Medical experts testify in Castro murder trial
Emergency room physician Dr. James Last remembers attempting to resuscitate 23-month-old Alzana Lotino.
November 7, 2014Updated: November 7, 2014
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Krystal Paco
Guam - The trial for the man accused of killing his girlfriend's toddler continued today. Emergency room physician Dr. James Last remembers attempting to resuscitate 23-month-old Alzana Lotino.
"In all honesty, when the baby came in, it was dead. But it's a little baby. You do whatever you can," he detailed.
But what else did he remember? Seeing bruises throughout the child's body what he says prompted him to call authorities, specifically the Guam Police Department and Child Protective Services.
"I kind of remember the mother and I was trying to ask her about the bruises...this little baby has several bruises on the head and sternum and had a contusion and I asked the mother and she looked puzzled. With a two-year-old like this, with these types of injuries, it's suspicious," Dr. Last recalled.
Prosecution alleges the defendant John J.T. Castro is responsible for the foul play that lead to Alzana's death. Castro is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated assault, and child abuse.
The night prior, Castro babysat the young girl and says he may have rolled over her when they fell asleep on the mattress.
As the government continued to make its case-in-chief in day two of the trial today, chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola testified that the girl died as a result of blunt force trauma to the abdomen which ruptured her small intestine. This resulted in a septic infection to spread throughout the young child's body. The infection would've also resulted in a high fever, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and difficulty eating. If left untreated, death was inevitable and any attempts of CPR useless.
"In my opinion, the death was a result of the laceration of the intestine and liver due to blunt trauma: homicide," he stated.
Dr. Espinola says he believes the girl was a victim of child abuse - this from the varied ages of bruises on various parts of her body, old fractures he observed on her ribs, and the depth of the rupture - none of which are injuries consistent with rolling over a baby but that of a single blow with a closed fist to the stomach.
During cross-examination however, it became clear that there's no sure way to tell if a man or a woman hit the child.
Public defender Suresh Sampath questioned the medical examiner, saying, "The localized nature of the trauma suggests that what caused the injury was likely a closed hand, correct?" which Espinola confirmed. Likewise, Dr. Espinola answered positively to questions about the abdomen. "Could it be a man?" Suresh asked, with Espinola responding, "Yeah."
"Could it be a woman?" he further asked, which Espinola, saying, "That's right. One blow."
Guam - The trial for the man accused of killing his girlfriend's toddler continued today. Emergency room physician Dr. James Last remembers attempting to resuscitate 23-month-old Alzana Lotino.
"In all honesty, when the baby came in, it was dead. But it's a little baby. You do whatever you can," he detailed.
But what else did he remember? Seeing bruises throughout the child's body what he says prompted him to call authorities, specifically the Guam Police Department and Child Protective Services.
"I kind of remember the mother and I was trying to ask her about the bruises...this little baby has several bruises on the head and sternum and had a contusion and I asked the mother and she looked puzzled. With a two-year-old like this, with these types of injuries, it's suspicious," Dr. Last recalled.
Prosecution alleges the defendant John J.T. Castro is responsible for the foul play that lead to Alzana's death. Castro is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated assault, and child abuse.
The night prior, Castro babysat the young girl and says he may have rolled over her when they fell asleep on the mattress.
As the government continued to make its case-in-chief in day two of the trial today, chief medical examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola testified that the girl died as a result of blunt force trauma to the abdomen which ruptured her small intestine. This resulted in a septic infection to spread throughout the young child's body. The infection would've also resulted in a high fever, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and difficulty eating. If left untreated, death was inevitable and any attempts of CPR useless.
"In my opinion, the death was a result of the laceration of the intestine and liver due to blunt trauma: homicide," he stated.
Dr. Espinola says he believes the girl was a victim of child abuse - this from the varied ages of bruises on various parts of her body, old fractures he observed on her ribs, and the depth of the rupture - none of which are injuries consistent with rolling over a baby but that of a single blow with a closed fist to the stomach.
During cross-examination however, it became clear that there's no sure way to tell if a man or a woman hit the child.
Public defender Suresh Sampath questioned the medical examiner, saying, "The localized nature of the trauma suggests that what caused the injury was likely a closed hand, correct?" which Espinola confirmed. Likewise, Dr. Espinola answered positively to questions about the abdomen. "Could it be a man?" Suresh asked, with Espinola responding, "Yeah."
"Could it be a woman?" he further asked, which Espinola, saying, "That's right. One blow."