Jury finds West Carrollton babysitter guilty of killing infant

DAYTON — A West Carrollton man accused of killing an infant he was babysitting has been found guilty on all charges.

A jury found Charles Pulley III, 19, guilty of killing Averi Grabans, who died from blunt force trauma to her head on Aug. 23, 2020. He was indicted on charges in early 2021.

A jury had been previously selected for the trial, but the trial was delayed in December when Pulley fired his attorney and told the court he planned to defend himself.

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News Center 7′s Mike Campbell was in the courtroom Monday for the start of Pulley’s trial. He reported that Pulley, representing himself, did not make an opening statement during the morning session, but when the afternoon session a defense lawyer was in place.

On Aug. 20, Grabans’ mother left work to come home and take the infant to the hospital after receiving a text message from Pulley, according to court records.

The text message contained a photo that made Grabans’ mother believe the infant needed to go to the hospital immediately.

Grabans’s took her to Dayton Children’s Hospital where she died from her injuries a couple days later.

West Carrollton police began an investigation after hospital officials became suspicious about the injuries.

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An investigator from the coroners office testified in court Monday and said the 6-week-old girl suffered two bruises on her forehead, a contusion on the top of her head, a skull fracture and brain bleeding. The coroners office called her death a homicide due to multiple blunt force traumas and said she could not have inflicted them on herself.

On Thursday, a jury found Pulley guilty on two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of endangering children.

Pulley is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14, 2022.

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