Pathologist: ‘No other reasonable explanation than abuse’ in baby’s death

A pathologist testified Tuesday the injuries that led to 6-week-old Kaidence Evans’s death last year could not have been caused by a fall from a bed, the alternate theory presented by the baby’s father and his attorney.

The pathologist, Craig Hart, spoke in court during the second day of the trial of Quentin Evans, 26, who is charged with homicide by child abuse in Kaidence’s death.

Evans told investigators Kaidence stopped breathing in the early morning hours of Jan. 23, 2014, and he called 911 after alerting his family. His daughter was pronounced dead at the hospital around 7:30 a.m.

“There is no other reasonable explanation than abuse,” Hart said, after showing the jury pictures of Kaidence’s extensive internal and external injuries.

Hart showed and described bruising on Kaidence’s arms, neck and head, bruises that appeared faint and fresh. He also showed photos of the autopsy including a broken collarbone and hemorrhaging around the spinal column and inside the skull.

All of the bruises, hemorrhaging and fractures were caused by “multiple blunt force traumas,” Hart said.

The photos of Kaidence’s brain showed a bloody mess, covered in dark, red splotches inconsistent with the shiny, pink, healthy brain a pathologist would expect to see, Hart said. The infant’s brain bled because of the tearing of vessels holding it in place, caused by “an aggressive act.”

The brain bleeds, or subdural hematomas, and retinal hematomas inside Kaidence’s eyes are consistent with other “shaken baby” cases, Hart said.

Evans’ attorney, Dave Cook, asked Hart if the baby had fallen between the bed and the wall, if pushing the bed against the wall could cause similar injuries. Hart said Kaidence’s injuries did not match that scenario.

Also testifying Tuesday were York County’s deputy coroner, a forensic investigator, members of Kaidence’s family and her pediatrician, who said the last time he saw Kaidence a week before her death, she was a healthy, injury-free baby.

The forensic investigator, Paula Neely, an officer with the Fort Mill Police Department and the multijurisdictional forensic unit, said when she arrived at Evans’ home on Wright Street in Rock Hill, there were just 4 inches of space between the bed and the wall.

During her testimony, deputy coroner Christina Westover showed a reenactment Evans did in his bedroom a few hours after Kaidence’s death in front of Westover, another coroner and detectives with the Rock Hill Police Department.

Using a baby doll, Evans showed investigators how Kaidence was sleeping in his bed. He left the room and said when he returned, she had rolled between the bed and the wall. In the video, he demonstrates how he pulled her out by her arm and comforted her, but noticed her legs weren’t working properly and her head and neck stayed back, instead of bobbing around. But she seemed to fall asleep, so he lay her down again.

A short while later, he said, he woke up to her unresponsive and not breathing.

Kaidence’s pediatrician testified Kaidence could not roll herself over, and said most babies could not until they were about 4 months old.

In the video, unprompted, Evans says he wouldn’t shake or hurt his baby. He also described injuries on the child’s head, neck and back.

Westover said at that point during the day, Evans had not been told any specifics of the baby’s injuries or that they suspected Kaidence had been abused. Westover also said Evans tested positive for THC, or marijuana, in a drug and alcohol test the coroner’s office requested.

Immediately after Kaidence’s death, Kierra Banks, Kaidence’s mother, came to Evans’ defense, calling him a good father and claiming he would never hurt his baby. But, in court Tuesday, she said she was no longer sure about what may have happened. When she defended him, she said, she didn’t know any of the evidence investigators had gathered.

“Me, personally, in my experience with (Evans), I didn’t think this was (possible),” Banks said. “Now I don’t know.”

The trial continues for a third day Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Pathologist: ‘No other reasonable explanation than abuse’ in baby’s death."