A local woman accused of allowing her newborn son to starve while under her care in 2016 was found guilty late Wednesday afternoon of felony endangering the welfare of a minor after a two-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court.
The six-man, six-woman jury found Summer Rose Kazzee, 20, guilty of the charge, punishable by up to six years in prison. A sentencing hearing followed Wednesday evening.
Kazzee was arrested July 17, 2016. The father of the child, Kody Nathaniel Weber-Kio, 22, was arrested two days later on the same charge. Both were later released on $1,000 bond, and Weber-Kio is set to stand trial beginning today in circuit court.
Dr. Karen Farst, a pediatrician at Arkansas Children's Hospital who specializes in children at risk, testified Wednesday she was consulted by the baby's primary care physician, Dr. Greg Whorton, and reviewed the medical records of his treatment.
She said it was her opinion the baby's failure to thrive was nonorganic and not involving "something wrong with the child's body," and the result of external causes, namely that he was not receiving enough calories.
She noted that when examined on June 20, 2016, about eight weeks after birth, he was below his birth weight. She said while it was normal for babies to lose some weight immediately after birth, they typically regain their birth weight within two weeks and then begin gaining 4 to 5 ounces a week.
She said after the baby was hospitalized he "overachieved on weight gain," even while reportedly taking in less volume of formula than what the parents claimed to have been feeding him daily.
"He had a brisk period of catch-up growth in the hospital and then continued to show catch-up growth after his release," Farst said, noting that is common for babies coming out of a period of bad nutrition.
A point of contention frequently raised by Kazzee's attorney, Clay Janske, was the fact doctors had switched the baby to a different, hypoallergenic, non-milk based formula than what the parents had been using, arguing the milk formula the parents used caused the baby to spit up a lot and could have impacted his calorie intake.
Farst said "most babies spit up," noting babies have small stomachs and their stomach muscles are not well developed early on, but she said there was no record of the baby having a significant problem with spitting up.
She said doctors used ultrasounds and other tests on the baby and "there was nothing out of the ordinary." She said he had a small amount of reflux, "but that's common for that age and there was nothing excessive."
She said doctors later switched the baby back to a milk-based formula and eventually whole milk and he didn't exhibit any problems and "continued to do fine and gain weight" which supported their belief he did not have a milk allergy.
Farst said hospital reports of Kazzee's "erratic behavior" and seeming resistance to feeding the baby were a factor in her opinion that the cause of the baby's problems were nonorganic.
She said the baby's "emaciated" appearance when he was first admitted to the hospital was caused by "his body basically breaking down its own stores," and "pulling energy" first from the body's fat and then muscles.
Without intervention, the lack of nutrition could have been fatal and may have impacted brain growth and cognitive advancement, as well as jeopardizing his immune systems. "The fact they intervened when he was 2 months old is good," she said.
Under cross by Janske, Farst said the baby's spitting up could have contributed to his low caloric intake, but noted that should be a point where the caregiver would give more formula or more frequently to catch up.
She admitted there was nothing to indicate Kazzee intentionally tried to starve the child, only that she was neglectful in the amount of calories provided to him.
Farst stressed the baby's emaciated condition didn't occur overnight, and would have worsened gradually over the eight week period before he was hospitalized.
Judy Jenson, the Arkansas Department of Human Services investigator who responded to the hospital after the baby was admitted on June 20, 2016, testified she questioned both parents about his condition.
"Their stories kept changing. First it was he was not eating much, then it was he was spitting up. They said he only spit up with (Kazzee) and not when (Weber-Kio) fed him. They changed their story so many times in a short period of time I wasn't sure what the truth was," she said.
Jenson said she questioned them about the two checkup appointments they missed and was told they skipped the first one "because they didn't have any concerns" about his health and then Weber-Kio overslept and missed the second one. She said it was after a relative expressed concern about the baby's condition that they took him in June 20.
She said Kazzee told her she was receiving baby formula through Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Arkansas Department of Health's special supplemental nutrition program, but she checked with WIC and there was no record of Kazzee obtaining any formula through them.
She said Weber-Kio told her he bought some formula at Walmart and had some left over from a baby he had in a prior relationship.
Tonya Ross, the foster parent who has been caring for the baby since his discharge from the hospital, testified they took him off his reflux medication within the first week or two because he had no signs of the condition.
She said when he was 6 months old they switched him back to regular formula and at 12 months they switched him to whole milk and he had no problems with either transition and has continued to gain weight.
Ross said he exhibited some mild development delays in the beginning. "He couldn't hold his head up at first and didn't use his arms and legs much because they were too weak," she said.
"He's back on course now," she said, with no delays detected. He had to wear a helmet for three months because he had developed "a flat head." She said the therapy corrected the problem and "now he has a perfectly little shaped head."
She said he has started eating solid food and "loves bananas and blueberries" and even eats chicken nuggets and French fries although "he's not crazy about meat" and prefers fruit. She said she only gives him milk and water, no juice or soda, and he has had no problems with the milk at all.
Local on 01/25/2018