State v. Reed

2023 Ohio 878
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 20, 2023
DocketCA2022-03-012
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2023 Ohio 878 (State v. Reed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Reed, 2023 Ohio 878 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Reed, 2023-Ohio-878.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

WARREN COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, :

Appellee, : CASE NO. CA2022-03-012

: OPINION - vs - 3/20/2023 :

HEATHER NICOLE REED, :

Appellant. :

CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No. 21CR38053

David P. Fornshell, Warren County Prosecuting Attorney, and Kirsten A. Brandt, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Johnna M. Shia, for appellant.

HENDRICKSON, P.J.

{¶1} Heather Reed appeals from her convictions for endangering children and

felonious assault. After reviewing and considering the issues and the applicable case law,

we affirm her convictions.

I. Factual and Procedural History

{¶2} Reed ran a child daycare business in her home. In June 2020, Reed began Warren CA2022-03-012

caring for Nicole and Anthony Armbruster's three children, 17-month-old twin boys, "Brian"

and "Tony," and their three-year-old sister, "Kate."1 One day in September, Nicole picked

up the children and noticed that Kate and Tony had marks on their faces that they did not

have when she dropped them off that morning. Reed explained that Kate had run into a

wall and that Brian had hit Tony with a toy. Nicole did not entirely believe Reed. To Nicole,

the marks looked more like the children had been being slapped. Around the same time,

Kate began to resist going to Reed's house. Kate would scream when they pulled into

Reed's driveway and beg not to go.

{¶3} A month or so later, on November 4, 2020, Nicole dropped off the children at

Reed's around 6:15 a.m. At approximately 12:30 p.m., Reed sent Nicole a text message

with pictures of the children eating pizza for lunch. The pictures showed Brian in a walker

and Tony in a highchair. Nicole sent a message back asking Reed if she could have a

video call with the children, and Reed agreed. Once the video call was established, Nicole

watched as Brian looked at the camera and "talked" while he ate. About a half-hour later,

while returning to work from her own lunch, Nicole noticed that she had several calls from

Reed, so she initiated a video call with her. When Reed answered, she screamed, "you

need to get here." Reed turned her phone to show Brian lying motionless on the floor with

his eyes closed. Nicole watched as Reed tried unsuccessfully to rouse him.

{¶4} Reed called 911 around 1 p.m. and emergency personnel were dispatched to

her home. Lebanon police officer Patrick Jenkinson was the first on the scene. He saw

Brian lying unresponsive on the floor, taking quick, shallow breaths. Jenkinson asked Reed

if Brian had fallen and Reed replied that she assumed that he had, but she was not sure

because she had not been in the room. Paramedic Jonathan Kitchen soon arrived and

1. We use these pseudonyms to protect the privacy of these minor children.

-2- Warren CA2022-03-012

began assessing Brian's condition. Kitchen heard Reed say that Brian had been standing

and fell backwards and that she had heard a boom. To Kitchen, Brian's condition appeared

far more serious than would result from a fall from a standing position.

{¶5} The paramedics took Brian to Atrium Medical Center where an emergency-

room physician evaluated him. The doctor could not immediately figure out what was

causing Brian's symptoms. Because his symptoms were consistent with a serious head

injury, the doctor had Brian airlifted to Dayton Children's Hospital.

{¶6} At Dayton Children's, a team of pediatric physicians from neurology,

neurosurgery, and ophthalmology was assembled to evaluate Brian. Testing and

examination revealed subdural hemorrhages2 at multiple locations around his brain, injury

to the brain tissue, and hemorrhages through all three layers of the retina in both eyes.

Brian's injuries were not consistent with Reed's claim that he fell, and a concern arose that

abuse may have been a factor.

{¶7} Dr. Kelly Liker, the Chief of the Division of Child Advocacy at the hospital and

a specialist in child abuse, took the lead. She considered all the information available—

medical histories, reports of those involved, and the results of tests and imaging done at

the hospital. Dr. Liker concluded that Brian's injuries were not consistent with a short-

distance fall and single impact—whether from falling from standing or falling off a couch or

even tipping over in a highchair. Moreover, the injuries were such that the onset of

symptoms would have been almost immediate, meaning that the injuries likely occurred

shortly after Nicole had her video call with the children at 12:30 p.m., when Brian was

behaving normally. Dr. Liker concluded that Brian's injuries were most consistent with

abusive head trauma—forceful, rapid, and repeated shaking, with or without impact—what

2. A subdural hemorrhage is a type of brain injury that occurs when blood collects between the surface of the brain and the inner layer of the outermost membrane covering the brain.

-3- Warren CA2022-03-012

is colloquially known as shaken-baby syndrome.

{¶8} Reed was indicted for endangering children under R.C. 2919.22(B)(1) as a

second-degree felony, for causing Brian serious physical harm, and for second-degree

felonious assault under R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). She was also charged with misdemeanor

endangering children related to the marks that Nicole observed on Tony and Kate back in

September. Reed exercised her right to a jury trial.

{¶9} At trial, the state presented testimony from numerous people. Dr. Liker

testified as an expert in child-abuse pediatrics and discussed her conclusion that Brian had

suffered abusive head trauma. The testimony from other witnesses showed that Reed gave

inconsistent accounts of how Brain was injured. James Steltenkamp, the father of one of

Reed's children, testified that Reed had told him that Brian fell backwards and hit his head

but that she did not witness it. Steltenkamp also said that Reed had told him that she put

Brian down for a nap after he fell and later called 911 when she noticed that he was lethargic

and unresponsive. Keri Shearer, a friend of Reed, testified that Reed had told her that Brian

was injured when the highchair he was sitting in tipped over backwards and that afterwards

he was lying on the floor unresponsive. Brian's mother, Nicole, testified that Reed had told

her that Brian rolled off the couch. Lastly, Detective Timothy Cooper testified that Reed had

told him that, while she was in the kitchen helping another child, she heard a loud cry come

from the living room and found Brian lying on the living room floor.

{¶10} Reed testified in her own defense. According to her, Brian had been lethargic

all morning. After lunch, said Reed, she cleaned up the boys and put Tony in the pack-n-

play and Brian on his feet in the living room and then went to the kitchen to help Kate. Two

to three minutes later, Reed heard a noise and then some faint whimpering, grunting, or

wailing sounds coming from the living room. She peaked around the corner from the kitchen

and saw Brian lying on the floor with his head on the floor in front of the entry door. Reed

-4- Warren CA2022-03-012

went quickly to Brian. He stopped making the grunting and wailing noises, his eyes rolled

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2023 Ohio 878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reed-ohioctapp-2023.