An Upper Tulpehocken
woman will go to trial on homicide charges in the 2015 death of a foster child
in her care.
At a preliminary hearing
Thursday, Berks County District Judge Andrea J. Book bound Shawna Moore over
for trial on charges of third degree murder and endangering the welfare of a
child.
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Moore, 31, is charged in
the April 7, 2015 death of a 2½-year-old Cameron Michael, a foster child living
in her home. Michael died in a hospital about a week after Moore called 9-1-1
to report the boy had fallen down the stairs of her home in the first block of
Hipple Lane and was unresponsive.
The Berks County
District Attorney's Office filed homicide charges after medical tests showed
his injuries were not consistent with a fall down the stairs.
Thursday's hearing was
dominated by the testimony of State Police Trooper Ian Marquardt, who led the
investigation into Michael's death.
Marquardt, despite the
objections of defense attorney Jacob A. Gurwitz, testified about discussions
with doctors working for Hershey Medical Center and the Dauphin County Coroner's
Office who were involved with Michael's case. It was through those doctors'
examinations, post-mortem tests to Michael's right eye, brain and spine, and
consultations with other medical experts that it was determined Michael's
injuries did not come from a fall down the stairs, Marquardt testified.
Instead, the trooper
said, they were the result a whiplash motion and blunt force trauma normally
associated with a car crash.
Gurwitz challenged
Marquadt's testimony, calling it hearsay and complaining that there were no
written reports from the doctors and that they weren't present to be
questioned. Meg McCallum, a supervising attorney for the district attorney's
office, cited case law in saying such testimony was allowed at a preliminary
hearing, and Book allowed Marquadt to share what the doctors had told him.
Gurwitz also said the
prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence for a charge as serious as
third-degree murder. He said they did not present any theory as to what Moore
allegedly did to Michael to cause his death and that they did not prove that
she acted with malice.
McCallum argued that an
adult causing a fatal injury to a 21/2-year-old infers malice.
Also testifying Thursday
were two emergency medical technicians who were the first to respond to Moore's
9-1-1 call. Each described seeing the boy lying motionless at the bottom of the
stairs inside Moore's home.
They also testified that
a paramedic from another ambulance company picked the boy up, cradled him in
his arms and carried him outside to load him into an ambulance. Both EMTs said
proper protocol would have called for the boy to have a C-collar placed around
his neck before being moved on a special back board designed for children.
The defense did not call
any witnesses.
Moore is scheduled for a
formal arraignment later this month in front of Berks County Judge Theresa
Johnson.
Contact David Mekeel:
610-371-5014 or dmekeel@readingeagle.com.
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