"Anthony Ball denied several times he fatally injured his girlfriend's daughter nearly two years ago.
Two
police investigators testified Wednesday that Ball said he found Athena
Ramey unconscious on a futon and didn't know how she suffered a serious
head injury. "He said he didn't know what happened to
the child," Calhoun County Sheriff Department Detective Steve Hinkley
said. "But his story changed after an interview by telling me Brianna
(Richards) shook the child at 9 a.m. He had said she didn't do anything
to the child." The 20-month-old daughter of Richards was
found by Ball unconscious on Dec. 18, 2014, in their Marshall home. She
died the next day at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo of what
doctors and investigators said was a severe brain injury. Ball,
30, was later charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse
and faces life in prison without parole if convicted on both charges.
Testimony from the detectives came Wednesday, on the second day of the
jury trial before Circuit Judge John Hallacy. The trial continues
Thursday with the first of several medical witnesses discussing the
cause of death. The trial is expected to continue into next week." Hinkley
said he was called to begin the investigation about two hours after the
child was taken to the hospital. He said the county's Major Crimes Task
Force was activated so several detectives were working on the case. At
the hospital Hinkley said he found Richards crying and upset, but
Ball "didn't seem to have any emotion. He didn't seem to be upset at
all." Ball told the detective he was caring for the child
and his two daughters at their apartment in the 500 block of West
Michigan Avenue in Marshall while Richards was working at an an adult
care foster home south of the city. In his interview with
Hinkley, Ball said he was fixing dinner for the children after putting a
sleeping Athena on the futon. But about 90 minutes later he was unable
to wake her and said her lips were blue. Ball
told the detective that Athena had a respiratory infection, had bumped
her head earlier that day on a table, had fallen and had been in a car
with her grandfather, Darrin Martin, that struck a deer on Dec. Martin
testified his granddaughter was in a car seat and was not injured and
Ball acknowledged to police that Athena didn't show any symptoms from
the fall or bumping into the table. The day after Athena
was injured, Ball was interviewed by Lt. Marco Hernandez of the Michigan
State Police in Lansing. Hernandez said Wednesday he pushed Ball,
saying only he or Richards could have injured the child. "He denied Bri did anything," Hernandez said, until Ball was told that the child died. "He
put his head in his hands and appeared to cry but not very long,"
Hernandez said, and eventually said he observed Richards, who was
pregnant with his child, shake Athena about 9 a.m. on the day the little
girl was injured. He told investigators he didn't tell them about the
shaking because he wanted to protect Richards. Hernandez
said Ball showed him how Richards shook the little girl but when the
officer said that would not be enough force, Ball demonstrated again
only harder."
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2016/12/07/defendant-said-he-found-girl-unconscious/95094442/
See previous post of this Blog at the link below:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2016/10/leo-ackley-michigan-anthony-ball.html