Closing arguments to begin in baby death case

Both the state and defense rested Wednesday, and closing arguments will begin today in the case of a Sebring man charged in connection with the 2007 death of 3-month-old Alexa Hall, the daughter of his former girlfriend.

Edgar Otero, 31, who is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, did not testify. With that decision, defense attorney Jose Torroella announced they had no evidence to present.

Closing arguments are set to begin around 8:45 this morning. Then, instructions will be read and the case will then be turned over to the jurors for deliberation.

During the second day of the trial Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from an emergency room doctor who was working at Florida Hospital Heartland Division in the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 2007, when baby Alexa was brought in after she'd stopped breathing.

"When I saw the baby, I could see that she was very ill," testified Dr. Allison McDonald. "She was not moving, she was not crying and she was not breathing."

McDonald said hospital staff immediately worked to open Alexa's airway, try to get her breathing again and assess circulation issues.

The baby's heart rate was 150, according to the doctor's testimony.

"She needed more definitive care to manage her breathing, and more definitive care to manage her pulse and circulation," McDonald said.

The doctor testified she'd spoken with the mother, Brandy Hall, about what had happened. The mother indicated she had woken up to feed Alexa that morning when she found the baby lying in her crib, not breathing.

During Monday's testimony, Hall testified that story was a lie concocted by Otero to tell the doctors. She said she'd actually gone to pick up the defendant from a party sometime around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 12 and took baby Alexa with her.

"The mother was crying, was shaking and was standing more against the wall and very nervous," McDonald testified.

Baby Alexa was later transferred to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where it was discovered she'd suffered massive swelling of the brain. She died on Nov. 13, and the cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma.

On cross examination by Torroella, McDonald said the mother never mentioned any type of head trauma, but they would not have done anything different if it was discovered.

She testified that they did not have the resources to handle that type of injury and transferred her to a facility where she could get the best possible care.

"Don't try to be a hero in the field," McDonald said. "The appropriate care would still be to get the patient to a head trauma specialist."

In the afternoon, Dr. Jacqueline Lee, deputy chief medical examiner with the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, testified about her findings during baby Alexa's autopsy.

Throughout her testimony, members of the jury and courtroom spectators saw photos of the young baby taken during the autopsy.

She said they observed a bruise on the baby's forehead near the hairline that was around an inch in diameter, as well as smaller bruises around that.

There were no injuries on the torso, which meant there was no evidence of past abuse.

Lee also discussed the condition of the brain when they first saw it.

"The brain was swollen and there's a thin membrane that covers the brain itself and there was bleeding beneath that membrane, on the brain itself," she said.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin asked Lee if it was her opinion that someone injured Alexa.

"Yes, it is my opinion," Lee said.

During his opening statement, Houchin said Otero wrapped Alexa up "like a burrito" and, during interviews with police, he admitted to shaking her back and forth and that her head flopped back and forth and from side to side.