BANGOR, Maine — Experts took to the stand at the Penobscot Judicial Court in Bangor on Wednesday for day three of a trial of a Brewer man charged in the death of his infant son.
Ronald Harding, 36, of Brewer is being accused of manslaughter in connection with the death of his six-week-old son.
On May 31, Harding reportedly called 911 to report his son Jaden Harding was unresponsive and not breathing, according to a news release from the Maine State Police.
The child was brought to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in critical condition and was pronounced dead the next day, police said in the release.
On Wednesday, court officials said Jaden died of a stroke on June 1, 2021.
The prosecutor claimed the infant died of brain damage after being violently shaken, while the defense attorney argued Jaden had signs of sepsis which caused his death.
Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner and a forensic pathologist at a private practice in Missouri were called to the stand.
Dr. Elizabeth Bundock, Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner, examined Jaden's body after his death. Bundock said she found the infant had several hemorrhages, including subdural bleeding, in his brain.
The most common cause of subdural bleeding, according to Bundock, is injury, like whiplash, from fast movement of the head in relation to the skull.
Bundock said she found the infant had hemorrhages in his spinal cord and stretched nerve endings, which could be seen in an acceleration/deceleration injury, she said.
She said her findings from a brain and spinal cord examination are consistent with shaking. The medical examiner added she does not believe the infant's diagnosis is related to infection.
"I believe that the bleeding was due to trauma," Bundock said.
Later in the afternoon, Dr. Jane Turner, a forensic pathologist at a private practice in Missouri, testified.
Turner said she believes the infant died of COVID complications, which resulted in sepsis that caused the infant's stroke.
The pathologist added that blood clots in his brain caused the child to experience a stroke. Turner said she saw "ongoing progressing illness in Jaden," and he met diagnostic sepsis criteria.
Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin ended the cross-examination by showing photos of the infant's abrasion on the back of his head, a swollen eye, bruises on both his legs, and a bruise near his ear and on his forehead.
The trial will resume on Thursday morning at the Penobscot Judicial Center.