Hearing testimony tracks 5 year old Brooklyn Holcomb's final hours

http://www.bdtonline.com/siteSearch/...026123514.html


Hearing testimony tracks ... Brooklyn's final hours

By TAMMIE TOLER
Princeton Times

— PRINCETON — As a community struggled to cope with the death of
5-year-old Brooklyn Holcomb, a preliminary hearing this week traced the
Jan. 15 events that brought her to the emergency room unconscious,
covered in bruises and bearing what appeared to be the imprint of a belt
buckle.
Prosecuting Attorney Timm Boggess questioned first the emergency room
physician who treated the battered girl and then the detective charged
with identifying what killed her.
Ronald William Holcomb never raised his head.
The 34-year-old veteran and prison guard charged with first-degree
murder sat at the defense table, with his eyes lowered, flanked by his
attorneys, Tom Janutolo, Tim Harvey and Joe Harvey.
When asked a question by his attorney, he nodded, and he briefly looked
up at a piece of wood he allegedly used as a paddle the day Brooklyn
Holcomb lost consciousness.
Magistrate Mike Flanagan presided over the proceedings, as Boggess and
his witnesses outlined the events that opened a murder investigation.
PCH Emergency Room physician Dr. Ammar Almehmi was the first to take the
stand.
The doctor said he saw 5-year-old Brooklyn Holcomb for the first time,
as she lay on an ER bed, unconscious. Her pupils were already fixed and
dialated and did not react to light.
“That tells me there is some injury to her neurologic system,” he said.
Knowing PCH was not equipped to offer neurological surgery on the scale
the child could need, Almehmi said he immediately began communicating
with hospitals in Charleston and Roanoke, Va., in attempt to find treatment.
As he waited on word from the hospitals and the transport that would
take Brooklyn Holcomb on to another facility, Almehmi said he began a
secondary examination that revealed multiple bruises on the child’s body.
“There were too many bruises,” he said.
The most disturbing part of the examination, Almehmi said, occurred when
workers turned the girl over and saw the condition of her buttocks,
allegedly beaten to the point that the skin was raw, bruised, broken and
swollen all over.
“Her butt was kind of like raw meat,” Almehmi testified.
At that point, he said PCH officials immediately contacted Child
Protective Services and law enforcement authorities.
In addition to bruises on Brooklyn Holcomb’s chin, and cheek, there was
also a large wound, approximately three inches in diameter, on the back
of her head, Almehmi testified.
A CT scan later showed there was severe swelling in the girl’s brain.
When the doctor talked with Ronald Holcomb, Almehmi testified that the
father told him Brooklyn Holcomb had a bleeding disorder that made her
bruise easily and that she had “banged herself against something”
earlier in the day and called for help.
Almehmi testified that Holcomb said he was feeding his 7-month-old child
and told Brooklyn Holcomb to go to bed. When he checked on her later, he
allegedly told the doctor she was unconscious.
As Joe Harvey questioned the doctor, he asked whether Brooklyn Holcomb’s
bruising and head injury could be consistent with falling down the
stairs in the white, two-story home Holcomb, his wife and four children
lived in.
Almehmi said he could not speculate on the cause of the wounds, only
that they were there.
“I know I can just tell you I found a bruise. What is the reason? I
don’t know,” he said.
As the hearing shifted to a law enforcement angle, Boggess called
Princeton Police Det. Sgt. C.N. Poe to the stand.
Poe testified he arrived as Almehmi and nurses attempted to treat
Brooklyn Holcomb, who he believed, “basically, had been beaten.”
At one point, he said the doctor looked up and said, “She’s not going to
make it.”
Poe said he immediately began taking photographs of the girl and the
various wounds that were obvious externally. Along with a host of less
severe bruises that covered her body, Poe counted one on her chin, one
under her right eye, one behind her ear, what appeared to be a handprint
on her abdomen, a severe wound on the back of her head, marks on her
neck that appeared as if she had been strangled, and extreme bruising on
the small of her back, buttocks and upper-back thighs.
Poe said said he had never conducted any beating investigation in which
the victim was as extensively wounded as Brooklyn Holcomb.
“Plain and simply, it was a physical beating,” the officer said,
describing the injury under her eye as one from a blunt object and a
“scuff-type” injury on her lower abdomen, just above the genital area.
As medical officials worked to find a way to get the little girl more
treatment with winter weather grounding all flights, Poe talked with
Holcomb. The father was allowed to see the girl one more time before an
ambulance took her to Charleston and he was arrested.
During a formal statement, Poe said Holcomb admitted to spanking
Brooklyn, possibly with too much force.
“He explained that at approximately 9:30 [a.m.], he had fed Brooklyn her
breakfast, and she wouldn’t eat it,” Poe said, adding that he said
Brooklyn either spit the food out or made herself spit up.
According to Holcomb’s statement, he did allegedly spank her for that,
with a paddle, possibly “a little too hard.” He later sent her upstairs,
where Holcomb said she hurt herself, Poe testified.
“He said she threw herself down on the floor and that she had a tendency
of falling down the stairs,” Poe said.
In the early afternoon, Poe said Holcomb told him Brooklyn complained of
a headache, prompting him to have her lie down on a day bed at the home.
When he went to wake her, Holcomb reportedly said she did not wake up.
At that point, the defendant allegedly packed up the other children at
the residence and took them to another family member before returning to
get Brooklyn Holcomb and drive her to the hospital.
Once Holcomb was in custody at the Princeton Police Department, Poe said
he noticed there was skin missing from Holcomb’s knuckles, a sign, the
officer said, meant the man had repeatedly struck something, hard.
“On his hands, knuckles, there was skin gone, as if you would strike
something and scuff the skin off your hand,” Poe said.
As authorities searched for evidence in the Holcomb household , Poe said
they found some bloody rags in the garbage. Although officers located
piece of wood at the house, Poe said Officer J.W. Howell had remained
unconvinced it was the paddle Holcomb admitted to hitting his daughter with.
Holcomb’s wife later turned in a piece of wood approximately 3 inches
wide and one-half an inch thick that was believed to be the paddle in
question, Poe testified. He said he believed it was located “under a bed
upstairs.”
Holcomb did look up briefly as Boggess passed the piece of wood to the
defense counsel. He never raised his head.
More evidence surfaced after the little girl’s Jan. 17 death. On Jan.
19, Poe attended the autopsy conducted by Dr. Zia Sabet.
Poe testified the medical examiner found the injuries on Brooklyn
Holcomb’s buttocks and back to be consistent with that three-inch piece
of wood during the autopsy, which also revealed imprints of what
appeared to be a belt buckle on her butt and back of her leg.
There were imprints of her upper teeth in her lower gums, Poe said,
indicating someone had covered her mouth with enough force keep her
mouth closed and force the bruising, likely also stopping her breathing.
The officer said the medical examiner concluded that suffocation caused
the 5-year-old to lose consciousness but that the head trauma alone
would have been enough to claim her life.
“She was beat to death,” Poe testified.
The defense did not present opening or closing statements or introduce
any witnesses Wednesday, but they did imply Brooklyn’s medical
conditions could have contributed to her bruising and some behavioral
problems.
On different occasions, Holcomb’s attorneys questioned state witnesses
about their knowledge of a “bleeding disorder” and reactive attachment
disorder, a controversial psychological condition most often associated
with children who have been abused or have been part of extremely
unstable family life.
According to www.mental-health-matters.com, the disorder is
characterized by extreme fearfulness, poor social interaction and
aggression toward others or themselves.
Tim Harvey repeatedly asked Poe about the stairs at the Holcomb home,
asking for the rise and width of the stairs, as well as the number of
steps between stories and landings. He also asked if anyone collected
the child’s DNA from the bottom of the stairs.
“The injuries that she had all about her body were not consistent with
falling down the steps,” Poe said.
At the hearing’s close, Flanagan forwarded the case to the grand jury.
The panel convenes in February, but Boggess said it was unlikely
Holcomb’s case would be presented to this term.
Circuit Court Judge William Sadler denied bond in the case last week.
Holcomb will remain in custody, pending the grand jury review and
possible indictment.
— Contact Tammie Toler at .

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.

Who is Alice Miller?

A respected researcher.

What about Ms Miller?

A letter she sent Jordan Riak.
(English is not her native language).

http://www.nospank.net/miller30.htm

Her website

http://www.alice-miller.com/

On Feb 5, 6:49 am, "Firemonkey" wrote:
This is heartbreaking..I'm sure this guy was also big on spanking,
maybe thats how it started out.
firemonkey

There's a couple that do therapeutic work with families, Peiper is
their name, that wrote a few books on this subject parenting....how
children perceive how their caretakers treat them.

"Smart. Love, The compassionate alternative to discipline"
Powell's Books - Smart Love by Martha Heineman Pieper
No parent wants to be a disciplinarian, but most fear that the only
alternative is permissiveness. Not so, says Drs. Martha and William
Pieper, ...
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/bibli...781558321823-1 - 24k -

They note, in discussing how children react to the parent: The child
believes the parent is parenting them exactly as they deserve to be
parented.

Now that's a thought. What did the little girl, Brooklyn Holcomb,
believe as she was being beaten to death?

Kane



On Feb 5, 5:25 am, "spd" wrote:

On Feb 4, 7:36 pm, "0:-" wrote:

http://www.bdtonline.com/siteSearch/...l_story_026123....

Hearing testimony tracks ... Brooklyn's final hours

By TAMMIE TOLER
Princeton Times

- PRINCETON - As a community struggled to cope with the death of
5-year-old Brooklyn Holcomb, a preliminary hearing this week traced the
Jan. 15 events that brought her to the emergency room unconscious,
covered in bruises and bearing what appeared to be the imprint of a belt
buckle.
Prosecuting Attorney Timm Boggess questioned first the emergency room
physician who treated the battered girl and then the detective charged
with identifying what killed her.
Ronald William Holcomb never raised his head.
The 34-year-old veteran and prison guard charged with first-degree
murder sat at the defense table, with his eyes lowered, flanked by his
attorneys, Tom Janutolo, Tim Harvey and Joe Harvey.
When asked a question by his attorney, he nodded, and he briefly looked
up at a piece of wood he allegedly used as a paddle the day Brooklyn
Holcomb lost consciousness.
Magistrate Mike Flanagan presided over the proceedings, as Boggess and
his witnesses outlined the events that opened a murder investigation.
PCH Emergency Room physician Dr. Ammar Almehmi was the first to take the
stand.
The doctor said he saw 5-year-old Brooklyn Holcomb for the first time,
as she lay on an ER bed, unconscious. Her pupils were already fixed and
dialated and did not react to light.
"That tells me there is some injury to her neurologic system," he said.
Knowing PCH was not equipped to offer neurological surgery on the scale
the child could need, Almehmi said he immediately began communicating
with hospitals in Charleston and Roanoke, Va., in attempt to find treatment.
As he waited on word from the hospitals and the transport that would
take Brooklyn Holcomb on to another facility, Almehmi said he began a
secondary examination that revealed multiple bruises on the child's body.
"There were too many bruises," he said.
The most disturbing part of the examination, Almehmi said, occurred when
workers turned the girl over and saw the condition of her buttocks,
allegedly beaten to the point that the skin was raw, bruised, broken and
swollen all over.
"Her butt was kind of like raw meat," Almehmi testified.
At that point, he said PCH officials immediately contacted Child
Protective Services and law enforcement authorities.
In addition to bruises on Brooklyn Holcomb's chin, and cheek, there was
also a large wound, approximately three inches in diameter, on the back
of her head, Almehmi testified.
A CT scan later showed there was severe swelling in the girl's brain.
When the doctor talked with Ronald Holcomb, Almehmi testified that the
father told him Brooklyn Holcomb had a bleeding disorder that made her
bruise easily and that she had "banged herself against something"
earlier in the day and called for help.
Almehmi testified that Holcomb said he was feeding his 7-month-old child
and told Brooklyn Holcomb to go to bed. When he checked on her later, he
allegedly told the doctor she was unconscious.
As Joe Harvey questioned the doctor, he asked whether Brooklyn Holcomb's
bruising and head injury could be consistent with falling down the
stairs in the white, two-story home Holcomb, his wife and four children
lived in.
Almehmi said he could not speculate on the cause of the wounds, only
that they were there.
"I know I can just tell you I found a bruise. What is the reason? I
don't know," he said.
As the hearing shifted to a law enforcement angle, Boggess called
Princeton Police Det. Sgt. C.N. Poe to the stand.
Poe testified he arrived as Almehmi and nurses attempted to treat
Brooklyn Holcomb, who he believed, "basically, had been beaten."
At one point, he said the doctor looked up and said, "She's not going to
make it."
Poe said he immediately began taking photographs of the girl and the
various wounds that were obvious externally. Along with a host of less
severe bruises that covered her body, Poe counted one on her chin, one
under her right eye, one behind her ear, what appeared to be a handprint
on her abdomen, a severe wound on the back of her head, marks on her
neck that appeared as if she had been strangled, and extreme bruising on
the small of her back, buttocks and upper-back thighs.
Poe said said he had never conducted any beating investigation in which
the victim was as extensively wounded as Brooklyn Holcomb.
"Plain and simply, it was a physical beating," the officer said,
describing the injury under her eye as one from a blunt object and a
"scuff-type" injury on her lower abdomen, just above the genital area.
As medical officials worked to find a way to get the little girl more
treatment with winter weather grounding all flights, Poe talked with
Holcomb. The father was allowed to see the girl one more time before an
ambulance took her to Charleston and he was arrested.
During a formal statement, Poe said Holcomb admitted to spanking
Brooklyn, possibly with too much force.
"He explained that at approximately 9:30 [a.m.], he had fed Brooklyn her
breakfast, and she wouldn't eat it," Poe said, adding that he said
Brooklyn either spit the food out or made herself spit up.
According to Holcomb's statement, he did allegedly spank her for that,
with a paddle, possibly "a little too hard." He later sent her upstairs,
where Holcomb said she hurt herself, Poe testified.
"He said she threw herself down on the floor and that she had a tendency
of falling down the stairs," Poe said.
In the early afternoon, Poe said Holcomb told him Brooklyn complained of
a headache, prompting him to have her lie down on a day bed at the home.
When he went to wake her, Holcomb reportedly said she did not wake up.
At that point, the defendant allegedly packed up the other children at
the residence and took them to another family member before returning to
get Brooklyn Holcomb and drive her to the hospital.
Once Holcomb was in custody at the Princeton Police Department, Poe said
he noticed there was skin missing from Holcomb's knuckles, a sign, the
officer said, meant the man had repeatedly struck something, hard.
"On his hands, knuckles, there was skin gone, as if you would strike
something and scuff the skin off your hand," Poe said.
As authorities searched for evidence in the Holcomb household , Poe said
they found some bloody rags in the garbage. Although officers located
piece of wood at the house, Poe said Officer J.W. Howell had remained
unconvinced it was the paddle Holcomb admitted to hitting his daughter with.
Holcomb's wife later turned in a piece of wood approximately 3 inches
wide and one-half an inch thick that was believed to be the paddle in
question, Poe testified. He said he believed it was located "under a bed
upstairs."
Holcomb did look up briefly as Boggess passed the piece of wood to the
defense counsel. He never raised his head.
More evidence surfaced after the little girl's Jan. 17 death. On Jan.
19, Poe attended the autopsy conducted by Dr. Zia Sabet.
Poe testified the medical examiner found the injuries on Brooklyn
Holcomb's buttocks and back to be consistent with that three-inch piece
of wood during the autopsy, which also revealed imprints of what
appeared to be a belt buckle on her butt and back of her leg.
There were imprints of her upper teeth in her lower gums, Poe said,
indicating someone had covered her mouth with enough force keep her
mouth closed and force the bruising, likely also stopping her breathing.
The officer said the medical examiner concluded that suffocation caused
the 5-year-old to lose consciousness but that the head trauma alone
would have been enough to claim her life.
"She was beat to death," Poe testified.
The defense did not present opening or closing statements or introduce
any witnesses Wednesday, but they did imply Brooklyn's medical
conditions could have contributed to her bruising and some behavioral
problems.
On different occasions, Holcomb's attorneys questioned state witnesses
about their knowledge of a "bleeding disorder" and reactive attachment
disorder, a controversial psychological condition most often associated
with children who have been abused or have been part of extremely
unstable family life.
According towww.mental-health-matters.com, the disorder is
characterized by extreme fearfulness, poor social interaction and
aggression toward others or themselves.
Tim Harvey repeatedly asked Poe about the stairs at the Holcomb home,
asking for the rise and width of the stairs, as well as the number of
steps between stories and landings. He also asked if anyone collected
the child's DNA from the bottom of the stairs.
"The injuries that she had all about her body were not consistent with
falling down the steps," Poe said.
At the hearing's close, Flanagan forwarded the case to the grand jury.
The panel convenes in February, but Boggess said it was unlikely
Holcomb's case would be presented to this term.
Circuit Court Judge William Sadler denied bond in the case last week.
Holcomb will remain in custody, pending the grand jury review and
possible indictment.
- Contact Tammie Toler at .

Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.

...

read more »

Greegor wrote:
To pretend the article is about spanking is idiotic.

It was about, as so much injurious physical abuse of children is,
"discipline."

You don't think he simply decided to kill the child do you?

Kane posted a link to this letter from Alice Miller.
Who is this person and what are her credentials Kane?

Why don't you find out, boy?

Maybe she's your mother.

You just can't stand the concept of kindness in raising children, Greg.
Your concept of children is obviously that they, children, set out to
defy and abuse adult caretakers. Isn't that right, Greg?

Else why would you punish a child for misjudgment (a six year old at
that) and a toileting accident.

By the way, a child's death at the hands of her parent IS on topic for
all groups I addressed to, coward.

Afraid for other's to see you brainless self indulgent child and family
hating comments, are you?

Try asking yourself how many times the death of a child at the hand of
her parent from physical assault DID NOT start out as "punishment."


From: Alice Miller (-----------)
To: Jordan Riak )
Sent: Monday, January 8, 2007, 9:28 AM
Subject: Plain Talk About Spanking

Dear Jordan,

Thank you so much for your clear, true, brave and convincing booklet.
It should be offered free to every parent immediately after the birth
of EACH of their children. The problem is that mothers spank their
toddlers as soon as they start to walk and touch "dangerous" things,
to teach them what they shouldn't touch "for their own good". In a
survey I ordered 4 years ago in France 100 women were asked when they
felt compelled to spank their child for the first time. 89 of them
answered: when the child was 18 months. 11 mothers said that they
didn't remember exactly the age of the child but NO ONE said that she
never spanked her child.

Today it happened to me that together with your mail I read an
interview with Bruce. D. Perry whose research on the child's brain I
very much appreciate. Now, I was very surprised by his statement that
fortunately only 20% of people who were maltreated become violent in
their later lives. I think that by saying this he may have forgotten
the violence directed towards children. I would say that almost
everybody who was maltreated in early childhood tends to minimize or
even glorify this kind of treatment. Their empathy for the pain of
children has been killed. For that reason most people don't realize
that spanking a child IS INDEED AN ACT OF VIOLENCE, THE MOST AWFUL AND
THE MOST DENIED WE CAN IMAGINE. Denied even by people who should know
better.

If you want you can publish this letter on your site and you can send
it to Dr. Perry (without my e-mail address).

With best wishes for the New Year,

Alice

On Tue, 6 Feb 2007, 0:- wrote:

Greegor wrote:
To pretend the article is about spanking is idiotic.

It was about, as so much injurious physical abuse of children is,
"discipline."

You don't think he simply decided to kill the child do you?

Kane posted a link to this letter from Alice Miller.
Who is this person and what are her credentials Kane?

Why don't you find out, boy?

Maybe she's your mother.

Hihihi! I did, Kane! Can you name one "peer-reviewed" study on
spanking done by her?

Doan