Opinion ID: 2600609
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Signs of Abuse

Text: Hill first noticed that Kesha had injuries in August 1995, after defendant returned from jail. Hill noticed bruises on Kesha's leg, including one on the side of her thigh that lasted for weeks. In September, Hill visited the home of one of her friends, Kelly Salay, who noticed a bruise in the shape of a handprint on Kesha's thigh. Hill believed the bruise had been caused by the faucet when Hill bathed Kesha in the sink, and told Salay that. During the same visit to Salay's house, defendant became annoyed with Kesha because she kept crying. He grabbed her by the arms, and yelled at her to shut up. Around this time, Hill also noticed bruises down either side of Kesha's spine, chest, stomach and face, which she did not think she had caused. When she asked defendant about these bruises, he became defensive and stated he loved Kesha, and explained away the bruises as the results of accidental falls. Kesha had a black eye a few days before she died. Hill did not ask defendant about the black eye. Kesha's babysitter, Crystal Smith, also noticed the black eye and a small cut under Kesha's eye after she and Hill returned from shopping. Defendant told Smith that Kesha got the black eye when she fell down some steps. Smith noticed that Kesha usually became quiet when defendant was around. In the days before Kesha's death, Hill noticed a lock of Kesha's hair on the tray on her high chair, some of Kesha's hair on the bathroom floor, and red dots on Kesha's head where the hair was missing. When Hill asked defendant about Kesha's hair, he said that it came out when he was brushing it. Sarah Semple, a friend of Hill's, noticed that Kesha started losing her hair in September, and that she had bald spots.