The little girl died Feb. 16, 2013, at Mercy Hospital Cadillac, now Munson Healthcare Cadillac Hospital. An autopsy concluded she was victim of homicide.
The following month,
Ferris was charged with open murder. His case was bound over for trial in Wexford County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit contends the girl suffered an undetected closed-head injury a month before her death when she fell down basement stairs and hit her head against a cement block wall at her mother's home in Grayling.
She had been diagnosed with an eye condition that hampered depth perception. Consequently, she routinely bumped her head on furniture or hurt her head in falls, the lawsuit said.
David Ferris was at the home when the girl fell down the stairs. She appeared OK. The couple monitored her the rest of the night, and her mother took her to day care the next morning. Later, a day care worker told the mother that Kalla had significant bruising to her head.
The mother left work and took her daughter to an emergency room. The hospital submitted a potential child-abuse report to Children's Protective Services. Grayling police determined the girl was not subjected to abuse. CPS later reached the same conclusion.
Two days after the fall, the girl was taken to her pediatrician. The doctor refused a request for an MRI and discharged Kalla after a visual examination, the lawsuit said.
Jesse Ferris and her young daughter began moving into Ferris' home on Wheeler Street in Cadillac on Feb. 13, 2013. Two days later, the couple held a family dinner and included David Ferris' three children. All of the children slept in the same bedroom of the small house.
Around midnight, David Ferris, up watching television, heard Kalla and a daughter still awake. He brought the girls into the living room to watch TV before Kalla vomited. He thought she had an upset stomach from burritos they had for dinner.
He took video of the girls having fun together then put them back in bed.
The next morning, Jesse Ferris checked on her daughter. She didn't appear to be breathing. There was vomit on the pillow. David Ferris performed CPR at the direction of a 911 dispatcher. The girl was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The lawsuit said that Cadillac police detective Lt. Todd Golnick immediately determined Ferris killed the girl overnight.
"During the interrogation, Golnick told Ferris that he suspected him of murder and stated, 'in cases like these when you show me a dead baby I'll show you a new boyfriend every time," the lawsuit said.
Ferris, who was charged as a third-time felony offender, underwent lengthy questioning and a nearly 6-hour polygraph examination. The lawsuit said Ferris cooperated and voluntarily answered police questions.
David Ferris turned himself in for arrest on March 6, 2014. He was held in maximum security, often in solitary confinement. Three months later, a judge said he could post $50,000 bond and be released. He served 97 days.
Dr. Joyce Dejong, a forensic pathologist, worked with Golnick, the lawsuit said. She concluded Kalla's death was caused by "traumatic head injuries."
The manner was listed as homicide.
She was not aware of earlier injuries or her medical history, the lawsuit said.
"Dejong's ultimate 'conclusion,' that Kalla's death was a homicide as a result of acute head trauma, is completely inconsistent with the medical and factual evidence," Stoops wrote.
He said her "bogus and fabricated" findings formed the basis for the criminal charges.
Dr. Fred Wreford, the county medical examiner, issued a "fabricated death certificate" that police and prosecutors relied upon in finding probable cause for charges, the lawsuit said.
The girl's grandparents, Pamela and Fred Fisher, were confused by the investigator's assertion that Ferris killed the girl, the lawsuit said.
They asked a fellow church parishioner, Dr. Adrian Ormsby, who served as head of pathology for Henry Ford Health System, to review the autopsy report and explain it to them. He said that medical examiners failed to determine the age of Kalla's injuries and failed to identify bronchopneumonia and lung sepsis as a contributing factor.
He concluded the death was caused by chronic brain bleeding from an earlier injury, probably the January 2013 fall, not within hours or days.
The break in the case came in September 2014 when renowned forensic pathologist and neuropathologist L. J. Dragovic conducted a pro-bono review of the case. He identified many "errors and omissions" in the autopsy, the lawsuit said.
He determined the girl "died of bronchopneumonia complicating her head trauma," and said the injuries could not have occurred only hours before her death.
"Based on these findings, Dr. Dragovic concluded 'the autopsy findings are consistent with the toddler having sustained the head trauma at least three days and quite possibly weeks prior to her death," Stoops wrote in the lawsuit.
His report was provided to Wexford County prosecutors.
On Nov. 13, 2014, the prosecutor's office dismissed charges.