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Orionis Barron-Taylor was found Dec. 16, 2009, in her pajamas on the
kitchen floor, three days after her second birthday.
She had a burned hand, lacerated liver, cracked skull and bruises across
her young, lifeless body.
"Instead of preparing for Christmas, her family prepared for a funeral,"
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sheila Whirley said in court.
A St. Louis County Circuit Court jury late Tuesday found Marquicio
Johnson, 35, responsible for the child's death, convicting him of
second-degree murder while in the commission of another felony.
According to prosecutors, the girl died from brain swelling as a result
of being beaten, leading to two counts of child abuse for which Johnson
was also convicted. Johnson, the boyfriend of the girl's great-aunt, was
also found guily of one count of child endangerment, for waiting almost
an hour to get emergency help.
Sentencing has been set for June 14.
Johnson, who lived with the girl and her great-aunt in Hazelwood, was
watching the girl while her great-aunt was working an overnight shift as
a nurse. The girl, called Ori by her family, had been sent to live there
a few months earlier because her mother could no longer care for her in
Chicago.
Johnson told police that after Ori woke up around 7:30 a.m., they went
to the bathroom to wash her hands. When she said she was hot, they went
to the kitchen to get her sippy cup, he said. Johnson said that's when
he heard a thump on the floor, and turned to see Ori lying motionless.
Johnson's attorney, Patrick Brayer, in court suggested a variety of
explanations for Ori's death. He said she was an active girl who liked
to climb, and that she had been ill lately. He alluded, through
questioning, that the head injuries may have been caused the night
before by Ori's own activity but surfaced later.
He said the bruises and liver lacerations could have come from
paramedics giving CPR, and noted the water temperature in the apartment
fluctuated greatly, which could have caused the burned hand.
Whirley, however, said Ori was a healthy girl who was easy to deal with.
She said the bruises on the girl's back appeared to match the pattern on
an iron taken as evidence from the house, in the 200 block of Chapel
Ridge Drive.
And Whirley pointed out the call to police didn't come until around 8:30
a.m., nearly an hour after the girl became unresponsive according to
Johnson's own statements.
"Ori's body will tell you what he did to her," she told jurors last
week, during opening statements. "He thought he silenced her, but he
didn't."
Read more:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hazelwood-man-found-guilty-of-killing--year-old-girl/
-F.R.
kitchen floor, three days after her second birthday.
She had a burned hand, lacerated liver, cracked skull and bruises across
her young, lifeless body.
"Instead of preparing for Christmas, her family prepared for a funeral,"
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sheila Whirley said in court.
A St. Louis County Circuit Court jury late Tuesday found Marquicio
Johnson, 35, responsible for the child's death, convicting him of
second-degree murder while in the commission of another felony.
According to prosecutors, the girl died from brain swelling as a result
of being beaten, leading to two counts of child abuse for which Johnson
was also convicted. Johnson, the boyfriend of the girl's great-aunt, was
also found guily of one count of child endangerment, for waiting almost
an hour to get emergency help.
Sentencing has been set for June 14.
Johnson, who lived with the girl and her great-aunt in Hazelwood, was
watching the girl while her great-aunt was working an overnight shift as
a nurse. The girl, called Ori by her family, had been sent to live there
a few months earlier because her mother could no longer care for her in
Chicago.
Johnson told police that after Ori woke up around 7:30 a.m., they went
to the bathroom to wash her hands. When she said she was hot, they went
to the kitchen to get her sippy cup, he said. Johnson said that's when
he heard a thump on the floor, and turned to see Ori lying motionless.
Johnson's attorney, Patrick Brayer, in court suggested a variety of
explanations for Ori's death. He said she was an active girl who liked
to climb, and that she had been ill lately. He alluded, through
questioning, that the head injuries may have been caused the night
before by Ori's own activity but surfaced later.
He said the bruises and liver lacerations could have come from
paramedics giving CPR, and noted the water temperature in the apartment
fluctuated greatly, which could have caused the burned hand.
Whirley, however, said Ori was a healthy girl who was easy to deal with.
She said the bruises on the girl's back appeared to match the pattern on
an iron taken as evidence from the house, in the 200 block of Chapel
Ridge Drive.
And Whirley pointed out the call to police didn't come until around 8:30
a.m., nearly an hour after the girl became unresponsive according to
Johnson's own statements.
"Ori's body will tell you what he did to her," she told jurors last
week, during opening statements. "He thought he silenced her, but he
didn't."
Read more:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hazelwood-man-found-guilty-of-killing--year-old-girl/
-F.R.