PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Cheryl Preston, Bowie’s mother, testified that Bowie called a domestic abuse shelter to try to get help for Leah Mullinix, and that he filed a Childline report in late August of 2018. “Mom, I just gotta do something. She’s hurting him. I know something’s going on. If I can just get them into a shelter…” Preston recounted Bowie as saying. York County prosecutor Rachel Sherman said this contradicted previous statements by Preston. She specifically cited the transcript of an interview conducted by Detective-Sergeant Kyle Hower. That transcript didn’t mention any account of Preston saying she watched Bowie call York County Children and Youth Services."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Earlier in the day, the prosecution wrapped up its case after four days of questions and cross-examination of Leah Mullinix. Farley Holt, the attorney representing Bowie, showed screenshots of messages she exchanged with “Hollyday,” the nickname of a man who allowed her to stay in a car on his property for a time after she moved to York County. “They can’t charge u wit murder u weren’t there n i wasn’t either,” Leah said in reference to Dante’s death. “I know they’re trying to hit me with a child endangerment stuff because of you saying that I was abusive to you and him,” Rivera replied."
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STORY: "Nurse testifies she tried too (sic) keep 2-year-old who later died from going home with his mother, PennLive (Patriot-News) reports.(Reporter Jonathan Bergmueller). December 22, 2022.
GIST: "Dante Mullinix, 2, should not have left the York Hospital with his mother the night of Sept. 2.
That’s what Natalie Billings, a nurse-practitioner, testified Wednesday in York County Court, saying that she saw a number of red flags when the boy was brought in for treatment of a herpes infection.
But Dante went home with his mother anyway. Four days later, he was hospitalized for a third time that week. By Sept. 15, he was dead.
Billings was testifying in the trial of Tyree Bowie, 43, who is charged with killing Dante Mullinix. The prosecution rested its case Wednesday, and Billings was among the first defense witnesses to take the stand. The trial is expected to continue into next week.
Prosecutors say Bowie strangled Dante and brutally beat him the night of Sept. 6. The defense maintains Bowie was actually trying to administer CPR in an attempt to save the boy’s life, after the child choked on an animal cracker.
Billings described her encounter with Dante and Leah as strange when she first saw the bruise on Dante’s forehead. About 20 minutes into the examination, she realized Children and Youth Services brought Dante and his mother in from a domestic abuse shelter.
“He was disheveled and a sad soul. I felt as if he may have been neglected,” Billings said.
Dante’s mother, Leah Mullinix, seemed disinterested in her child’s medical situation and displayed few signs of a parental bond toward Dante, Billings testified. She spent most of the appointment on a video chat with a man, Billings said.
“Leah seemed frustrated, lacking many resources,” Billings said. “I felt like she was a frustrated mom, but was very entertained with what was on her phone.”
Billings subsequently filed a Childline report saying she suspected abuse and neglect, and said she thought that after the SAFE nurse, who is trained to care for victims of child abuse, took photos of Dante and took Leah Mullinix’s history, that Dante would be taken from his mother.
“Mom was not believable,” Billings said. “She would contradict herself, tell nurses and the pediatrician… different things. Her story would change and it was hard to get a history out of her. She was annoyed by me asking questions about Dante.”
Although Billings argued Dante would be better served if he stayed somewhere other than with his mother that night, the CYS caseworker disagreed, Billings said.
Billings said the caseworker’s main goal was to prescriptions for ointment and antibiotics to treat Dante’s herpes infection, and to send the two on their way.
Yet, she said she remained under the impression Dante would not be released. She said she stayed an extra hour beyond her 12-hour shift to make sure the caseworker would keep Dante at the hospital.
But after she clocked out, Dante was released to go with his mother, Billings said.
Cheryl Preston, Bowie’s mother, testified that Bowie called a domestic abuse shelter to try to get help for Leah Mullinix, and that he filed a Childline report in late August of 2018.
“Mom, I just gotta do something. She’s hurting him. I know something’s going on. If I can just get them into a shelter…” Preston recounted Bowie as saying.
York County prosecutor Rachel Sherman said this contradicted previous statements by Preston. She specifically cited the transcript of an interview conducted by Detective-Sergeant Kyle Hower.
That transcript didn’t mention any account of Preston saying she watched Bowie call York County Children and Youth Services.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution wrapped up its case after four days of questions and cross-examination of Leah Mullinix. Farley Holt, the attorney representing Bowie, showed screenshots of messages she exchanged with “Hollyday,” the nickname of a man who allowed her to stay in a car on his property for a time after she moved to York County.
“They can’t charge u wit murder u weren’t there n i wasn’t either,” Leah said in reference to Dante’s death.
“I know they’re trying to hit me with a child endangerment stuff because of you saying that I was abusive to you and him,” Rivera replied."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resurce. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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