AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) An attorney for a woman charged in the death of a 4-year-old girl is suggesting that the woman’s fiance could have caused some of the injuries.
Stephen Hood testified Friday he could get frustrated while he cared for his granddaughter, Kendall Chick, and two other children. But the Portland Press Herald reports that he denied suggestions he caused the girl’s injuries.
The state rested its case Friday in the trial of Shawna Gatto, who’s charged with fatally beating the youngster in December 2017. She asked for the case to be heard by a judge, not a jury, because it’s emotionally charged.
Chick was placed in the couple’s care while her parents battled addiction. Hood said the state child welfare agency checked on her only once in three years.
