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« Germany-based market opens 2nd R.I. store | Today | Folk or pholk: Ex-Phish singer joins Newport lineup » May 8, 2008Bunnell trial: Babysitter faces tough cross-examPROVIDENCE -- The babysitter who was there the night that toddler Thomas "T.J." Wright was fatally beaten came under withering cross examination today, as the defense lawyer tried to show that her previous statements were less incriminating than the testimony she's offered at trial. Kayla Roderick, who was 15 at the time, testified yesterday that the 3-year-old boy's face and head repeatedly hit the floor when his aunt and guardian, Katherine Bunnell, was beating him. Roderick, now 18, also testified that Bunnell, still angry about a mess T.J. had made in the living room of Bunnell's Woonsocket apartment, told Roderick she wa going to kill the boy as she drove the babysitter home that night. Bunnell had come home about 2:30 a.m. from a night out 3½ years ago to find the mess on the floor. Today, defense lawyer Gerard H. Donley got Roderick to acknowledge she had omitted the death threat from the hand-written statement she gave Woonsocket police a few hours after the beating on Oct. 30, 2004. Donley sought repeatedly to impeach Roderick's testimony that T.J.'s head hit the floor over and over again when Bunnell dragged him around the apartment, alleging that Roderick did not mention the boy hitting his head when she testified at Bunnell's bail hearing and before the grand jury. The line of questioning was important because prosecutors allege T.J. suffered brain death as a result of head injuries he sustained in the beating. Prosecutor Stacey P. Veroni objected, accusing Donley of quoting selectively from Roderick's testimony at the bail hearing and before the grand jury. Veroni pointed out that while Roderick did omit mentioning the boy's head hitting the floor at certain points in her prior testimony, at other points she stated that as a fact. "There's no inconsistency with her testimony here today," Veroni told Judge Gilbert V. Indeglia. -- With reports from Journal staff writer John Castellucci Bunnell, 24, is being tried on charged of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Her ex-boyfriend, Gilbert Delestre, 27, is expected to stand trial separately on the same charges. Prosecutors allege that Bunnell and her boyfriend beat T.J. so badly that he suffered broken bones, bruises and head injuries so severe his brain shifted inside the skull. The defense argued, in part in opening statements, that the beating that caused the death of the child came from Delestre. Posted by Mike McKinney CommentsMS | May 8, 2008 12:41 PM link send the aunt and the boyfriend back into the general population at the ACI then throw away the key. Even prison yard justice is too good for them. Jane Dawson | May 8, 2008 4:46 PM link
Paula | May 8, 2008 5:25 PM link I understand your comment but remember this girl was only 15 years old. It is a tragedy all around but there is no way any one can blame that girl for her actions. she was a child herself. That is almost expecting one of the other children there to call 911. she will probably be traumatized herself. Just pray for the rest of the family and especially their own children. CF | May 8, 2008 7:11 PM link I just can't comprehend that a 15 year old babysitter when she went home did not call 911. I don't understand how she slept that night. 15 Years old or not, she should of known better. Poor TJ KC KC | May 8, 2008 9:40 PM link We can all say we would have done this or that, but the reality of a 15 year old in that situation is going to be scared and most likely had been threatened. Lets not make this about the babysitter, but about the guardians who were left in this boys charge and how wrong that was. They need to be held accountable. SL | May 9, 2008 4:53 AM link This is why RI needs the death penalty. It will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars above and beyond the normal cost to protect this scum while in prison and for what? I don't believe rehabilitation is poossible for this kind of criminal, and even if it were, they don't deserve it. Anyone who would do that to a 3 year old deserves the death penalty at best. Tom | May 9, 2008 12:29 PM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
I know if I was babysitting a child and witnessed the guardians doing that to the child, I would of made a 911 call immediately! I was in a similar situation as a babysitter and when I noticed the father being abusive towards his young sons, I immediately called. I'm glad I did. They are alive and well today and with new parents that truly care for them. Their dad is still in jail where he belongs.