Jury deliberating
in trial of dead
girl’s mother

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Jennifer Edwards watched without emotion in the courtroom the photos of her dead baby Cedra with her stomach bloated a foot.

Edwards showed a lack of emotion watching 20-month-old Cedra suffer over four days before bringing her dead daughter to the hospital, said Deputy Prosecutor Lucianne Khalaf in closing arguments yesterday.

"She didn't want anyone to see baby Cedra in this condition," Khalaf said.

But deputy public defender Ed Harada argued that Edwards' boyfriend, Mika Mika Jr., abused the child and was "the lion who ate a cub he didn't father."

The day before Cedra was kicked so hard it ruptured her lower intestine, leaking poisonous fluid throughout her body, Mika found out Edwards had visited Cedra's natural father in prison, Harada said. The prosecution rebutted this, saying Mika found out about the visit during the trial.

Edwards, now 20, pulled a "mea culpa," Harada said. Even though she didn't do it, she blamed herself.

Because she succumbed to pressures from her boyfriend and police to take responsibility, Edwards admitted to punching and kicking her daughter, he said.

Now she says Mika killed the child.

The jury in Edwards' murder trial can acquit her, or convict her of murder, manslaughter or assault. After Circuit Judge John Lim gave them instructions, they began deliberations yesterday.

The state built its case through friends, family and neighbors who saw the lives of Edwards, Mika and Cedra.

Edwards showed a history of carelessness and impatience toward her daughter, letting her fall off the bed repeatedly, yelling at her and hitting her, Khalaf said. She called her a "little brat," graduating to "the little bitch."

Khalaf even projected a glimpse through the eyes of baby Cedra.

"At age 20 months, she only knew the words Mommy, Daddy and juice. But she spoke volumes in her actions."

Cedra was happy with others. She liked to play with cellular phones and was very affectionate.

But when family or friends gave her back to Edwards, she kicked and screamed, Khalaf said. "Baby Cedra didn't want to go. She said through her actions, 'Please don't make me go with her.' "

The day she was fatally kicked in the stomach, Cedra and Edwards rode a bus home, Khalaf said. Cedra climbed into the lap of a strange man and hugged him.

When her mother tried to pull her away, Cedra once again kicked and screamed. Her mother hit her. Someone on the bus scolded Edwards. So Edwards waited until she and her daughter got to the privacy of her apartment.

"It was Dec. 13, 1997, the beginning of Cedra's last days on Earth," Khalaf said.

Edwards admitted to a detective she kicked and punched her daughter numerous times during the next three days. When Cedra's stomach swelling didn't go down, Edwards pushed her stomach against the sink. When Cedra passed out, Edwards ran her head under hot water and watched the baby's hair fall out, Khalaf said.

On the fourth day, Dec. 17, Cedra stopped breathing. Mika tried to revive her but was unsuccessful. He told police she was very sick, but feared taking her to the hospital and losing the son he shared with Edwards.

"It's never black and white like the state tries to portray it," Harada said. "You have to look at the essential truths of Jennifer Edwards and Mika Mika."

Edwards was a young and inexperienced mother who loved her daughter, Harada said.

"She may have had a short temper, but that doesn't mean she intentionally caused her (Cedra's) death."

A neighbor and Edwards' friend said they heard Mika beat Edwards and possibly Cedra. "She (Edwards) gave up hope and gave in to pressures she was under," Harada said.

The Edwards trial was Mika's "great escape plan," Harada said. A conviction for Edwards takes him off the hook.

"At no point did she admit she knew Cedra would die. There's no murder by omission. At most, it was reckless manslaughter."