ME Report

[Teresa Larson]

Gosh, I'm having a hard time believing that no one in that car was charged with a crime. How in the HECK would this child have such severe head injuries with only contusions and abrasions (bruises and scratches) on the rest of her body?!?

I'm sure this was looked at by LE, but it totally looks like she was beaten about the head before "exiting the vehicle" or just landed *plop* on her head without trying to brace herself whatsoever. No broken wrists or anything. Just...weird.

Case Number: S-1100-CR-99025155
Case Category: Criminal
Case Title: ST VS FERNANDEZ
Court: Pinal County SuperiorJudge: THE HON JANNA L VANDERPOOL
Filing Date: 02/04/1999Disposition Date: 05/17/1999
Party Name: ALONZO FERNANDEZ
Party Type: D 1 - DEFNDT/RESPNDTDate of Birth: 07/28/1972
Citation: CNONE Count 1: HIT AND RUN DEATH/INJURY
Disposition Date: 05/17/1999Disposition: JDGMT GUILTY/RESP SENT IMPOSED
Count 2: POSSESS/USE MARIJUANA < 2#Disposition Date: 05/17/1999Disposition: COURT DISMISSAL
Count 3: MANSLAUGHTER-RECKLESSDisposition Date: 05/17/1999Disposition: COURT DISMISSAL

 

[Zanko]

Thank you for posting that Theresa! Alonzo was charged but only got probation. Pretty sad. Plus, no charges whatsoever for Lindsey. Not even possession of a controlled substance!

 

[fmw63]

What does your gut say?

I'm hungry.

 

[VASHLEY88]

I'm hungry.

:laugh:

 

[fmw63]

I'm having a hard time reading the report as posted. Anyone else??? Tried to print it out, but that didn't work either. Can someone give me some tips???

I cleaned it up a little and sent it to Christine to post, but I guess she's a little busy. Meanwhile, if anyone really needs it bad:crazy:, I can PM it to you.

 

[VASHLEY88]

As I read the report, I did a diagram of her sustained injuries. I know it's not perfect size "abrasions"/"contusions", but I got all of the places marked just to get an idea of how she may have fell. You guys can take a look if you want.. she was on her back for a lot of that fall it seems..

 

[phenolred]

What amazes me is NO BROKEN BONES other than the skull fracture. Isnt that strange

It makes me wonder about how they say people that are Drunk in car accidents have less injuries than the people they hit because they are drunk and out of it sort of relaxed so they dont tense up prior to impact. By bracing themseleves with their arms etc. Maybe she was out of it so she didnt tense up and try to break her fall

 

[VASHLEY88]

What amazes me is NO BROKEN BONES other than the skull fracture. Isnt that strange

It makes me wonder about how they say people that are Drunk in car accidents have less injuries than the people they hit because they are drunk and out of it sort of relaxed so they dont tense up prior to impact. By bracing themseleves with their arms etc. Maybe she was out of it so she didnt tense up and try to break her fall

I thought about that too. But I was also thinking that maybe she picked up so much momentum as she was rolling that she really couldn't break her fall.. ?

 

[christine2448]

I'm hungry.

I just posted this on the July 4th thread! LOL!

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50985&page=2

They revived it from last year.....I was hungry 7/3/07....and said, one year later, still hungry

 

[thefragile7393]

EXCELLENT illustration Vashley! I too am now amazed there were no other broken bones sans her fatal head wounds.

 

[Zanko]

Thank you Vashely88! It's helpful to SEE what injuries she sustained.

 

[VASHLEY88]

Thank you Vashely88! It's helpful to SEE what injuries she sustained.

You're welcome. Poor baby, she obviously endured an immense amount of pain before she met her fate. uch:

It seems to me that a majority of her injury is on her right dorsal side (and the right side of her head/face). To me, it indicated that she may have twisted upon falling out of the window BACKWARDS since her right palm sustained a lot of abrasions, thus trying to break her fall. Or she came out on her right side, almost like a cartwheel. I know it doesn't really matter whichever way, I'd just like to know which way she exited the vehicle since a lot of members here think she may have been unconscious. Interestingly enough, her fat lip, which was never mentioned in the ME report, is on her left side which is where less damage was sustained.

Anyone know what they meant by "Blunt force trauma or beating"?..


Focus.. focus.. I know.

 

[thefragile7393]

Anyone know what they meant by "Blunt force trauma or beating"?..
Focus.. focus.. I know.

Hit with something, like a blunt instrument repeatedly, or beaten with fits/feet

 

[VASHLEY88]

Hit with something, like a blunt instrument repeatedly, or beaten with fits/feet

I understand blunt force trauma.. I was just wondering about the "beating" part, really. So do they believe she was hit with an object or fists?

 

[annemc2]

Awesome diagram, VASHLEY. Thanks for doing that.

Thought this was interesting:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A basilar skull fracture (or Basal skull fracture) is a linear skull fracture involving the base of the skull. This type of fracture is rare, occurring as the only fracture in just 4% of severe head injury patients.[1][2] Moreover, it is most often associated with leakage in the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain into the ear (CSF otorrhea) or the nose (CSF rhinorrhea). These signs are pathognomonic for basilar skull fracture.[3]

Basilar skull fractures can be caused by a blow to the back of the head, or by sudden deceleration of torso but not head (as in traffic accidents), resulting in separation of the suture between the occipital and temporal bones.

Nice photo of skull anatomy:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...x-Human_skull_side_simplified_(bones).svg.png

 

[Aphra]

Uh...so does this mean that she was possibly injured before she jumped/was pushed out? If she had sustained an injury from falling on the pavement they probably would've (or should've) referred to it as blunt trauma, not blunt FORCE trauma. But maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Still, it could be a possible scenario: they pick her up at the store, go to this house, something bad goes down, they put her in the car to figure out what to do with her, she wakes up wanting to vomit, she leans out of the window...and it's just too tempting for Lindsey, so she gives her a shove. It's the perfect cover up.

Uh...not that this has anything to do with identifying her! (to bring it back to topic, maybe the drug dealers whose house they stopped at were annoyed with her nervous itching...:waitasec

ETA: Woo hoo on them tracking down the description! something that should've been done, oh, ten YEARS ago?

 

[Teresa Larson]

IMO I believe MJD was pushed out of the car. I thought this from the beginning and now after seeing the diagram I believe it even more. I know what the truck driver said BUT I still think MJD and Lindsey were fighting. That's why Alonzo swerved over in front of the truck drivers. Because they were hitting each other. Think about this scenario If she went out the window head first she would have put her hands out to break her fall That would be a natural instinct However most of her injuries were to her back side which leads me to believe she was shoved out the door back wards. I think if she was unconscious or out of it that it'd be pretty hard actually impossible to push her dead weight out a small window like that car had. I would like to know what Shaine Parker saw He was a witness also. Did he see the same thing the truck driver did?

 

[Zanko]

Uh...so does this mean that she was possibly injured before she jumped/was pushed out? If she had sustained an injury from falling on the pavement they probably would've (or should've) referred to it as blunt trauma, not blunt FORCE trauma. But maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Still, it could be a possible scenario: they pick her up at the store, go to this house, something bad goes down, they put her in the car to figure out what to do with her, she wakes up wanting to vomit, she leans out of the window...and it's just too tempting for Lindsey, so she gives her a shove. It's the perfect cover up.

Uh...not that this has anything to do with identifying her! (to bring it back to topic, maybe the drug dealers whose house they stopped at were annoyed with her nervous itching...:waitasec

ETA: Woo hoo on them tracking down the description! something that should've been done, oh, ten YEARS ago?

A blow to the head can cause confusion, some loss of motor control and vomiting. It would make sense that if they were trying to figure out what to do with MJD after she'd been hit in the head, a little push would potentially solve their problem. This could also explain not stopping if she really did just suddenly jump for no reason. They had miles of driving to practice their scenario.

 

[Aphra]

I think, though, if MJD had been hit in the head she may have been too out of it to try to put her hands down to break her fall. (As has been noted before, she would have had more serious injuries to her hands and probably would have broken her wrist or arm too--I know that when I fell backwards off a teeter totter in the 4th grade, I braced myself with my hands and broke a wrist.)

 

[Zanko]

I remember hearing about a girl that was in a car accident. She said she didn't even know what happened when the ground suddenly came up and hit her in the face. She didn't brace herself because she didn't realize what was happening.
I would find it interesting to look at what injuries are usually inflicted in this sort of fall. I would imagine a lot of factors would influence the injuries inflicted, especially speed of the vehicle and the terrain landed on. But if she fell on the asphalt, I would imagine there would be asphalt embedded in her injuries. Any note of that anywhere? Would the hospital have flushed all of this out? Would they have been able to?
Lots of questions...