KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A medical examiner testified Thursday that a 4-year-old girl who died last summer after being wrapped in a blanket and duct tape asphyxiated.
The testimony came on the first day of the Kelly Ballinger and Matthew Longenecker's trial for murder and child abuse charges in the death of Ballinger's 4-year-old daughter Desaray Thompson.
There were gasps in court as the medical examiner showed photos from the autopsy of Desaray, which were obviously graphic, and photos showing evidence of abuse before her death.
Medical examiner Joseph Prahlow, the first witness to take the stand, described blunt force trauma injuries to Desaray's head, scrapes on her face and scalp; and scratches, contusions and a cut on her body. He said her nose showed signs of blunt force injuries and that her ear could have been pinched and pulled. Some of injuries, he said, were at least a few days old.
An undated courtesy photo of 4-year-old Desaray Thompson.
In his opening statement to the jury, Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Stein described Ballinger and Longenecker wrapping Desaray in blankets the night before she was found not breathing on the morning of July 9 in their Kalamazoo home.
"The mother takes a blanket and wraps it around (Desaray) so her arms and legs are even more secure. Then, enter him with his duct tape, and ripping off duct tape in approximately one-inch strips, proceeds to tape a 4-year-old child on her bed, blankets around her in her bed," Stein said.
They also put a blanket over her face, he said.
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