Police: Kinner, Young told conflicting stories of Kinsley’s injuries

BUTLER COUNTY — A string of detectives, emergency medical personnel and police officers testified they saw bruising on toddler Kinsley Kinner on Dec. 2 and that they received conflicting stories about how the unresponsive toddler received those injuries.

The testimony came on the third day of the murder trial of Bradley Young, who is charged in Kinsley's death.

The three law enforcement officers and one Madison Twp. emergency medical technician responded to the Radabaugh Road after a 911 call placed by Kinsley's mother, Rebekah Kinner.

Young and Kinner told different versions of how Kinsley received the injuries, according to the testimony Wednesday. Those versions varied from the 2-year-old falling off a chair, she was having nightmares woke up and went limp, she had been in a minor car crash a few weeks before, and she hit her head on a faucet during hair washing.

MORE: The latest details from the courtroom

Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Romans told the jury he asked Young and Kinner both what had happened to Kinsley as emergency workers worked to revive her. Both said she had had nightmare, woke up, then “went limp.”

“A red flag went up,” Romans said when Young claimed he and Kinsley were on the couch when the incident happened and Kinner claimed they were in bed and Kinsley was in her crib.

MORE: Kinsley ‘violently shaken,’ doctor testifies

Young, who is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering, wiped away tears with a tissue provided by a deputy as the 911 call was played for the jury.

In the 911 call, Kinner, who was crying, said, “She went to bed and she woke up screaming at the top of her lungs twice, and now we can’t get her to wake up.”

During the call, Young can be heard giving Kinsley CPR in the background.

The defense has suggested Kinsley was bruised during a minor car crash, a fall from a chair at her grandmother’s home and from banging her head against a wall when upset.

Prosecutors called Kinner’s sister to the witness stand to tell the jury what Kinsley looked like the day before she was fatally injured.

Tiffany Kinner began crying as she described Kinsley as a “very bubbly, outgoing little girl.”

The aunt, who has children of her own, testified that she saw Kinsley on Dec. 1 at her grandmother’s home in Madison Twp. She said the child had no trouble walking or seeing and she did not notice any bruises on Kinsley’s body.

“She was happy and healthy,” Tiffany Kinner testified while looking at a photo of Kinsley that was shown to the jury.

A photo of Kinsley taken at the hospital on Dec. 2, which was also shown to the jury, shows bruises on her body.

Dr. Karen Looman, a forensic pathologist and the Hamilton County deputy coroner who performed the autopsy on Kinsley, testified “Kinsley had an injury to her head that looked like it was not accidental.”

The toddler also had bruising on her forehead, cheeks, chin, right shoulder and a scab on the left side of head, Looman said.

Autopsy photos were then shown to the jury.

Kinsley’s family members wiped away tears and one person left the courtroom while the photos were shown.

The injuries on Kinsley’s skull indicate blows to the head or shaking, Looman said. Those injuries to Kinsley’s head caused her brain to swell, she added.

“That is the lethal injury and caused her heart to stop and she stopped breathing,” she said.

During Looman’s testimony defense attorneys suggested Munchausen by proxy syndrome, in which a child is hurt by a parent to get sympathy, may have been a factor in injuries to Kinsley.

Looman said she can not rule out Munchausen by proxy syndrome in Kinsley’s injuries, “but I see no history” in records provided to her.

On Wednesday the jury also saw text messages taken as evidence from Young’s phone.

In the texts between Kinner and Young in November, they talk about smacking Kinsley and “busting” her bare bottom as discipline.

In a text message from Young to Kinner after they are taken by police from the Radabaugh house on Dec. 2, Young texted to Kinner, “There (sic) going to try and make us look like bad parents babe not sure how they got three different stories either …”

He then texts Kinner, “I love you, stay strong and will be with her soon.”

Kinner’s text message response to Young was, “I know babe, I love you to (sic).”