ATHENS, Tenn. — More than five years after Mitchell Delashmitt, 35, was charged with raping and killing his 14-month-old daughter, a trial date of Sept. 1 was set during a hearing Monday.
Among the twists in the case since the father’s arrest in June 2003, his confession was thrown out because he was not allowed an attorney during the questioning.
And the Tennessee State Medical Examiner’s office raised questions about the autopsy by a Bradley County medical examiner which found Angel Delashmitt died from a brain hemorrhage consistent with being shaken violently.
Her body was found in a farm pond near her Riceville home.
“I’m fed up with this and the DA’s office,” said Annette Beloat, Angel’s grandmother, after Monday’s proceeding.
“Angel would be 6 years old now, but she is in the ground and that thing is walking around out here,” she said about Mr. Delashmitt. “He needs to be back in jail.
He was jailed from the night of her death until February 2007, when a judge threw out his confession and ordered his bond reduced.
A short time later, a complaint was filed with the Tennessee Department of Health against the medical examiner, alleging the autopsy in the case was botched and Angel was not sexually assaulted and had drowned.
A recent Tennessee Board of Medical Examiner’s report found there are still questions about the autopsy by Dr. Ron Toolsie.
“The technical performance of the autopsy … was done properly,” the report states. But it further states that Dr. Toolsie showed “a lack of medical knowledge of the proper diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.”
Contacted by telephone Monday, Dr. Toolsie said more statements will be presented that his autopsy and finding on the cause of death were correct, but he would not elaborate on the sources.
The medical examiner’s report found separate from the Delashmitt case that Dr. Toolsie for years wrote prescriptions without keeping proper records, including pain pills for himself. His medical license was suspended for at least six months.
“I can’t do any work for at least six months,” Dr. Toolsie said, admitting he took medicine for back pain and other maladies.
District Attorney Jim Stutts says now he is confident about the prosecution’s case, even without the confession. He requested a July court date for further discovery and presentation of some evidence.
Mr. Delashmitt’s attorney, John Eldridge, of Knoxville, said he and his client will be ready for trial in September.
Neither Mr. Delashmitt nor his family would comment Monday.
But Angel’s aunt, Yvonne Posey, said the family is “tired of being nice” about the case.
“There is no rights in this county for victims,” she said.
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