Babysitter did not
intend to kill infant,
defense saysA deputy prosecutor says the baby
suffered from inflicted injuries
The defense for a Salt Lake woman on trial for murder says she did not intend to kill a 6-month-old baby in her care.
Earlily Aganon is charged with knowingly and intentionally causing the death of Karie Canencia, who was rushed to the hospital on Oct. 21, 1997. She died three days later.
"Whatever happened with my client and this child didn't rise to 'knowing and intentional,'" said defense attorney Michael Green, during opening statements Thursday.
He said Aganon's calls to the mother after noticing the baby was in distress shows she never intended to harm the child.
The mother, Jocelyn Canencia, testified Thursday that there was nothing wrong with her daughter before her husband dropped the baby and her older brother at the sitter early that day.
Less than seven hours later, Aganon called Canencia at work saying the baby was having trouble breathing. By the time Canencia arrived at the sitter's house in Salt Lake, she found her baby lying stiffly on the floor on a mat. The infant's fists were clenched at her sides and only the whites of her eyes were showing.
"I picked her up and carried her; she was lifeless," Canencia testified.
The baby was rushed to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children and treated for seizures, but her condition worsened the next morning.
Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim said evidence will show the baby suffered from a ruptured liver and brain injury that medical experts will say was inflicted, and not accidental.
But Green said none of those injuries were discovered until a second CT scan was conducted later that night, suggesting the earlier results may have been misread.
Green said evidence will show the baby had suffered numerous injuries to her head and face prior to the day she was rushed to the hospital. And he attributed the baby's death to the failure of the hospital to properly diagnose and treat her brain injury.
"With proper medication and treatment, this child would have been alive today," Green said.
Canencia testified that Aganon told her at the hospital later that evening that the baby had been fine earlier and that she had fed her.