Regina toddler's bruises 'highly suggestive' of non-accidental injuries, trial hears

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing

Court is getting a better understanding of how 18-month-old Emerson Whitby died while in his mother’s care.

The toddler died from brain swelling as a result of a “large intracranial hemorrhage,” according to autopsy results. The cause of the hemorrhage was blunt force trauma to the head.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Andreea Nistor, who performed Emerson’s autopsy, testified at the Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday.

The final report suggests the brain bleed occurred within a day of Emerson’s death.

Nistor did not identify any underlying conditions or disorders that would have caused the bleed in Emerson’s brain. However, she could not determine the exact cause of head trauma.

“It is usually believed that normal play and household activities won’t result in a subdural hemorrhage,” she said.

“There must have been an injury.”

Chelsea Whitby, 27, is charged with second-degree murder in her son’s death. She has pleaded not guilty.

Emerson died on June 10, 2020. He was declared brain dead before his heart stopped beating.

“Sometimes in brain dead individuals the heart continues to beat for awhile, but that while is not very, very long,” Nistor told the court.

Nistor’s post-mortem examination noted “multiple bruises” on the boy’s scalp, face, neck and torso that would have occurred at various times in the days and weeks leading up to his death. She could not determine the exact number of bruises as it was unclear where some started and others began, she said in court.

While several of the bruises were in the late healing stages, Nistor observed a “more recent” blue-purple bruise on the front of Emerson’s neck. She could not point to any one bruise as the cause of the hemorrhage.

She said the pattern of bruising is “highly suggestive of something non-accidental” or abusive as children don’t tend to fall on their chest and neck without bruising on their elbows or knees.

“It is very difficult imagining a child falling on the neck,” she said.

However, Nistor could not exclude other mechanisms of injury.

Nistor told court the appearance and duration of bruises depends on each individual. People with fairer skin tend to see more bruises, she said. Court has previously heard witnesses describe Emerson as pale and anemic. Multiple people have suggested the boy “bruised like a peach.”

Nistor identified several old fractures during the autopsy. She noted a skull fracture on the back of Emerson’s head that was much older than the brain bleed that killed him. During the neuropathology examination, the doctor discovered an old subdural bleed around the same area of the previous fracture.

Emerson also had three healed fractures on his ribs and a healed fracture on his clavicle.

“You would not see this complex of injuries without trauma,” she said.

Court has previously heard that Emerson threw up twice the day before his death. Nistor testified vomiting can be a sign of head trauma, but it can also be a coincidence.

Two more doctors, including a neuropathologist, are expected to testify Thursday.

The Crown is scheduled to conclude its evidence early next week.