The Henry County foster parents accused in the death of a 2-year-old are “liars, abusers and murderers,” a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday afternoon.
Opening statements and testimony began after more than two days of jury selection in the trial for Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum. Both are accused in the November 2015 death of Laila Marie Daniel.
“Laila was bruised from head to toe,” Prosecutor Daysha Young told the jury.
An autopsy showed Laila had broken bones and abrasions and bruises on her ear, neck, chest, abdomen, groin, shins and feet, Young said. And pictures of the toddler taken after her death — and shown to jurors during a coroner's testimony — depicted various markings all over her body.
But the attorney for the Rosenbaums, Corinne Mull, said the child’s death was an accident, and that investigators and the media sensationalized the death. Laila had injuries of any active child, Mull said. The fatal injuries came when Jennifer Rosenbaum attempted to save the child’s life, she said.
“Someone has to be blamed. A child is dead. Someone has to pay,” Mull said. “And what they’re doing is mixing bad medicine together with sensationalism and blaming the first easy target instead of looking for the truth of the matter.”
In July 2015, Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum became foster two parents to Laila and her older sister, Millie, according to investigators. Jennifer Rosenbaum, once in the foster child system herself, reached out to the girls’ mother through Facebook, Young told jurors. The girls’ biological mother had been unable to care for them, and the sisters were moved to different homes.
On Nov. 17, 2015, Jennifer Rosenbaum called 911 to report that Laila choked while eating a chicken nugget. Rosenbaum said she used the Heimlich maneuver and then CPR on Laila, who later died.
“She accidentally caused the death in her panic to save her,” Mull told jurors. “The Rosenbaums loved the girls and the girls loved the Rosenbaums.”
But paramedics noted bruising on Laila’s body. And 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 GBI medical examiners. There was no evidence she had choked, the autopsy revealed.
Two weeks after Laila’s death, the Rosenbaums were arrested and charged.
Jennifer Rosenbaum faces malice and felony murder charges, as well as child cruelty, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. Joseph Rosenbaum, a former correctional officer in Spalding County, is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly leaving Laila in his wife’s care when he knew she was abusing the child. Both have pleaded not guilty and are out on bond.
Jennifer Rosenbaum, a candidate for the Henry County Commission at the time of her arrest, once worked as an intern in the Henry district attorney’s office. For this reason, the Henry DA’s office recused itself from the case.
Assistant district attorneys from DeKalb County are now the prosecutors, and they called two witnesses to the stand Wednesday afternoon: Kenneth Jones, a retired paramedic, and Donald Cleveland, the Henry coroner.
Jones, one of the first paramedics to arrive at the Rosenbaums’ home, told the court he noticed Laila’s extensive bruising and marks on her body.
Cleveland was called to the hospital and took dozens of pictures of the child’s body to document her injuries. The pictures, shown to jurors, showed bruises on Laila’s chest, arms, abdomen and genital area.
The trial will resume Thursday at 9 a.m.
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