More than two months after a woman and her acquaintance were charged with killing her 1-year-old son, court testimony revealed on Wednesday that Ezekiel Norville had several burns and bruises covering 95% of his body.Â
Co-defendants Dorothy Kay Hight and Seth Chandler Kendrick face capital murder charges in the Feb. 20 death. They returned to the Lee County Jail without bond following Wednesday's preliminary hearing.
Lee County District Judge Russell Bush determined that there was enough evidence to present the case to a grand jury at a later date.Â
"Because the court has seen the evidence and the photographs of this child, the court will also state that is the worst I've ever seen and all of it didn't happen on one particular night. It happened over and over again over a period of time, leading up to the final blow that caused the child's death," Bush said.Â
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In court, Opelika Police Detective Sgt. Brandon Hutto said first responders responded to the 200 block of 24th Street on Feb. 20 in response to a call concerning an unresponsive 1-year-old child. Upon arrival, officers saw Norville laying on a blanket on the front porch of the home.
An officer saw Kendrick performing CPR and took over. He noticed bruising on Norville's body. OFD rushed Norville to East Alabama Medical Center, but he died before they arrived at EAMC, Hutto testified.Â
Injuries suggest child suffered from lighter burns, punches, kicks and more, police sayÂ
Hutto was then called to the hospital.
He said approximately 95% of Norville's body was covered in deep purple bruising. There were several abrasions, cuts and markings on Norville's cheek, nose, arm and stomach.
Several burns resembled the end of a butane lighter, according to the detective's account of the incident. Police found butane lighters in the home, but they are yet to be tested.
Hight allegedly told detectives that Norville only had a burn mark on his face and a bruise on his stomach and that the hospital staff or ambulance service must have caused the other bruises.
Hutto said some of the bruising that appeared on Norville's stomach and abdomen area resembled that of fists and fingers. The right arm had a circular mark that appeared to be a burn and also what appeared to be a bite mark. There was deep purple bruising along the jaw line which appeared to have been grabbed, according to police.Â
Hutto later traveled to Montgomery to witness the autopsy at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. He said he has not received the finalized report, but the medical examiner that conducted the autopsy walked through some details.
Hutto said there was a brain bleed and more. Hutto also said there appeared to be two fractured ribs and "lots of deep bruising throughout the entire body."
During the autopsy, the medical examiner determined that the death was caused by blunt-force trauma and classified it as a homicide. Hutto described it as the worst child death case he has ever seen.
Hutto said when the Lee County coroner arrived on the scene, they met with Hight in a triage room. Hutto described Hight's reaction as mundane and "not the typical reaction of a 1-year-old's death."
When told of Norville's death, Hight yelled but did not "produce any tears," Hutto testified.Â
Police say mom blamed Kendrick for her child's deathÂ
After Norville was transported to EAMC, officers began gathering information from Hight and Kendrick.
Hight said that she had been sleeping throughout the day due to a migraine. Hight said around 7 or 8 p.m., she gave Norville a bath and laid him down on the couch. She said Kendrick tried to feed Norville, but couldn't because he became fussy.
Hight allegedly told investigators she finished giving him the bottle and went back to sleep at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Hight reported that Kendrick woke her up out of her sleep and told her Norville wasn't responding.
Hight allegedly said she started performing CPR and Kendrick later took over. She allegedly blamed Kendrick for her son's death, citing what she described as erratic behavior.
In Kendrick's statement to police, he allegedly said Hight and the child's father had been staying with him since Christmas, but the father had been arrested recently. He described the relationship between Hight and Norville's father as a bad one.
Kendrick said he gave Norville a shower at 9:30 p.m. and saw that Norville had fallen in the shower but seemed okay.
After the shower, Kendrick said he put Norville in a hammock in the bedroom. Kendrick said he went to a convenience store on Pepperell Parkway, but Hutto said Kendrick did not show up on the store's security cameras. Kendrick said he returned to the residence at around 11:30 p.m. and realized Norville was not breathing and woke Hight.
After brief conversations with an officer at the scene, Hutto said that Hight and Kendrick drove to the hospital. Kendrick dropped off Hight at the entrance at approximately 12:32 a.m., and Kendrick said he was going to go park the car. Kendrick was seen leaving the EAMC and turning onto Pepperrell Parkway at approximately 12:37 a.m.
Hutto said that OPD put out a BOLO for Kendrick's vehicle. He was later located at approximately 1:47 a.m. in the area of Hamilton Road and Bent Creek Road. Hutto said that an OPD officer stopped the vehicle, and after a brief conversation, Kendrick was allowed to drive his vehicle to the OPD to talk with the police.
Witness told police Kendrick called others saying he 'made a mess'
Hutto said they received a call from a witness that met with Kendrick after he left the EAMC. Hutto said the witness recorded the conversation and some of the quotes in that conversation were that "he made a mess and that he might be going to prison for a long time." Hutto said Kendrick and Hight were arrested that night.
They received a written statement from the witness that said Kendrick texted them at 11:41 p.m. that night which read, "Baby, I'm sorry, I'll explain everything. I'm literally shaking right now and including crying emojis."
Hutto said that text came approximately 35 minutes before the 911 call.Â
Hutto said Kendrick called the witness at 12:20 a.m. The witness stated that Kendrick said, "I think I killed him. I'm going to jail. I was only trying to help an old friend."
Defense attorney Charles Lloyd represented Hight and questioned Hutto on the contents of the text messages. Lloyd emphasized that they did not say "we," or mention Hight. Hutto said they did not.
Hutto said they spoke with another witness who stated that approximately two weeks prior, he was at the residence and saw bruising on Norville's face cheek. When he asked what happened, Kendrick said Norville had fallen down the stairs. The witness also said that he witnessed Kendrick and Hight smoke meth at the residence. Hutto said law enforcement recovered five meth pipes at the residence.Â
Hutto said another witness was a former friend of Kendrick from high school. Hutto said the witness received a text at 11:54 p.m. on Feb. 19 that read "Man I need you to call me right now. baby's life is at stake. I don't know if he's dead or not. Please, please, please call." There were also multiple FaceTime calls that were unanswered. Hutto said that was before the 911 call.Â
Defense attorneys question physical evidence
Christine Hernandez was representing Kendrick on Wednesday and question Hutto thoroughly regarding the case. Hernandez questioned Hutto on what evidence showed that Kendrick caused any of Norville's injuries intentionally. Hutto said they do not have physical evidence in regard to that and that Kendrick did not make any statement that said he intentionally killed Norville.Â
Hernandez also revealed that Kendrick has two other children and questioned if there were any abuse allegations against Kendrick in the county. Hutto said he was not aware of any.
Lloyd asked Hutto if there was "any evidence that you've collected or know of that would implicate Ms. Hight being involved with this other than being present at the home?"
Hutto replied "her being present."Â
"There's been absolutely zero evidence to show any intent on Ms. Hight, to show that she's had any involvement in this case other than being present at that house," Lloyd said. "Both statements of the defendants indicate that she was asleep at the time of this incident."
Lee County District Attorney Jessica Ventiere argued against that and said that the time it would've taken to cause Norville's injuries makes it hard to believe she did not know.
"The officer testified that this is the worst he's ever seen that the child is covered from head to toe in bruises," Ventiere said. "To believe that she would sleep through all this and is totally innocent and unaware of what's going in that house is a theory by the defense but not supported by anything else related to the facts or what we know about human nature."