The murder trial of a Chattanooga man accused of beating a 3-year-old to death boiled down Thursday to a battle between medical experts.
Prosecutors say Tatiana Emerson couldn't have fallen down the stairs at the Econo Lodge on Aug. 24, 2014, as defendant Rhasean Lowry described. Not only does hotel surveillance disprove Lowry's statements to law enforcement, prosecutors say, but two medical officials testified that Emerson's severe brain injury, extensive bruising and bleeding in her eyes don't line up with a tumble.
"Why not?" Hamilton County Executive Assistant District Attorney Lance Pope asked.
"There were bruises in multiple areas of the body, particularly pattern bruising that doesn't fit the story," said Greg Talbott, a physician at Children's Hospital at Erlanger who worked to save Emerson's life.
Emerson, however, was declared brain-dead and died three days later.
"There was evidence of severe traumatic brain injury," Talbott, who has nearly three decades of experience, said of his examination. "In addition to that, she had bleeding in the back of her eyes - that's associated with strong shaking. The bruises were all rounded. And of most concern, there were no abrasions. It appeared to be more blunt trauma. From falling down a metal staircase, I would have anticipated some abrasions somewhere on the body.
"The constellation of these findings indicated that this child had suffered some inflicted injury," he said.
Not so fast, said Dan Ripper, Lowry's defense attorney.
Ripper said his client is not guilty and promised jurors on the eve of trial Tuesday that an independent medical expert would confirm Lowry's account. He called Thomas Young, a forensic pathologist from Missouri, after prosecutors finished presenting their evidence Thursday. Lowry, 37, faces charges of first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse and a possible life sentence if convicted.
Young said he reviewed several medical documents in this case and agreed the county coroner's autopsy of Emerson was thorough. But coroner James Metcalfe drew the wrong conclusion, Young said.
Lowry told police he drove Emerson to Parkridge hospital after she fell down the stairs around 10 a.m. On the way, Emerson lost consciousness and it took emergency room doctors 21 minutes to get a pulse back, according to court testimony.
Emerson's blood platelets stopped working when she wasn't breathing, Young explained. And if the platelets are leaky or not working, a child can develop bruises and bleeding, he said.
"If she falls down the stairs, she can hit her head, and she can have some trauma," Young said. "On top of that, if they're [hospital officials] basically trying to handle her mouth, if they're pulling her eyelids open, if they're to stick [a medical instrument] into her ears, if they're trying to move her to a cart, all of these things can lead to bruises as well.
"The fact that she has multiple bruises in her scalp, face, mouth and ears would be expected in this situation."
Young said he could explain the bleeding in the brain and eyes as well: When pressure in the brain starts to push down, it causes a herniation and leads to bleeding. And shaking doesn't cause bleeding in the eyes, he said.
"What happens here is more of a lack of oxygen and a hydraulic problem," Young said. "Children who end up on respirators who do not have any trauma have [eye bleeding]. Trauma's not the only thing that can cause [it]."
Citing old autopsies that Young worked on as a county coroner in Kansas and Illinois, prosecutors asked why he'd changed his theories over the years and said he often testified for defendants accused of killing children. Prosecutors tried to ask if past courts always found Young's testimony to be credible, but Ripper objected and Criminal Court Judge Don Poole agreed with the defense.
Metcalfe, Hamilton County's chief medical examiner, gave sobering testimony before Young took the stand. Metcalfe determined Emerson's manner of death to be homicide and said the child's injuries were not consistent with a fall.
The cornoer said he shaved away a portion of Emerson's hair during the autopsy to demonstrate her injuries. Looking for bruises, Metcalfe said he found five of them clustered around the scalp. There was also "fan-shaped bruising around the ears."
"To me," Metcalfe said, "that looks like fingers, and that'd be clear to a layperson, too, I believe."
The trial continues with defense proof today at 9:30 a.m.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.