Judge hears testimony pending autopsy results for 18-month-old girl who weighed 10 pounds
Nitamargarita
Judge hears testimony pending autopsy results for 18-month-old girl who weighed 10 pounds
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Authorities still do not know what caused the death of an underweight Henderson child, but a judge ruled Tuesday that her parents
will stand trial on a murder charge in the case.
Henderson Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr made the ruling after listening to testimony from five witnesses during a preliminary
hearing for Demone Tisdale, 21, and Sophia Mendoza, 20.
The defendants each face a second-degree murder charge in the death of their 18-month-old daughter, Sierra Tisdale, and neglect
charges involving their four surviving children.
Dr. Rexene Worrell, a deputy medical examiner with the Clark County coroner's office, performed an autopsy on Sierra's body but said
she needs more test results to determine what caused the girl's death.
"She appeared externally to have very little muscle or fat development," Worrell said Tuesday.
The witness testified that Sierra appeared "severely malnourished" and "markedly dehydrated." The girl weighed a little over 10
pounds but should have weighed twice that amount, Worrell said.
The deputy medical examiner said Sierra was wearing a soiled diaper and was covered with fecal matter from her belly button to her
thighs. The girl also had cockroach bites on her genitalia.
Worrell said she examined the girl's twin brother, Jacob Tisdale, at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and saw similar bites.
Authorities found Jacob and his dead sister Oct. 1 after Tisdale's mother, Irma McKinney, called 911. McKinney testified last week
that she went to the 55 Wyoming Ave. home around 7:20 p.m. after her son called her and told her "all the kids were sick."
Diane Lipscomb, a pediatric critical care physician at Sunrise, also testified last week. She said Jacob was suffering from severe
malnutrition and dehydration but survived after spending five days in the hospital.
Worrell testified that the condition of Sierra's body, including its mummified toes and fingertips, led her to believe the child had
been dead for two or three days.
Henderson police Detective Todd Wellman said he interviewed Tisdale and Mendoza on the night of Oct. 1, a Tuesday.
The detective said Mendoza told him all five of her children had been "sick and throwing up" during the preceding weekend. She said
Tisdale placed Sierra in a bedroom Sunday morning and did not check on the child again until Tuesday afternoon or evening.
Mendoza also told the detective Oct. 1 was her birthday and that she had gone to lunch with her mother that day at a Chinese
restaurant on Water Street.
Wellman said Mendoza told him the responsibility for caring for the children falls on her and that Tisdale "doesn't help out a lot."
Tisdale told the detective that he had not worked for several months and that he had 50 percent of the responsibility for caring for
the children.
"He had a hard time remembering anything about the weekend," the detective said.
Wellman said Tisdale seemed sleepy and unresponsive at times and agitated at other times during the interview. The detective said he
took blood samples from both parents but has not seen the results.
According to the detective's testimony, Tisdale last remembered Sierra eating around 11 a.m. Sunday, while he was watching a
football game. Tisdale said he could not recall whether he checked on the child after that.
"He said that Miss Mendoza should have checked on her," Wellman said.
Both defendants, who are in custody, are scheduled to appear for an arraignment Nov. 19 before District Judge Donald Mosley. The
four surviving children, who range in age from 6 months to 3 years, have been placed with their maternal grandparents.
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Nov-06-Wed-2002/news/20003149.html
Nita
Chocolic
"Nitamargarita" <Nitama...@blahblahblah.cox.net> wrote in message
news:sfny9.12490$6b.3...@news2.east.cox.net...
bet they are mentally handicapped and not being monitored by anybody! Where
the hell is CPS when they ARE needed??? This makes me sick.
Chocolic
Nitamargarita
"Chocolic" <chatt...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:Uvny9.31261$VJ5.1...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I know, somebody had to have noticed something wasn't right with this family. This story gave me the shivers, just imagining what
these kids lives were like. It's disgusting.
Nita
scooter34
> news:sfny9.12490$6b.3...@news2.east.cox.net...
>
> > Wellman said Mendoza told him the responsibility for caring for the
> children falls on her and that Tisdale "doesn't help out a lot."
> > Tisdale told the detective that he had not worked for several months and
> that he had 50 percent of the responsibility for caring for
> > the children.
> >
> > "He had a hard time remembering anything about the weekend," the detective
> said.
> >
> > Wellman said Tisdale seemed sleepy and unresponsive at times and agitated
> at other times during the interview. The detective said he
> > took blood samples from both parents but has not seen the results.
> >
> >
> OMG. Five kids and they are only 20 and 21 yrs old? How much you wanna
> bet they are mentally handicapped and not being monitored by anybody! Where
> the hell is CPS when they ARE needed??? This makes me sick.
>
> Chocolic
Mentally handicapped? Try drugs.
Chocolic
"scooter34" <momofpe...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:1731eefe.02110...@posting.google.com...
Maybe both?
Chocolic