Trial begins for babysitter accused of killing infant; Forensic pathologist takes the stand

DAYTON — The murder trial for the babysitter accused of killing an infant in West Carrollton has started after being paused late last year.

Charles Pulley III, 19, was indicted in early 2021 on two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, one count of involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of endangering children. He’s accused of killing Averi Grabans, who died from blunt force trauma to her head on Aug. 23, 2020.

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 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.

An investigator from the coroners office 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.

“Usually all of these things happen not accidentally, but when force is applied to the skin,” Dr. Anna Richmond, a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Grabans, said in court.

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.

Family members said Grabans was hurt while Pulley was babysitting her.

Court records obtained by News Center 7 showed that Grabans’ mother noticed first noticed bruises on the infant the night before she took her to the hospital, when she picked her up from Pulley’s house. Grabans 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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The coroners office called her death a homicide due to multiple blunt force traumas and said she could not have inflicted them on herself.

“She is too young, a six-week-old is not mobile, is not capable of inflicting injuries of this nature by herself,” Richmond said.

The prosecution then introduced several home videos that Pulley made, apparently to show how the injuries might have happened in an accidental way. In one of the videos, Pulley could be seen dancing down a hallway with a baby doll and possibly striking a door jam.

In another video, Pulley demonstrated the child falling from a couch onto the floor. A third video showed him dropping a cellphone onto the baby doll’s head.

The prosecution asked Richmond whether any of those potential scenarios have caused the injuries that claimed Grabans’ life.

“That, in and of itself, would not explain the extent of injuries that Averi had, or the location of the injuries,” Richmond said.

Pulley’s trial is expected to last two or three more day. Now that he has a lawyer representing him, it is not clear if he will take the stand in his own defense.

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