A doctor said a baby who died while under her father’s care suffered injuries that weren’t consistent with what he told investigators happened to her.
A preliminary hearing for Vantrease Frazier, who is charged with the murder of his 11-month-old daughter Janiyah Chambers, began Wednesday in McComb Municipal Court.
After hearing testimony from detectives, public defender Paul Luckett argued that the affidavit didn’t specifically state whether Frazier is charged with deliberate murder or depraved heart murder and asked for a continuance.
Judge Brandon Frazier, no relation, granted Luckett’s request. City prosecutor Angela Miller will amend the affidavit, though the prosecution had not determined by Wednesday afternoon with which specific murder charge Vantrease Frazier would face. The hearing will resume at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14.
McComb police Detective Victoria Carter testified Wednesday that Vantrease Frazier told detectives that the baby had fallen but her injuries weren’t intentional.
“Once we interviewed Mr. Frazier, in his interview I think he said that he dropped her and she fell from his lap,” Carter said. “Prior to that, he said she fell from the bed.”
Detectives also gathered statements from the baby’s mother, Luvenia Chambers, and the baby’s godmother and determined during the investigation that Janiyah was left only in Frazier’s care, Carter said.
Carter and Det. John Glapion surveyed and photographed the bed in question, measuring the distance from the top of the mattress to the floor, and made a diagram of the room.
Based on that diagram, Scott Benton, doctor of forensic medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said it was impossible that falling from the bed could’ve caused the injuries, Carter said.
Police arrested Frazier after learning that, Carter said.
Carter said Janiyah’s mother, Luvenia Chambers, called police on Sept. 21 because Janiyah was unresponsive. She had left Janiyah in Vantrease Frazier’s care while she went to work.
Police and AAA Ambulance arrived at Chambers’ Pennsylvania Avenue home about the same time, and the baby was taken to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center then to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Two days later, UMMC doctors declared Janiyah dead from blunt force injuries to the head.
Glapion testified about his role in surveying Chambers’ home and about the UMMC medical reports. Luckett objected, saying that Glapion wasn’t qualified to give a medical opinion.
Judge Frazier allowed the testimony as hearsay.
“The doctor told us from the height of the bed, the injuries did not come from the baby falling off the bed,” Glapion said.
Miller asked both detectives if they saw if the baby was visibly injured when they responded to the scene, but neither examined the baby in that way, they said. Glapion said he did see photos and X-rays from UMMC. He described the baby as having spinal cord injuries, a fractured rib and a skull fracture on the back of her head.
Luckett initially moved that the case be dismissed due to lack of testimony regarding an intentional act from Frazier; he felt the prosecution was speculating that Frazier threw the child on the floor.
“There has been no testimony that it was an intentional act,” Luckett said.
Miller maintained that detectives’ testimony put Frazier as the only one with the baby when she was injured and that medical opinions contradicted his statements.
Judge Frazier asked Miller if the prosecution contended that the defendant caused the injuries intentionally and, if so, with what subsection of the murder statute the defendant was being charged.
Luckett said that if the affidavit had to be amended, the defense had be given time to prepare for what is on the affidavit, leading to the motion for a continuance.
Judge Frazier also granted Luckett’s motion that all evidence, including UMMC doctors’ reports, be copied and provided to the defense.
