August 16, 2017 at 3:57 p.m.
Not guilty plea entered in toddler death case
DA ups charge to first-degree reckless homicide
Not guilty plea entered in toddler death case
Ellen L. Tran was charged with second-degree reckless homicide April 18 after her husband's son, Avery J. Edwards, died early April 15 at a Marshfield hospital, but Schiek increased the charge Wednesday to first-degree reckless homicide. That charges carries with it a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison as opposed to 25 years for second-degree reckless homicide. An information is the formal charging document in a criminal case. Schiek did not indicate what factors prompted him to seek a more severe charge.
Tran was bound over for trial following a preliminary hearing May 25 featuring testimony from Oneida County investigators.
Oneida County Sheriff's deputies and first responders were dispatched to the Tran home the evening of April 14 after receiving a 9-1-1 call reporting that Edwards had become unresponsive and stopped breathing. According to the original detective's report, Edwards was transported by ambulance to Ministry St. Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander and then flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield where he passed away just after midnight on April 15.
According to testimony by Oneida County detective sergeant Chad Wanta, a deputy on the scene at the Tran house "expressed concerns" about what had happened to the child based on her observations and what Ellen Tran told her.
"Particularly, Sgt. (Kelly) Moermond stated she believed something had happened with the victim in the bathtub because there was water in the bathtub and there was a wet towel draped over the side of the bathtub," Wanta testified.
Wanta also testified that he overheard one of the EMTs say that there was water in the victim's body while they were performing CPR. He also said he observed bruises on the boy's upper right forehead.
When first questioned, Tran told Wanta she was putting lotion on the child following a shower when his breathing became labored. At the preliminary hearing, Wanta said Tran told him that after the initial labored breathing Edwards took a few short breaths and then appeared to be OK. "She stated that then Avery 'crashed,' that was her word," he testified. "When I asked her to explain that she said he started rapidly deteriorating and he had a gaze in his eyes when he was looking up into space and his body went limp."
In her report, Oneida County sheriff's captain Terri Hook said she was at the Ministry St. Mary's emergency room when the child was brought in, took photos of an apparent bruise on his right forehead and sent them to Wanta at the Tran House.
Wanta also testified that Avery's mother Lori Edwards, who lives in Virginia and was involved in a custody dispute with the boy's father, Dr. Trang Tran, told the detectives that she had primary custody of Avery but Dr. Tran had recently been allowed court-ordered visits in his Newbold home.
After a visit in February, Edwards said she noticed bruises on the child. Before Avery left Virginia for the court-ordered visit with his father and stepmother on March 31, she took several photographs of his nude body which she later sent to Hook.
"She felt something might happen to Avery and she wanted to have proof," Wanta testified.
During the preliminary hearing, Schiek played a video of a portion of the interview Wanta and Hook conducted with Tran at the sheriff's department. In the video, a tearful Tran repeatedly said she did not know what happened, but her story changed slightly as the recording went on. She eventually admitted that she had a handheld showerhead in her hand.
Hook pushed for more details, but Tran didn't elaborate.
"You killed him because you didn't take care of him," Hook alleged at the end of the clip.
Wanta also testified that when Fond du Lac County medical examiner Doug Kelley shaved the child's head in preparation for the autopsy, he noticed numerous interconnected bruises on his head. He also observed extensive bruising on the boy's right leg and chest, Wanta said.
Kelley testified by telephone at the preliminary hearing that the preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
In his testimony, Kelley reviewed the areas of the child's body where he found either bruises or contusions. In addition to the boy's head, he said there was bruising on the child's back, buttocks, knees, forearms and chest. He also testified that the child had no head or rib fractures or signs of healed old fractures.
Schiek asked Kelley to go into detail as to the head injuries he found in the course of the autopsy.
"I think there are six separate areas that have significant bruises, if that makes any sense," Kelley said.
"Doctor, what I think I'm getting at is that it wasn't just a single few bruises encompassing a single impact, they were distinct and separate, as far as you could tell?" Schiek asked.
"Yes, as far as I can tell, that is the case," Kelley replied. "Certainly there are different sides of the head; you've got blows to the forehead, the area of the right side of the head, an area to the back of the head. So certainly those are separate areas of injury by virtue of the fact that they are on opposite sides of the head."
Kelley testified that he was waiting on additional test results from other labs and will write a final report after he receives that information. He said the test results on the eyes and optical nerves further supported his finding of blunt force trauma as the cause of Edwards' death.
Schiek asked Kelley if the injuries were consistent with Tran's claim that the child fell in the shower.
"No, it's not," Kelley replied.
Under cross-examination by Tran's former attorney Amy C. Scholz, Kelley was asked what could have caused the injuries. The pathologist replied he could not speculate as to what kind of blow caused them but did say if a theory were presented as to an object that might have been used he could determine if the theory was plausible.
She also tried to shake Kelley's assertion that a fall could not have caused the injuries, but he remained certain.
"A fall from this child's height doesn't make sense with these injuries," he said.
During Wednesday's arraignment, Tran's new defense attorney Jonas Bednarek entered an objection to the untimely filing of the information, but noted he is aware the state and Tran's previous attorney had an off-the-record discussion about waiving the time limits to file the information.
Bednarek stated he just wanted to enter the objection on the record.
A pretrial conference in the case was set for 11 a.m. Oct. 17.
"I'm setting (the case) for a pre-trial conference, but I'm hoping that, I'm looking at that date that all the discovery is done, you've had a chance to review it all and we can sit down and talk about where we go from there in regards to a trial, if needed, or motions, if necessary," O'Melia said.
Tran was charged with felony bail jumping July 6 after she allegedly had contact with her toddler daughter, who is in the case of a foster parent, during the Rhinelander Fourth of July parade. Wednesday's hearing included an adjourned initial appearance on that charge.
Bednarek entered a not guilty plea to the bail jumping charge on Tran's behalf. That case will track along with the reckless homicide case.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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