Benjamin Brown
photo by Joseph Dycus
Hamilton County Medical Examiner Dr. James Metcalfe testified Thursday that a Soddy Daisy child died after being shaken so hard that she got blood on the brain and her optic nerve was damaged.
Dr. Metcalfe used a large doll as a prop to demonstrate to the jury in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman how Annie Shell, who was almost three, was killed.
Dr. Metcalfe also said there was a large bruise on the right side of the child's face.
He said her injuries did not line up with being a fall as her babysitter, Brandi Giannunzio, claimed.
The babysitter's boyfriend, Benjamin Brown, is on trial for the 2018 felony murder.
It was also testified that the child's younger sister had swelling and bruises around her nose as well as dried blood in her nostrils.
The child's father, David Shell, said she did not have any facial marks prior to being dropped off at the babysitter. He said she had never had a nose bleed.
Christy Killian, who picked up the two children from the babysitter, said she noticed the marks on the face of the younger child when she got out with her at Family Dollar.
The child was taken to the hospital on Aug. 18 and she was declared dead three days later. Doctors operated to remove a blood clot that had formed in her brain, but were not able to save her.