By HOI-ABC
BLOOMINGTON – Medical examiners who received the body of 8-year-old Rica Rountree after her death said there is no doubt she was abused.
The woman accused of killing her — her stepmother — turned away from the graphic photos shown in court Friday, according to our news partner HOI-ABC.
Cynthia Baker faces six charges in connection to the child’s death and if found guilty, could be sentenced to natural life in prison.
Pathologist Scott Denton said he found over 50 scars and marks on the 8-year-old’s body as he conducted a second autopsy on Rountree.
Baker glanced at some of the photos the doctor showed, but mostly looked away as images of the child’s internal organs flashed before the jury.
The doctor explained Rountree had new and healed scars, from her forehead to lower back and ankles. He also explained to the all-white jury that the scars would be easier to see on a person with a lighter complexion.
Denton said the injuries — from internal bruises under her eye to traction alopecia caused by hair pulling — were not consistent with “normal” injuries a child would get while playing.
“All together, bottom line is this child abuse, this is repetitive injury to a child over numerous, I would say, weeks,” said Denton.
A childhood friend of Rountree — just 9 years old — also took the stand Friday, telling jurors that Rountree “hated” living with her father because she “got hurt there” by Baker, the father’s girlfriend.
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