggravated sexual assault of a child and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child and a 20-year sentence for promotion of child pornography, all maximum sentences. The jury also assessed a $10,000 fine, the maximum, for each crime.
By law the sentences will run together, visiting state District Judge Fred Moore said. Navarro, 30, will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
“I am just happy he’s not going to be on the street,” said prosecutor Joe Frederick.
Navarro had no reaction as he was led from the 331st District Court.
While Navarro was also convicted of indecency with a child, Moore dismissed the count, ruling that he could not be convicted of that crime and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child because the charges arose from the same conduct.
UPDATE 2:25 PM
A Travis County jury this afternoon began deliberating a prison sentence for Adrian Navarro, who faces life in prison for committing sexual crimes against two young girls, abuse that Navarro recorded on video.
Prosecutor Joe Frederick asked for a life sentence.
“You need to punish him for … the years of therapy these kids are going to need,” Frederick said, “for waking up in the middle of the night and thinking, “Is this video out there?”
“When you go back there and you look at the maximum on each count, give it to him.”
Defense lawyer Amanda McDaniel told the jury: “I am not going to stand up here and look you 12 in the eye and try to excuse the inexcusable.”
McDaniel said she does not know what she would do if she were a juror.
“I am just going to make a simple plea for mercy,” she said. “Thank you.”
EARLIER TODAY
In less than 30 minutes, a Travis County jury this morning convicted on all counts a man who testified that making a 1-year-old child and a 5-year-old child perform sex acts on him was “a very ignorant mistake.”
Adrian Navarro, 30, at right, could be sentenced to life during the sentencing phase of the trial, which visiting state District Judge Fred Moore set for later today.
Navarro captured the abuse on video, which was recovered by Austin police from his computer last year and played for the jury.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Joe Frederick said that the only dry eyes in the courtroom while the video was played were Navarro’s.
“I want you to sit down and elect your foreperson,” Frederick said. “And I want you to find him guilty … and I want you to do it in minutes. Because there is no doubt.”
Navarro was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child, attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child and promotion of child pornography.
Navarro, a tattoo artist, testified in his own defense against the advice of his defense lawyers. He said that he felt pressured into admitting to the crimes in police interviews. He also said that police searched his home without permission and were rude to him, and that his lawyers have done a poor job of representing him.
On cross-examination, he admitted that it was he on the video. His wife, Mariana Garcia, 24, was also on the video, assisting Navarro in a sex act. She pleaded guilty in November to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and is serving a 40-year prison sentence.
During her closing argument, Navarro’s lawyer Amanda McDaniel did not claim that he was innocent. Instead she reminded the jury that everyone has a right to a fair trial and to take the stand in his own defense. She said that if they believed Austin police forced him into making incriminating statements or did not have consent to search his South Austin apartment or his computer, then they could ignore the evidence they obtained during those interviews or searches.
“You’ve got a tough decision coming up,” she said.
Police found what they said was child pornography while searching the couple’s Interstate 35 apartment in January 2009 during a burglary investigation. Garcia gave consent to that search, they have said.
Later, Navarro told police they could search his computer. That consent was captured on video, Frederick said.
Frederick said that Austin police, led by child abuse Detective Joel Pridgeon, conducted a “textbook investigation.”
“This is a man who thinks he did nothing wrong,” Frederick told the jury. “I want you to send him a message.”
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February 9, 2010
Defendant said performing sex acts with children "bad decision"
In an even voice that revealed no obvious emotion, an Austin man today said making two young children perform sex acts on him was “a bad … decision” and “a very ignorant mistake.”
Adrian Navarro, 30, testified at his trial on aggravated sexual assault of a child and other charges against the advice of his defense lawyers. The sex acts with the children were caught on video seized by Austin police last year and played for the Travis County jury earlier in the day, according to lawyers in the case.
Closing arguments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday before visiting state District Judge Fred Moore, who is hearing the case in Travis County’s 331st District Court. Navarro could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Despite his confession to jurors, Navarro testified that he felt pressured into admitting to the crimes in police interviews. He also said that police searched his home without permission, were rude to him and that his lawyers have done a poor job of representing him.
He said that after his arrest he heard a detective say: “We finally got this piece of, feces basically, back. Let’s put him behind bars forever. Rude comments like that. Basically unprofessionalism.”
At the close of his direct testimony, he turned to the jury and said: “Please forgive me for any inconvenience I caused everybody out of your lives.”
On cross-examination, prosecutor Joe Frederick suggested Navarro should apologize to the children involved and then asked Navarro whether he was the one on the video. Navarro said he was.
Then, Navarro said, “It was a bad … decision that escalated to the point it shouldn’t have, sir.” “You think?” Frederick responded.
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January 8, 2010
Mom accused of putting feces in daughter's IV line wants permission to see children
Lawyers for Emily Beth McDonald, who is accused in Travis County of putting feces in her daughter’s feeding tube, asked state District Judge Julie Kocurek today to amend the conditions of McDonald’s pretrial release to allow McDonald to see her children, Kocurek said.
McDonald (shown at right), of Manor, has three children, officials have said.
Prosecutors oppose the request, said Assistant District Attorney Jackie Wood.
A hearing on the matter is set for Jan. 26. Wood said the hearing would likely include experts for both sides testifying on whether visits with McDonald would be good for her children.
Since her June arrest, McDonald, 24, has been free on a personal recognizance bond, which was signed by state District Judge Charlie Baird. Kocurek now has control over the case.
McDonald was indicted in August on one count of injury to a child, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison.
McDonald’s then 3-year-old daughter was admitted to Dell Children’s Medical Center on April 15 with high fever and “a long history of chronic diarrhea,” according to an arrest affidavit. Blood tests came back positive for bacteria commonly found in feces.
Hospital officials set up a hidden camera in McDonald’s daughter’s room after the girl continued to have setbacks in her recovery and after they had to replace her intravenous lines several times because of infections or clots in the lines, the affidavit said.
On May 31, hospital staff reviewed the tape and witnessed McDonald putting feces from a diaper on her finger and placing it in the intravenous tube, which led to the child’s bloodstream, the affidavit said.
McDonald has two other children who at the time of her arrest were 4 and 6.
Her lawyers could not immediately be reached late Friday.
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November 20, 2009
Man gets 15 years for breaking child's leg
A Travis County jury on Friday sentenced to 15 years in prison a man who had been accused of throwing, spanking and breaking the leg of a 2-year-old boy earlier this year, prosecutor Jackie Wood said.
The jury had previously found Michael Ord, 25, guilty of injury to a child.
The child suffered a broken femur, multiple bruises and a bloody nose while with Ord on March 4, a police affidavit said.
During the sentencing phase of the trial in state District Judge Brenda Kennedy’s court Friday, Ord said he alone is accountable for the child’s injuries and told the jury he wants to have children of his own one day.
Earlier, a man who cared for the injured boy for several weeks after he got out of the hospital told the jury that the boy was extremely withdrawn, would not eat at a table and woke up at night belting out shrill, primal screams.
Ord has been to prison before, for crimes including burglary and theft.
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Woman gets 40 years in sexual assault captured on video
A woman who a prosecutor said held a child down while her husband sexually assaulted the girl — an act the couple captured on video — pleaded guilty in a Travis County courtroom Friday and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Mariana Garcia’s sentence for two counts of aggravated sexual assault was part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Charges are pending against Garcia’s husband, Adrian Navarro, 30.
Garcia, 24 revealed little emotion in proceedings before state District Judge Bob Perkins. At one point, prosecutor Joe Frederick asked her if Navarro is her husband and whether he is the one depicted in the video. She said “yes.”
Outside court, Garcia’s lawyer, Bradley Urrutia, said that Garcia was emotionally abused by her husband and acted under his control. He said that the plea agreement does not call for her cooperation in his trial but that since she has pleaded in the case she would be required to testify if called.
Outside court, Frederick said that a distinctive tattoo allowed investigators to affirmatively identify Garcia as the one “helping her husband with the sexual act.” Frederick said another child was shown in the video looking on.
The girl who was shown on the video being assaulted appeared to be under the age of 2, a police affidavit said.
An affidavit said that a detective went to Garcia’s apartment along Interstate 35 in South Austin on Jan. 22 during a search for stolen property. The detective found a computer hard drive and photos determined to be child pornography.
Navarro told police that he got the pornography from a relative and had been meaning to throw it away, the affidavit said.
On one hard drive, detectives found more than 500 photographs and more than 15 videos of child pornography, the affidavit said.
One of the videos showed the couple assaulting the child, the affidavit said.
Austin police child abuse unit Detective Joel Pridgeon, who was in court for the plea, has previously called the case “shocking.”
After their apartment was searched, the couple fled to Tejupilco, Mexico, where Garcia, a Mexican citizen, has family members. Mexican authorities discovered them with the help of U.S. marshals and Navarro, who is a U.S. citizen, was deported by Mexican officials and arrested when he arrived in San Antonio in January.
Mexican authorities formally extradited Garcia in June. Both are in the Travis County jail.
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November 12, 2009
Man accused of masturbating in book store pleads, sentenced
A man who had been accused of masturbating in public several times — including in the children’s section of an Austin book store — has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
State District Judge Julie Kocurek sentence Christopher Carney, at right, after Carney pleaded guilty to indecency with a child and improper photography on Tuesday.
Carney, 37, was found masturbating outside of a West Campus home while he peeped inside a window on Dec. 3, 2008, police have said. He was arrested and charged with indecent exposure and window peeping, according to an arrest affidavit. He was later released.
It was not until after his release that police searched Carney’s cell phone and found hundreds of videos.
A description of 144 of the videos written by prosecutors said that some of the videos showed women in various states of undress in apartments, other showed little girls in public and some showed Carney masturbating in various places, including outside the windows of apartments.
One of the videos, taken Nov. 26, 2008 at the Book Stop on North Lamar Boulevard, showed Carney masturbating in the children’s aisle in front of a girl, who was reading a book with her back to him, according to the affidavit.
Carney has been jailed in Travis County since he turned himself in to authorities on Jan. 31, 2009, following news reports about the videos.
Editor’s note: Commenting on this story has been disabled due to an excessive number of inappropriate remarks.
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September 23, 2009
Babysitter gets probation for injuring girl
4:11 p.m. update
A Travis County jury this afternoon sentenced Tamika Andrews to 10 years probation for injuring an 11-month-old child she was babysitting in 2008 by causing the baby’s head to strike a hard object.
If Andrews violates that probation, she could be sentenced to eight years in prison. Prosecutors asked that she receive up to 20 years in prison.
Andrews, who has been free on bond, was not present for the announcement of the jury’s sentencing verdict. Her lawyer said she was on Congress Avenue getting a sandwich.
Before the verdict was read, Scott Dupuie, who with his wife adopted Brianna Strong after she was injured, said that she has been “sentenced to life without parole.”
He said Brianna will have physical and intellectual challenges for her entire life and must receive therapy — physical, speech, occupational — for three hours a day, two or three days a week.
Dupuie expects that children may make fun of Brianna because she does not walk normally and that she could have cognitive problems.
“All of these things are because of the action or inaction of what Ms. Andrews did on that day in 2008,” Dupuie said.
EARLIER TODAY
A Travis County jury this morning is deliberating a sentence for Tamika Andrews, a 27-year-old Austin woman who admitted last week that she recklessly caused the head of a baby in her care to strike a blunt object.
Prosecutors Steven Brand and Jackie Wood called Andrews callous and indifferent and asked the jury to give her the maximum — 20 years in prison.
Defense lawyers Edmund “Skip” Davis and Keith Lauerman asked for probation.
Andrews had initially been charged with a top count of intentional injury to a child for shaking then 11-month-old Brianna Strong on May 4, 2008. That crime is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. During a break in the fourth day of her trial last week in state District Judge Charlie Baird’s court, Andrews agreed to plead guilty to second-degree felony injury to a child.
Andrews chose to have the jury sentence her, and both sides continued to present evidence to inform that verdict. Because Andrews has not previously been convicted of a felony, she is eligible for probation.
Andrews, who has her own 7-year-old son, was babysitting for Brianna last year when she brought her to Dell Children’s Medical Center with medical problems, according to a police affidavit.
Prosecutors noted during closing arguments Wednesday that she initially told doctors she did not know what happened. Wood said that Andrews later gave police and family members a host of explanations — that the child fell in a laundromat, was thrown to a car floorboard from an unsecured car seat, and that she shook Brianna after the child would not wake up.
“We really still don’t know what happened,” Wood said. Then, pointing to Strong’s family in the courtroom gallery, she said: “These folks will never know what happened to their daughter because (Andrews) has told so many lies and so many version of so many stories.”
Brianna suffered severe head injuries during the fall, the police affidavit said. Wood said that Brianna suffers numerous problems from her injuries — she can not walk normally and can not grasp with her right hand, for example.
Davis, one of Andrews’ lawyers, said that she is “haunted by this entire affair like any babysitter would.”
“Don’t make Tamika out to be some callous woman.”
Davis told the jury that Andrews pleaded guilty mid-trial because prosecutors only then agreed to drop the shaking charge.
Before Davis made his argument, he apologized to the jury and to Baird for “what I said in the heat of the moment.”
He was presumably referring to an incident that drew a contempt of court allegation by Baird last week.
Baird said that Davis pronounced in front of the jury “I love this (expletive)” after questioning an Austin police detective in the case. When asked whether he made the statement, Davis denied it, Baird said. But later, three jurors told the judge they heard all or part of the comment.
Baird said he found Davis in contempt of court, fined him $1,250 and ordered him to serve 10 days in jail. Baird delayed imposition of that sentence until after the trial.
Davis has declined to comment on the incident and it’s unclear whether he plans to appeal Baird’s ruling.
Davis told the jury that Andrews’ conduct was a mistake, just like his own. “Look at me,” he said. “I am a 50-year-old man. Accidents happen.”
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September 17, 2009
Woman guilty, her lawyer in contempt, in baby-abuse case
An Austin woman faces up to 20 years in prison after admitting in court today to injuring an 11-month baby in her care last year.
Tamika Andrews, 27, pleaded guilty to second degree felony injury to a child — for recklessly causing the baby’s head to strike a blunt object — during a break in her trial in state District Judge Charlie Baird’s court in Travis County.
Before Andrews pleaded, the trial, which began Monday, came to a halt after Baird found one of Andrews’ defense lawyers in contempt of court and ordered him to serve 10 days in jail and pay a $1,250 fine. The judge accused Edmund “Skip” Davis of cursing within earshot of the jury and then lying about it.
In an interview during a break in the case, Baird said that Davis had just finished a demonstration with a witness in front of the witness stand, and as he was returning to the counsel table, he said “I love this…” Prosecutors Jackie Wood and Steven Brand approached the bench and complained to Baird about the comment, Baird said. Davis denied saying it, Baird said.
But three jurors said they heard all or part of the comment. Baird said issued the fine because the jurors heard the comments and tacked on the jail sentence for lying about it. Baird ordered Davis released from custody on personal bond until the end of the trial, at which time he will be ordered to jail.
Davis declined to comment.
The trial will resume in the morning, when the jury will begin hearing evidence during the punishment phase. Andrews was initially charged with a first degree felony injury to a child, punishable by up to life in prison.
Keith Lauerman, Andrews’ other lawyer, said his client is “taking full responsibility.”
Andrews brought the baby to Dell Children’s Medical Center on May 4, 2008, telling police that day that the child fell from an unsecured car seat when she stopped suddenly while driving, according to a police affidavit.
After doctors told police that the head injuries did not appear to be from a fall, police interviewed Andrews again, the affidavit said. During that interview, Andrews demonstrated for police that after the baby fell she shook the baby violently in an attempt to wake the baby up, the affidavit said.
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August 25, 2009
Mother indicted in feces-smearing case
This story has been updated from the original version with new comments from Emily McDonald’s defense lawyer, Bob Phillips.
A Travis County grand jury has indicted Emily Beth McDonald, a 23-year-old mother of three arrested in June after police said she was caught on camera smearing feces on her 3-year-old daughter’s intravenous line.
The grand jury returned an indictment late Monday on a single count of injury to a child, the same charge for which McDonald, at right, had been arrested. The indictment states that McDonald did “intentionally and knowingly cause serious bodily injury” to her daughter by contaminating her medical device with feces on May 31. The first-degree felony is punishable by up to life in prison.
McDonald’s lawyer, Bob Phillips, said he is not surprised by the indictment.
“This young woman loves her husband and children very much and they love her,” he said. “We look forward for the opportunity to present her side of the story at the proper time.”
McDonald’s daughter was admitted to Dell Children’s Medical Center on April 15 with high fever and “a long history of chronic diarrhea,” according to an arrest affidavit. Blood tests came back positive for bacteria commonly found in feces.
Hospital officials set up a hidden camera in McDonald’s daughter’s room after the girl continued to have setbacks in her recovery and after they had to replace her intravenous lines several times because of infections or clots in the lines, the affidavit said.
On May 31, hospital staff reviewed the tape and and witnessed McDonald putting feces from a diaper on her finger and placing it in the intravenous tube, which leads to the child’s bloodstream, the affidavit said.
McDonald has been free on personal recognizance bond since shortly after her arrest.
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June 10, 2009
Mother accused of scalding expected to get out of jail
A judge today reduced the bail of a northeastern Travis County woman accused of scalding her 6-year-old son and the woman’s lawyer said he expects her to be released from jail this evening.
Angular Adams, 51, was charged with injury to a child last week and jail records show she was booked Tuesday. Her bail was initially set at $750,000 but after Adams’ lawyer challenged that amount at a hearing today, senior state District Judge Jon Wisser lowered the bail to $50,000.
Adam’s lawyer Allan Williams said he argued that the initial bail amount was “way out of line with Travis County practices.”
“This is a 51-year-old woman with no criminal record,” Williams recalled arguing in an interview outside the courthouse. He also noted that Adams has a graduate degree, worked for the Austin school district as a teacher for 15 years and is not a flight risk.
She is accused of bringing her son to Dell Children’s Medical Center on May 22 with burns over 40 percent of his body, according to an arrest affidavit. The child had second- and third-degree burns to his genitals, buttocks, legs, ankles and feet, according to the affidavit.
Adams told a sheriff’s deputy that she didn’t know what happened but found his legs bubbly and his feet red when she woke him up that morning, according to the warrant. She said she had bathed the child the night before.
Adams’ younger son told investigators that when his brother was screaming in the bath, “Mommy was there,” the affidavit said. He said his mother peeled some of the skin off his brother’s feet.
“She peeled it and he screamed screamed screamed really bad,” he said, according to the affidavit.
The boy has been released from the hospital and is in good condition, a sheriff’s office spokesman said last week. He was placed in a foster home by state Child Protective Services officials, the spokesman said.
Williams said that he expects Adams to be acquitted at trial.
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