Pike County Jury Returned Guilty Verdicts In Child Cruelty Case

             On Thursday, May 9, 2024, a Pike County jury returned guilty verdicts against Tarilyn Allie Lester Alexander and Joseph Tyler Alexander on eight counts of Aggravated Battery and four counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree. The verdict followed a six day trial tried by District Attorney Marie Broder and Administrative Chief ADA Kate Lenhard. The case concerned repeated physical abuse to the defendants’ eight week old infant son. 

 

The jury heard evidence that the victim had been in his parents’ sole custody for less than seven weeks as he had spent the first ten days of his life in the NICU. After being released from the hospital to his parents’ care, the victim was soon diagnosed with reflux. Soon thereafter, he began to develop bruising on his face and on his testicle, as well as subconjunctival hemorrhages (broken blood vessels in the eyes). By the time he was eight weeks old, the victim had 11 broken bones in multiple different stages of healing and hemorrhages in both eyes. The investigation showed the victim had suffered horrific abuse on multiple occasions. When confronted with the multiple injuries, the defendants offered no explanation of any trauma, either purposeful or accidental. Doctors from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta diagnosed the victim’s injuries as consistent with non-accidental trauma. 

 

            During the pendency of the case, the defendants hired doctors to testify that the victim had a connective tissue disorder known as hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which explained his broken bones. The State brought eleven of the victim’s treating doctors and one pediatric nurse practitioner to testify. The medical witnesses represented four different major hospital systems in Georgia (Piedmont, Emory, Navicent, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta), as well as two different local pediatric practices. All said that there was only one explanation consistent with all of the victim’s injuries and that was abuse. Several doctors who treat patients with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome specifically testified that it does not cause injuries like those suffered by the victim. Jurors also heard that the victim has not had one single broken bone since he was removed from the defendants’ care.

 

            The jury deliberated for just over five hours before returning guilty verdicts against both parents on twelve of sixteen counts. The defendants faced 240 years in prison for systematically breaking their eight week old son. Judge Ben Miller, Jr. sentenced them to 15 years of probation with 18 months in custody. Once they are released from prison, the may again have contact with their son.