The day Laila Marie Daniel died while in the care of her foster mother, her older sister was bruised all over her body, experts testified Thursday.
“She had bruising, but nowhere as extensive as Laila,” said Julie Espinosa, a nurse who worked at Piedmont Henry Hospital at the time, from the witness stand. Laila was 2 when she died. Her sister Millie, then 4, said Laila had been “asleep for a while” before paramedics and police arrived to the girls’ foster home in November 2015, Espinosa testified.
Former foster parents Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum are on trial in Henry County. She faces charges of malice and felony murder, child cruelty, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. He is charged with second-degree murder, accused of leaving Laila in his wife’s care when he allegedly knew she was abusing the child.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Jennifer Rosebaum dialed 911 on Nov. 17, 2015, to report that Laila was choking on a chicken nugget. She then began administering CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, according to her defense attorney.
But paramedics noticed Laila had extensive bruising on her tiny body. An autopsy revealed the child suffered a blow to her abdomen that ruptured her pancreas. She also had other internal injuries and broken bones suffered over time, according to medical examiners at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. There was no evidence she had choked, an autopsy revealed.
After Laila’s death, Jennifer Rosenbaum described the supposed choking incident to Henry County detectives in an interview that was recorded and played in court Thursday afternoon. She told the detectives that Laila had broken her leg at a gymnastics center and had fallen off a bed. Employees at the gymnastics center have testified that Laila was never enrolled in a class.
The Rosenbaums were arrested and charged two weeks after Laila died. Their attorney, Corinne Mull, has argued that Laila’s death was an accident and that her injuries resulted from the life-saving measures Jennifer Rosenbaum attempted.
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After Laila was pronounced dead at Piedmont Henry Hospital, medical staff alerted police of the child’s suspicious injuries, Espinosa said. Nurses also examined Millie, who also had been in the Rosenbaums’ care.
Espinosa and an investigator from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta testified that bruises of varying stages of healing and consistent with child abuse were found on Millie’s hip, head, arm and back. A detective photographed them. Later the evening Millie was examined, detectives executed a search warrant at the Rosenbaums’ home.
On Friday, the lead Henry County detective in the case is expected to return to the witness stand. Millie has been placed with other foster parents.
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