Babysitter testifies she told Kierra Starr Williams's mother she was being too rough with toddler
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A relative of 21-month-old Kierra Elektra Starr Williams, who died at the hands of her mother in 2014, told court the toddler's father — who is standing trial for manslaughter in the toddler's death — wasn't around much.
"He had to work," the girl said in an audio recording played in court on Friday, the fourth day of the trial for Daniel Williams.
The girl, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified she babysat Kierra on a regular basis in the year leading up to her death and witnessed concerning behaviour from the toddler's mother, Vanessa Bushie.
'Sometimes I'd have to remind [Bushie] if she was being too rough or going too far.'- Relative, former babysitter of Kierra
At the home, she saw "certain things that happened," the girl said shyly. "She'd hit her and grab her and put her in her room, and the way she put her in room, it hurt her really bad."
This week, court heard that the child's mother hit, kicked and slapped the toddler, carried her by the arms and legs, force fed her to the point of almost choking her, and would lock her in a bedroom for extended periods of time, sometimes leaving her on a hard floor.
Kierra was rushed to hospital on July 17, 2014, where she died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen. An injury, court heard, was inflicted by her mother.
Daniel Williams, Kierra's father, was not home that day and he did not personally harm the child, the Crown said.
However, Crown attorneys Daniel Chaput and Kyle Parker argue that Williams was witness to some of the physical abuse his daughter endured and his inaction to protect his daughter contributed to her death.
Williams is being represented by defence lawyer Greg Brodsky and has pleaded not guilty.
In the audio recording played Friday, the girl told police during an 2015 interview she witnessed Bushie hit Kierra on more than one occasion with kitchen utensils, including a plastic strainer.
"Sometimes I'd have to remind [Bushie] if she was being too rough or going too far," the girl said, adding Bushie didn't respond.
Toddler's crying frustrated mother
The girl explained that Kierra, who returned to live with her biological parents in 2013 after spending eight months in foster care, quickly went from being a quiet baby to one who cried a lot.
The babysitter said when she was alone with Kierra, she didn't have any problems feeding or caring for her. However, she said Kierra refused to eat when her mother fed her, often cried, and seemed to be scared of the mother.
The crying, she said, frustrated Bushie and caused her to act aggressively toward the child on occasion. The girl testified that when Kierra would cry, she would try to console her or take her out of the room to prevent her mother from reacting.
The girl testified she did not tell Williams about the abuse, or contact police or Child and Family Services.
"If she took it way too far … I would have took that to [Williams]," the girl said in the recording, while being cross-examined by Bushie's lawyer at a preliminary hearing.
The girl told court Bushie would leave to play slots, drink and smoke marijuana while she would babysit. She also testified that while she was uncomfortable with some of Bushie's behaviour toward Kierra, she said she thought at the time that Bushie was generally a good mother who loved Kierra.
The girl testified in the recording that she observed bruises on the toddler's limbs and body from time to time, but did not know the cause. She testified she was "skinny" and "bony" and thought the child was starving herself, though she didn't know why.
Crown attorney Chaput told court during opening remarks the toddler was so malnourished when she died, she was stunted in height and weight.
ER nurse testifies on child's injuries
On Friday, court learned more about the injuries Kierra endured before her death.
Kathy Stevenson, the director of nursing at the Hodgson, Man. hospital Kierra was taken to the July day she died, took the witness stand.
Stevenson said she was called to assist with the "code red" when Kierra arrived at the hospital by ambulance in 2014.
"My first impression was the child was small, lifeless and I remember thinking it just wasn't a good feeling," Stevenson said of when Kierra arrived in the emergency room. "I remember thinking the child's head looked a lot bigger because the child's body was so small."
As a team of doctors and nurses worked to revive the child, Stevenson tried to establish an IV line in the toddler's arm. She said that's when she realized Kierra had other injuries.
"I remember taking the child's arm looking for a vein and the arm ... it felt like it was dislocated from the socket and the elbow as well," she told court.
After roughly 45 minutes of trying to revive the toddler, staff were unsuccessful. At that point, Stevenson said she and the team began a head-to-toe exam of Kierra's body to document her injuries.
Staff recorded a sunken spot on the top of her head — a potential indicator of dehydration — an abrasion on the cheek, bruising on the earlobe, chin and eyelids, a piece missing from the tip of her right nostril, no bottom teeth, a dislocated shoulder, a left elbow fracture, five scars on her backside, a burn abrasion to the lower back and a scar on the right buttocks, Stevenson said.
She told court she made a statement to RCMP and had no further involvement.
During cross-examination, Williams' defence lawyer Greg Brodsky asked Stevenson if she could tell how fresh the bruises and sores on Kierra's body were.
"I can't say," she said. "Some were fresh. Some were healed over."
Brodsky proceeded to ask Stevenson if she was told Kierra had choked on a sausage and that's why the Heimlich manoeuvre was performed on her.
"I wasn't told that directly," Stevenson said.
Brodsky then asked Stevenson if Kierra's mother had told her the child was choking and that's why she had bruises on her chest. Stevenson told court she did not recall that.
The jury trial is being presided over by Justice Sadie Bond.
The trial continues Tuesday.
