Tye Liner, a 6-week-old infant, died from being violently shaken, not from causes given by his father, a doctor testified Wednesday in Judge Bill Bosworth’s 413th District Court in Cleburne.
Timothy Liner, 33, is on trial facing capital murder charges in the death of his son on Feb. 16, 2007. Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty in the case, but if convicted, Liner faces charges up to an automatic life conviction.
Burleson police responded to a call of an infant choking Feb. 14. Officials transported Tye Liner first to Huguley Memorial Medical Center and then to Cook Children’s Medical Center, where he was removed from life support and pronounced dead two days later.
Liner initially said Tye Liner spit up, began choking and stopped breathing. He later changed his story, according to testimony, to say Tye Liner rolled off a couch, and later still said he fell while he was carrying the child.
Dr. Jayme Coffman, a pediatrician and medical director of the Child Abuse Resources and Evaluation team at Cook Children’s, testified Wednesday that none of those scenarios were medically consistent with Tye Liner’s injuries.
“This type of injury is consistent with a child being shaken violently,” Coffman said.
Defense attorney Bill Mason asked Coffman if Tye Liner exhibited any signs of impact, or having been hit against something.
“We have no evidence of impact, but it’s a hard question to answer,” Coffman said. “Because you can have impact from something soft, but we have no evidence of that.”
Coffman repeated to Mason her opinion about the cause of death.
“I think death was from severe shaking,” Coffman said. “If you’re asking my opinion of can you shake a baby to death, yes.”
Tye Liner was never able to breathe on his own from the time he was admitted to the hospital and his condition never improved, Coffman told prosecuting attorney Martin Strahan.
“It’s hard to say [his condition] worsened because he was so neurologically damaged when he came in, he showed no response to anything,” Coffman said. “His heart rate was very slow. He showed no response to reflexes or pain and no brain activity.”
Mason asked Coffman if parents abused as children are more likely themselves to become abusers.
“The bulk of children physically abused don’t necessarily have parents who were physically abused, and not all abused children grow up to be abusive,” Coffman said. “But it does increase the risk of being abusive.”
Mason called four witnesses in Liner’s defense Thursday morning. Costa Walbridge, a woman with whom Liner has twin boys born in 2003, testified that Liner always wanted children.
Walbridge admitted to drug use between herself and Liner and said he did not see his twin sons until they were about 6 months old as he was incarcerated when they were born.
Nonetheless, Walbridge said Liner loved his sons and often took care of them. The boys would stay with Liner and his wife, Dayna Liner, before Tye and his twin sister, Mya Liner, were born, Walbridge said.
Walbridge answered no when Mason asked if she ever had concerns of leaving her twins with him. But Walbridge said she would be concerned to leave her sons with Liner now in light of what happened.
“So, before this event you wouldn’t think Tim would have done anything like this,” District Attorney Dale Hanna said. “But after this you have concerns?”
Walbridge said yes.
Dayna Liner testified she did not believe Liner would try to kill Tye Liner. But she told Strahan that she believed Liner did kill Tye Liner.
A neighbor and family friend testified that Liner appeared to be a good father who loved and was excited over Tye and his twin sister, Mya.
Jurors began deliberations Thursday afternoon.
