Opinion ID: 1288891
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Ashlan Daniel

Text: Ashlan Daniel was about two months old when she began daycare with the Cutros in June 1993. Ashlan was in daycare for about only two hours a day while Mrs. Daniel worked part-time. On September 9, 1993, Mrs. Daniel dropped Ashlan off at the Cutros' at noon. A picture of Ashlan taken earlier that day shows she was a healthy and normal baby, a description her parents corroborated. When Mrs. Daniel left work at 2:30 p.m., she went to pick Ashlan up at the Cutros' home. She pulled up as EMS personnel were arriving. Josh Cutro came out of the house and told Mrs. Daniel that Ashlan was dead. Ashlan's mother testified that appellant told her that she, appellant, found Ashlan not breathing and Josh was out of the house at that time. Another parent testified appellant told her Josh went to pick up their children from school and that she, appellant, was the only adult in the room when Ashlan stopped breathing. Other parents of the Cutros' daycare children also testified. One parent testified Josh told her he had just returned home when appellant came outside to tell him about the baby. Another testified that appellant told her that she, appellant, was in the room with Ashlan when she died ... and that she couldn't believe that she didn't notice that [Ashlan] had stopped breathing. Dr. Reynolds, who autopsied Ashlan's body, testified petechial hemorrhages were present in her brain, which he had never seen in a SIDS death. Because he could not determine the cause of death, he concluded it was SIDS. Ashlan's body was exhumed and re-autopsied in July 1994. Dr. Ophoven testified that Ashlan's brain had a subdural hematoma which, in addition to the petechial hemorrhages, indicated she had died of trauma and asphyxia. Dr. Gilbert-Barness concurred and stated that these injuries indicated Shaken Baby Syndrome.