“The only ones in the room” – those words set the tone for the prosecution’s opening statements on Tuesday, alongside X-Ray images of a child’s fractured skull and hemorrhaged right eye. Prosecution says that these injuries amongst others were inflicted on Parker Lee Schumacher – who was 17-months-old at the time – by Arthur Davies, the only other person in the room with the child when the incident allegedly occurred on February 10th of 2018.
Prosecuting Deputy District Attorney Charles Tseui then detailed the injuries that Parker had when he was taken to Desert Regional medical center, and then eventually Loma Linda University hospital where the toddler died. Tseui’s opening statement detailed the amount of energy it would take to create the type of blunt force trauma that Parker died from – forces “akin to things like a violent car crash, crushing injuries, or falls from a great height.”
Tseui talked about the two separate stories that Davies gave to the police – the first is that he heard the toddler crying, and upon returning from the restroom he found Parker on the ground having a seizure. Later, Davies admitted that the story was false and said that what actually happened is that Parker fell from his right arm while he was holding the toddler and walking from the kitchen to the living room. Davies says Parker “grabbed a pillar” and fell to the ground, sustaining the deadly injuries.
Defense Attorney Zulu Ali opened his statements saying the State of California lacked enough evidence to support the story that the injuries sustained by Parker were willfully inflicted by Davies. Ali stated that although it was a quote “very, very tragic day” – that they will produce an expert witness that will confirm that Parker’s injuries were consistent with Davies’ second story. Ali wrapped his opening statement saying “For someone to kill a 17-month-old child is a monster, if he does it willfully and intentionally. But nothing like that has ever happened before. Clearly, it was an accident.”
After opening statements, prosecution called Forensic Pathologist Dr. Chanikarn Lopez – who spent the rest of the day detailing the autopsy of the victim and the types of injuries sustained by the toddler. In multiple hours of testimony, Lopez discussed her professional background and then the three major injuries sustained by the toddler – a complex fracture on the back of the head, and internal bleeding and hemorrhaging beneath the child’s skull and in his right eye. Lopez asserts that these injuries are more in line with someone who died from a “violent car accident” or “falling from 3 to 5 stories high.”
Dr. Lopez determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, and that the manner of death was a homicide.
Defense pressed the Doctor during cross-examination on her specific experience with autopsies on children under 2 years old who died from Blunt Force Trauma. Dr, Lopez says she estimates that she has performed over 6000 autopsies in her career, but maybe less than 50 were children under the age of 2.
Defense Attorney Ali also questioned the Dr. Lopez on a previously-healed fracture that was present on the back of Parker’s skull during the autopsy- an injury that she says wasn’t sustained during the February 10th incident with Davies.
Testimony continues today and into next week – stay tuned to Z107.7 for updates every day the trial is being held.
