A caregiver’s harrowing 911 call to report the death of her disabled autistic cousin was played for a Broward judge Friday afternoon.
“I don’t feel her breathing,” the caregiver, Latoya Patterson, told a dispatcher.
Patterson, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 25, 2013, death of Tamiyah Audain, 12, who wasted away from 115 pounds to 56 pounds in the nine months she was in Patterson’s care. The defendant is asking Broward Circuit Judge Michael Ian Rothschild to set bail so she can remain free while awaiting trial.
But prosecutor Kathleen Bogenschutz presented evidence she said is extremely likely to convince a jury that Patterson is guilty.
Rothschild listened to testimony Thursday and Friday from witnesses on both sides. Bogenschutz and defense lawyer Melissa Donoho will present arguments to Rothschild at a later date. He will then rule on whether to grant bail or keep Patterson in jail, where she has been since her arrest last August.
Patterson has claimed she was in over her head when she agreed to take custody of Tamiyah, who never spoke a word in her life and, in addition to being autistic, suffered from tuberus sclerosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form on the brain, eyes, heart, kidney, skin and lungs.
The same illness killed Tamiyah’s mother, Constance Bryant, in 2012. Other family members were poised to take custody of Audain eventually, but from December 2012, the girl and her older brother, Anthony, were with Patterson in her Lauderhill home.
On the 911 call, Patterson could be heard describing how she found Tamiyah’s lifeless body.
“I didn’t feel no heartbeat, no nothing,” she said.
The 911 operator struggled to get Patterson to perform CPR, but it was too late to help the victim.
Patterson sobbed as the recording played. Tamiyah’s brother, who testified for Patterson, walked out of the courtroom, consoled by other family members.
Lauderhill Police Sgt. Atina Johnson, a detective at the time, said the little girl had numerous open bedsores, one so deep she could see the child’s thigh bone. Bogenschutz played a recording of an interview Johnson conducted with Patterson five months after the girl’s death. During the interview, Johnson confronted Patterson with the child’s gruesome condition and Patterson’s failure to seek medical help before it was too late.
Patterson claimed to have bathed Tamiyah twice a day, but Johnson asked how it was possible the caregiver did not notice the severity of the child’s deteriorating condition.
“You bathed her daily. Did she look like this?” Johnson asked, showing Patterson a photo taken after Tamiyah’s death. “Either she wasn’t getting a bath every day, or you were obviously ignoring this really big issue … This is a problem.”
A grand jury indicted Patterson on a murder charge last August. Also charged in the case was Jabeth Moye, the ChildNet caseworker responsible for keeping tabs on Tamiyah’s well-being on behalf of the state’s Department of Children and Families.
Rothschild indicated he wants to have a hearing in March, although it may come earlier if scheduling permits.
rolmeda@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda
