REGINA – The condition and health of the four-year-old girl at the centre of the Goforth murder trial was the focus on Friday, to wrap up the first week in the scheduled three week trial.
Kevin and Tammy Goforth are facing second degree murder charges in the death of the girl who was in their care August of 2012. They are also accused of abusing and neglecting the victim’s younger sister.
READ MORE: Regina Police testify on Day 4 of Goforth murder trial
All three witnesses who testified on Friday echoed the same description of the victim when she was brought to hospital on August 1st, 2012, testifying that she was “just skin and bones.”
Dr. Essalah, a pediatrician from Regina General Hospital, told the court the older girl was in cardiac arrest when she first arrived at the hospital. It took staff 15 minutes to revive the girl. Dr. Essalah testified that 10 minutes of cardiac arrest, or no heartbeat, causes brain damage.
After reviving the victim, Dr. Essalah said she was intubated as she couldn’t breathe on her own. He then said tests showed the girl was malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from renal failure when she arrived.
After three days, he said the victim was declared brain dead.
The defence asked the doctor if he had any of the girl’s previous medical records, to which he replied “not at the time.” The lawyers for Tammy and Kevin Goforth also had the doctor clarify what ‘malnourished’ meant, which he said doesn’t necessarily mean that someone isn’t eating, just that they aren’t eating enough.
ER nurse on Goforth’s response in hospital
The nurse working in the emergency room the morning the Goforth’s brought in the girl described the couple’s emotional condition at the time.
Connie Garston said that both were dazed and that Tammy “didn’t know what to do or where to go. When I asked her questions a bit later she got quite distraught.”
Garston testified that Tammy told her she’d found the young girl in the corner of a closet at home not breathing properly, and said she hadn’t been eating in the last few days.
But Garston said the four-year-old’s condition and list of injuries prompted her to contact police and Social Services.
RPS officer responds to hospital
Cst. Kayla Dunford from the Regina Police Service who responded to the hospital also took the stand.
Emotions in the courtroom continued to run high, and crying could be heard from the gallery when Dunford described the girl’s condition, saying “She was tiny. Very frail, very thin.” Dunford sat with the four-year-old overnight in hospital.
The girls can’t be identified because of a court order.
More to come
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