The injuries that killed five-month-old Morgan Harling could’ve come only from physical abuse, Marion County’s chief forensic pathologist insisted Thursday.
Christopher Poulos, an expert witness for the state and one of two pathologists who worked on Morgan’s 2019 autopsy, told the jury during Thursday’s testimony that while he wasn’t the original pathologist when Morgan was brought in, he finished that doctor’s work after she left to attend a family emergency. The infant’s father, Justin Harling, is on trial for her 2019 murder.
Through the original doctor’s notes, field reports, emails with the original doctor and conducting part of the autopsy himself, Poulos discovered other older, unrelated contusions on the left side of Morgan’s brain. Those injuries wouldn’t be enough to kill her, but the new injuries she had on top of the old ones could, particularly the skull fracture at the back of her head that was more of a shatter than a linear fracture consistent with, say, falling off a changing table, he said.
“I can’t tell you much about force, but typically in accidental trauma, you’ll see a linear fracture,” Poulos said. “That means four feet or less in some literature; others say it’s 10 feet, but short distances typically aren’t fatal.”
Morgan also had bleeding in her retinas and optic nerve consistent with severe trauma, and the fracture at the base of her skull had blood in it, which wouldn’t have happened if she were dropped or mishandled during transport to Indianapolis, he said.
In regards to the overdose of fentanyl she was given, Poulos said that wouldn’t have contributed to her death because she was given naloxone quickly after medical staff realized she’d been given too much. The pneumonia Morgan had likely progressed quicker because of the head injuries, but it wasn’t responsible for her death, he said.
“I believe the baby was non-responsive (with the family at dinner) — she would’ve likely been screaming in pain or not interacting normally,” Poulos said.
When Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson asked Poulos how he thought Morgan died, Poulos said it was a homicide or blunt force trauma to the head.
Defense attorney Joe Curosh initially tried to have Poulos’s testimony limited because he hadn’t been the sole doctor on the case, but Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said the Federal Evidence Rule 703, in which “an expert may base an opinion on facts or data in the case that the expert has been made aware of or personally observed,” was applicable.
During a supervised visit on Dec. 11, 2019, Harling, Kailani Strickland, the child’s mother, and Strickland’s aunt, Jeralyn Kroll, took Morgan and her half-brother, 8, to Texas Roadhouse in Dyer for the boy’s birthday. Afterward, they stopped by Target in Munster. While in line at the self-checkout, Harling took the child to the family restroom to change her diaper when she went unresponsive, he told police.
The caseworker was supposed to be with them but had stayed in her car in the parking lot, Anderson said. Harling yelled for help. A pediatric nurse nearby performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
The child was taken to Community Hospital, where a doctor noticed “several contusions and scratches” on her head, while a CT scan confirmed brain bleeding. She was later flown to St. Vincent’s Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis where she was pronounced dead on arrival, charges show.
Strickland testified Tuesday the girl was “smiling, giggling” and “alert” at the restaurant. She had noticed a bruise on the child’s head, but the lighting was dim at the restaurant. It was clearer once they got to Target.
At the checkout line, Harling volunteered to change the baby. The girl was crying loudly.
Harling opened the door asking for a second diaper, since the first ripped. He opened the door again and asked a question. She went in. The child, on the changing table, looked “purple.” She later said the girl’s eyes were like a “doll’s.”
On the 911 call, Strickland told a dispatcher the child wasn’t breathing and it sounded like she was choking. Her feet, face and hands were turning blue. They went to Community, she testified, then headed to the Indianapolis hospital, but were told the child died 15 minutes into the flight.
Kroll testified she did notice a “big and yellow” bruise on the child’s head, which was more apparent after they got to Target, which was better lighted.
She took the brother to the bathroom, then came out to see Strickland “hysterical” and on the phone with 911.
After the girl’s death, Munster Police interviewed Harling, who said the child was “gasping” and “changing color” after he had to change her diaper a few times. He denied she fell off the changing table. She was a “squirmy child” and “it was possible that she hit her head on the changing table,” he told police.
There was also a mix of old and new injuries including a dislocated shoulder, Poulos said. The parents told police she had a Vitamin D deficiency. That could make fractures more easy, but didn’t explain the multiple injuries or brain injuries, Poulos added.
Harling and Strickland told police both children were taken away by Child Protective Services when Morgan was a month old after they took her to the hospital with a broken arm. She was placed at the Carmelite Home in East Chicago before they were moved to a foster home, charges state.
Closing arguments in the case are slated for Feb. 12, Anderson said.
Staff writer Meredith Colias-Pete contributed.