BEDFORD — Charles Emanuel Hall, 25, of Bedford was convicted of first-degree murder, a class A felony, and child endangerment resulting in serious injury, a forcible C felony, at about 4:30 p.m. Friday at Taylor County Courthouse in Bedford.
“Such a young life. Such a cruel death,” said Douglas Hammerand, assistant Iowa attorney general for the prosecution.
The guilty verdict was read by Judge John Lloyd when the jury, made of 10 men and two women, came to a conclusion after nearly three hours of deliberation, the culmination of a five-day trial to prove or disprove Hall’s charges.
“I can’t do this, man,” Hall said after the verdict was read. When he was escorted from the courtroom, he also said, “Kiss my baby.”
The conviction of Hall stemmed from a May 2015 investigation into the death of Janyiah King, the 3-year-old daughter of Hall.
Hall’s sentencing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 16 at Taylor County Courthouse in Bedford. A conviction of first-degree murder comes with a manditory prison sentence, and maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
What happened
According to information stated by counsel during the trial, April Clair, 25, of Bedford, the live-in girlfriend of Hall and mother to another of Hall’s children, left her residence, 806 Washington St., Bedford, around 9 a.m. May 22 to visit a cousin with an injury. Clair had several children with her, and several children were still in school. Clair left Janyiah with Hall.
After Clair purchased groceries for her cousin’s family at Hy-Vee at 9:23 a.m., she returned to her cousin’s residence. At around 11:30 a.m., Clair left her cousin’s house and walked the short distance to her residence, where she found Janyiah in the bathroom in only her underwear. She picked Janyiah up, thinking she was playing by ignoring Clair, and discovered she was not breathing and did not have a pulse. She placed her on a rug outside the bathroom.
At 11:36 a.m., Clair called 911. Sheriff’s deputies arrived three minutes later. Clair, the sheriff’s deputies and the medical examiner investigator all claimed Janyiah was cold to the touch.
According to a Taylor County Sheriff report, during the investigation into the death of Janyiah, Hall said two weeks prior to the charges, Janyiah knocked a pot of boiling water off the stove onto herself and he did not seek medical attention. Clair said within four days prior to the charges, Janyiah had fallen at least three times down a staircase, from the second to first floor of the residence, and did not seek medical attention.
According to a Taylor County report, during an initial examination of Janyiah’s body, investigators also found multiple severe burns and injuries on the right side of her face and on her lower back, buttocks and thighs. She also had swelling in her hands and thighs.
After an autopsy was conducted at the Iowa office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny in May, and more tests were sought by four hospitals in the Midwest, the cause of Janyiah’s death was officially released as asphyxiation by drowning in August.
Defense
Michael Adams, Hall’s counsel, gave a closing statement in defense of Hall and asked the jury to give a verdict of not guilty on both counts of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in serious injury.
“I’m not going to defend, or try to defend, Mr. Hall’s parenting,” Adams said, “but, I do think there’s more to the case than him being a bad parent.”
Adams said there was cause for doubt in the resulting cause of Janyiah’s death. Questioning early in the week of Dr. Dennis Klein, deputy state medical examiner, showed that signs of death by seizure and hypothermia present similarly to that of asphyxia by drowning.
“When April found Janyiah, she picked her up off the floor,” Adams said. “She was cold. She described a breath sound Janyiah made, and what else happened? Janyiah’s eyes opened up. That’s what April testified.”
Adams also mentioned the lack of forensic testing done on fluids found in Janyiah’s stomach, lungs and sinus cavity, on her underwear, in a nearby bathtub and on the area rug where she was lying . Adams suggested Hall didn’t kill his daughter simply because that day Hall, Clair and the rest of their family were taking a trip to Chicago to return Janyiah to the custody of her mother.
“This case, all this case, is only as good as all the components that make up this case,” Adams said. “The idea that Charles killed Janyiah simply does not make sense.”
Prosecution
During the prosecution’s closing statement and rebuttal, Hammerand said there were several testimonies given by witnesses who, between May 7 and 21, saw Hall hit Janyiah with a white stick on the hands, buttocks and legs. One minor witness testified he or she saw Hall put Janyiah’s face into a blanket or pillow while hitting her with the stick, and had also made Janyiah hold a box of DVDs out with both arms, and if her arms drooped, he would hit her with the stick.
On the day of Janyiah’s death, according to prosecuting statements, Hall said he was awake between 10 and 11 a.m., did a few things with his daughter and went out to have a cigar.
However, a witness made a statement that she saw Hall on the porch of the residence around 9 a.m. Hall also never told officers he left the property, and according to video footage at Casey’s General Store, Hall was seen purchasing the cigar at 10:13 a.m.
“April left when Janyiah was alive,” Hammerand said. “And, when she arrived, Janyiah was dead.”
According to counsel statements, when Clair arrived back at the residence, Hall was smoking the cigar and leaning against their car.
After Clair discovered Janyiah’s body in the bathroom, testing was done on the 3-year-old’s body. Body fluid samples were taken, and the discovery of pulmonary congestion, thin fluid in the nostrils and fluid in the stomach, sinus cavity and lungs showed, according to the prosecution, this was not an accidental incident.
“If that is not a fixed purpose to do harm, what is?” Hammerand said.
Clair
Clair agreed to a plea deal during her pretrial conference in September in Bedford.
She pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in bodily injury, a class D felony. This is a lesser charge than her original charge of child endangerment resulting in serious injury, a forcible C felony. Clair agreed to testify truthfully against Hall, and in doing so, was not reverted back to her original charge.
Clair’s sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 16 at the Taylor County Courthouse. This D felony comes with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.