How Could You? Hall of Shame-Eric Hopkins and Kristina Mowery case UPDATED-Child Death

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Lancaster, Ohio, foster parent Eric Hopkins, 32, and foster parent/aunt Kristina M. Mowery, 25, each pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges after 4-month-old Bryson Mershon’s death in November 2009. Mowery’s trial is scheduled to begin October 18.

“Hopkins is charged with one count of murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of reckless homicide, three counts of child endangering and one count of felonious assault. Mowery is Bryson’s aunt, and Hopkins was Mowery’s boyfriend. Bryson was placed in their care after being taken from his birth mother, who was arrested and tested positive for heroin and Suboxone while pregnant, court records showed. ”

Eric said “”I picked him (4-month-old Bryson Mershon) up and called Kristina and she said to call 911. I handed her the phone and then started to try (CPR) on him,” Hopkins said in the interview. “I may have set him down too hard, but I didn’t think I hurt him or caused trauma.”

“In his taped interview with Lancaster Detective Sgt. Mike Peters the child was found not responsive, Hopkins said.

The child had been sleeping in a crib in the bedroom when Hopkins took the child downstairs and then went back upstairs, only to come back and find the child unresponsive, he said.

Hopkins said he attempted to give the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and had to keep draining the baby’s mouth of formula as it came back up.

He said he had been frantic after finding the baby and tried to bring him back to life. “Maybe I put him down on the floor too hard,” Hopkins said in the interview. “But I didn’t do anything on purpose.”

Under cross-examination by Hopkins’ attorney, Mike Miller, Peters said that Hopkins had voluntarily agreed to be questioned by police officers during the investigation and had been cooperative. Linn

Finefrock, a social worker with the emergency room at Children’s Hospital, also testified that she had interviewed Hopkins and Mowery when the baby was taken to Children’s Hospital, filling out forms that included family histories for the medical team working on Mershon.

Both Mowery and Hopkins had told Finefrock they didn’t know what happened to the baby. Under cross-examination by Hopkins’ attorney, William Meeks, Finefrock said Hopkins and Mowery also reported that they suspected heroin, alcohol and Suboxone abuse by the birth mother and that they suspected domestic violence abuse between the baby’s biological mother and father.

In testimony earlier in the day, a doctor from the Children’s Hospital ophthalmology department testified that she had seen damage in the child’s eyes when they examined him.

Dr. Julie M. Lange told jurors both the right and left eyes of Bryson showed signs of multiple hemorrhages.

Lange’s testimony on Monday drew an objection from Hopkins’ defense attorneys before she even started to give it.

David Thomas, one of Hopkins’ attorneys, argued, after the jury had been sent out of the courtroom, that the report about the eye injuries was completed by an intern that Lange was supervising at the time and that the doctor’s report the prosecutors presented did not include Lange’s signature.

However, prosecutors argued that Lange had been overseeing the intern’s work, had taken the photos of Mershon’s eyes at Children’s Hospital, and had concurred with the intern’s assessments. They also said that Hopkins’ lawyers had the report since December to voice any objections.

Fairfield County Judge Richard Berens allowed Lange to testify, but only to what was in the report that dealt with the condition of eyes. Lange pointed out the hemorrhages on the photos she took, saying there were too many to count.

However, she was not permitted to say what she thought the hemorrhages were caused by. ”
Jurors hear part of Eric Hopkins’ police interview at murder trial
[Lancaster Eagle Gazette 9/20/11 by Carl Burnett, Jr.]

“The 4-month-old whose foster parents are accused of killing him had 24 separate bone fractures when he died, according to a skeletal survey taken in November 2009. Bryson Mershon had multiple skull fractures, as well as fractures of both legs, both arms and multiple ribs, said Dr. Mary Leder, with the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Children’s Hospital. She took the stand for three hours Tuesday discussing what she and doctors at Children’s Hospital discovered while treating Bryson. Her testimony came during the trial of Eric Hopkins. “These injuries were the result of severe physical abuse,” Leder said. ”

Doctor: Child had multiple broken bones when he died
[Lancaster Eagle Gazette 9/20/11 by Carl Burnett, Jr.]

Update: No Justic for Bryson. “A Fairfield County jury returned not guilty verdicts for a foster parent accused of murder in the death of a 4-month-old boy.

Eric Hopkins, 32, was also acquitted of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, child endangering and felonious assault. His girlfriend, Kristina Mowery, 25, faces the same charges in a trial which is supposed to start next month.

The couple had cared for Bryson Mershon after he was taken at birth from his mother, Mowery’s sister, who had abused drugs and alcohol while pregnant.

The child was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in October 2009 after Hopkins found him unresponsive and called 911. He was the only one at home at the time.

An autopsy concluded Bryson died from a lack of oxygen to the brain caused by blunt trauma to the head.

A doctor testified that the boy had numerous fractures, but medical experts called by the defense said that the child was born with severe brain damage because of his mother’s drug habit.

The jury deliberated for two hours.”

Foster parent acquitted of murder
[WTVN 9/28/11]

“All charges against a foster parent who was accused of murder in the death of her 4-month-old nephew were dismissed yesterday at the request of the Fairfield County prosecutor.

Common Pleas Judge Chris A. Martin signed the order dismissing the charges against Kristina M. Mowery. She had been scheduled for trial on Oct. 18.

The decision by Prosecutor Gregg Marx to drop all charges against Mowery, 25, follows the jury acquittal of her boyfriend, Eric D. Hopkins, 32.

The couple faced identical charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, child endangering and felonious assault related to the death of baby Bryson Mershon.

Hopkins was acquitted after a 10-day trial that featured competing testimony by medical experts about what caused the baby to die.

“The decision to dismiss the case against Ms. Mowery was a difficult decision, but the jury was adamant at the end of Hopkins’ trial that there would not be enough evidence to prove Ms. Mowery’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Marx said in a news release.

Evidence presented at Hopkins’ trial showed that Mowery was asleep the morning Bryson collapsed. There also were “substantial conflicts” about the baby’s injuries, Marx said.

The couple had cared for Bryson since he was born on July 4, 2009, with drugs in his system. He was taken at birth from his mother, Mowery’s sister, because she had used cocaine, alcohol and Suboxone, a drug used to treat opiate addiction.

The baby was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus from the couple’s Lancaster apartment on Oct. 31, 2009, after Hopkins called 911 and said he had found him unresponsive. Bryson, who never regained consciousness, died on Nov. 18.

He died from a lack of oxygen to the brain caused by blunt trauma to the head, according to the autopsy report.

Defense attorneys for Hopkins, however, said the baby choked on his formula and died. They presented expert medical witnesses who testified that the baby was born with severe brain damage because of his mother’s drug abuse.”
Charges dropped in death of 4-month-old
[The Columbus Dispatch 10/8/11 by Mary Beth Lane]

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