Ramsey County jury deliberating fate of father figure in baby's death

Prosecutors say 9-week-old Rhania Jones was a healthy, happy baby until the day she was rushed to the hospital with brain bleeding, retinal hemorrhaging and brain swelling on Feb. 27, 2009.

Defense attorneys for Louis D. Jones, standing trial in Ramsey County District Court for the baby's death, say physicians, surgeons and law enforcers rushed to the erroneous conclusion that Rhania was the victim of child abuse.

"There is evidence of a birth injury," Jones' attorney Carole Finneran told the jury in her closing argument Friday. "There is no evidence of a crime."

Starting about 11:30 a.m., jurors deliberated until 9 p.m. about the sole charge of second-degree unintentional murder.

Jones, 26, began dating Rhania's mother, Rebecca Shaw, while she was pregnant. Although the baby wasn't his biological child, she had his last name and he promised to raise her as his own. The couple lived in North St. Paul.

Shaw, 25, who has two sons, ages 5 and 10, had to return to work full-time when Rhania was 4 weeks old. Jones and Shaw's mother, Ozell Shaw, watched the baby.

On Feb. 27, a snowy Friday night, Shaw got home from work late -- about 7 or 7:30 p.m., and went out again briefly to pick up diapers at a nearby Walgreens.

The two rushed Rhania to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. The baby was then transferred to Gillette Children's Specialty Health Care. A CT scan showed a subdural hematoma, brain swelling and retinal bleeding.

Dr. Patrick Graupman, a pediatric neurosurgeon, testified that he performed surgery to relive pressure on the brain. When he opened Rhania's skull, her brain began swelling rapidly.

"It's a very dramatic, awful thing to see," Graupman said. It also means, he said, the injury is probably not survivable.

Rhania was removed from life support and died on March 4. Dr. Kelly Mills, an assistant county medical examiner, ruled the cause of her death, complications from nonaccidental abusive head trauma. The manner was homicide.

Prosecutor Jill Gerber told the jury that Rhania ate well, slept well and "only cried when she was hungry."

"He snapped and lost it," she said. "Whether it was shaking and impacting into the couch or impacting into the floor, it was nonaccidental abusive head trauma and this defendant did it.

"Please find [him] guilty."

Jones was interviewed four times by North St. Paul police officer Jessica O'Hern. Four times he changed his story. It wasn't until after O'Hern told him that Rhania had died that he said the baby had fallen off the couch that day. He also said the baby was choking on her bottle and he turned her over and slapped her back.

Prosecution witnesses said Rhania's injuries were not consistent with a fall from the couch or slaps on the back.

Defense witnesses, however, said Rhania may have had a chronic subdural hematoma caused by birth trauma that spontaneously started to bleed on Feb. 27.

The choking Jones described could have been from an undiagnosed neurological disorder, Finneran said.

She also said the investigation was done by an inexperienced police investigator and a biased medical examiner.

"This is a tragedy," Finneran said. "No one's saying it isn't a tragedy.

"Louis Jones loved Rebecca Shaw. He loved and still loves Rhania Jones. He lost a daughter and he lost a family."