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October 16, 2007

Prosecution will call at least 14 witnesses

WARWICK -- The prosecution will call at least 14 witnesses to testify in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her 19-month-old daughter in Warwick, a prosecutor said during opening statements today.

Former Warwick resident Kimberly Mawson, 37, is accused of killing her daughter, Jade, in 2002.

Thomas O'Brien, a prosecutor for the attorney general's office, said in Kent County Superior Court that witnesses will include Mawson's boyfriend, who initially called the police\rescue personnel, Hasbro Children Hospital doctors and nurses, the medical examiner, and police.

The defense will make its opening statement at 1:30 p.m.

Seven men and seven women were picked this morning for the jury. Judge Edwin J. Gale directed them not to take notes, but instead focus on the testimony.

On Dec. 2, 2002, the child, Jade, was taken to the hospital after Mawson's boyfriend called. The boyfriend was at home with the child while Mawson was out shopping, the man later told the police. Officers arrived to find the child unconscious in the third-floor apartment at 1730 B Elmwood Ave. She died two days later at Hasbro Children's Hospital of blunt force trauma injuries to her head and body.

Mawson moved to Connecticut after the death of her daughter. Mawson waived her right to an extradition hearing when she was arrested in May 2005 after a grand jury handed up a secret indictment.

Jade Mawson died of “injuries of the head and torso due to blunt-force trauma,” according to the medical examiner.

On Monday, the judge told potential jurors that the trial could go for a couple of weeks.

-- projo.com staff writers Michael P. McKinney and Brandie M. Jefferson, with reports from Journal staff writer Talia Buford

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 1:13 PM | Permalink

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