Dakota Valkyrie
February 21st, 2009, 10:13 AM
http://i44.tinypic.com/nvs20g.jpgBrandon Roy Vestal, 24, of Hull, Texas, was found guilty on Feb. 20 of a first-degree felony count of intentionally and knowingly injuring a child.
Vestal was on trial for the death of Brooke Blackerby, the 15-month-old daughter of then-girlfriend, Carrie Berotte.
Vestal was the caregiver of the little girl while the mother was at work. The three lived together at the home of Vestal’s father.
On Sept. 2, 2006, the child was injured in what Vestal originally reported was caused by a fall from the front porch after the family dog pushed Blackerby off.
During court testimony, Vestal’s bond trial transcript was read by the prosecutors where he admitted to falsifying the incident involving the dog to the child’s mother and that the child had actually fallen from the second story balcony of a loft bedroom.
The next day, at approximately 2 a.m., Vestal went to check on Blackerby and found her cold with blue lips. He woke the rest of the family and called 911. He performed CPR on the child until paramedics arrived. The child was flown by air ambulance to the hospital and died approximately three days later.
A year and a half after the incident, Vestal was indicted by a Liberty County grand jury in February of 2008. He later turned himself in and has been in police custody since, awaiting trial.
The jury took less than an hour to return the maximum punishment of life in prison and a $10,000 fine.
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/21/dayton_news/news/0909vestal_found_guilty_dn.txt
It was revealed that Vestal threw the baby into the air in a playful manner in order to, what he described as, “get more life into her.” The testimony said that the baby was not acting normally after the fall.http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/19/cleveland_advocate/news/0909vestal_trial__first_day_ca.txt
Dr. Anna Lopez, the assistant medical examiner at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that from her medical examination, Blackerby died from blunt abdominal trauma which caused internal bleeding and other complications ultimately resulting in her death. Lopez classified the manner of death consistent with a homicide.
Vestal’s step-mother, Lela Vestal, said that Vestal did not tell her that Blackerby was injured even though she had called him the day of the incident to ask him what size pants she wore because she wanted to buy her some outfits.http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/19/dayton_news/news/0909vestal_trial__part_two_dn.txt
Vestal was on trial for the death of Brooke Blackerby, the 15-month-old daughter of then-girlfriend, Carrie Berotte.
Vestal was the caregiver of the little girl while the mother was at work. The three lived together at the home of Vestal’s father.
On Sept. 2, 2006, the child was injured in what Vestal originally reported was caused by a fall from the front porch after the family dog pushed Blackerby off.
During court testimony, Vestal’s bond trial transcript was read by the prosecutors where he admitted to falsifying the incident involving the dog to the child’s mother and that the child had actually fallen from the second story balcony of a loft bedroom.
The next day, at approximately 2 a.m., Vestal went to check on Blackerby and found her cold with blue lips. He woke the rest of the family and called 911. He performed CPR on the child until paramedics arrived. The child was flown by air ambulance to the hospital and died approximately three days later.
A year and a half after the incident, Vestal was indicted by a Liberty County grand jury in February of 2008. He later turned himself in and has been in police custody since, awaiting trial.
The jury took less than an hour to return the maximum punishment of life in prison and a $10,000 fine.
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/21/dayton_news/news/0909vestal_found_guilty_dn.txt
It was revealed that Vestal threw the baby into the air in a playful manner in order to, what he described as, “get more life into her.” The testimony said that the baby was not acting normally after the fall.http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/19/cleveland_advocate/news/0909vestal_trial__first_day_ca.txt
Dr. Anna Lopez, the assistant medical examiner at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that from her medical examination, Blackerby died from blunt abdominal trauma which caused internal bleeding and other complications ultimately resulting in her death. Lopez classified the manner of death consistent with a homicide.
Vestal’s step-mother, Lela Vestal, said that Vestal did not tell her that Blackerby was injured even though she had called him the day of the incident to ask him what size pants she wore because she wanted to buy her some outfits.http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/19/dayton_news/news/0909vestal_trial__part_two_dn.txt