WILKES-BARRE — Alan Leitzel Jr. exposed his disdain for 3-month-old Xavier Simmons early in their relationship, referring to the boy, who is half-black, in racially derogatory terms, prosecutors said.
“This isn’t my kid,” Leitzel would tell the boy’s mother, girlfriend Tiffany Simmons. “Get this baby out of the house.”
“He didn’t want this child around,” Deputy District Attorney David Pedri told a Luzerne County judge on Monday.
Leitzel, 26, of West Hazleton, admitted to killing Xavier, hours after the boy succumbed in January 2008 to the jarring effects of blunt force trauma. Leitzel affirmed that admission last Thursday as he pleaded guilty to an open count of homicide, but has denied any premeditation or intent to end the boy’s life.
Judge David W. Lupas will decide, after a degree of guilt trial that began Monday, whether Leitzel intended to murder Xavier, or if the boy’s death was the result of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. Leitzel could face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of first-degree murder.
Leitzel’s attorney, public defender Jonathan Blum, said Leitzel’s psychiatric disorders led to the “impulse control” and “anger issues” that “played into the child’s death.”
According to prosecutors, Leitzel became enraged as Simmons continued to slumber while Xavier fussed in his bassinet.
Leitzel cursed at Simmons, 26, of Hazleton, and forcefully lifted Xavier from the bassinet, banging the child’s head against a plastic shield, prosecutors said. In the process, Leitzel grabbed Xavier under the arms, providing no support for the boy’s head and neck, prosecutors said.
Leitzel shook Xavier several times and slammed his head against a nearby wall or stereo speaker, prosecutors said. The impact caused the boy to fall silent and limp, prosecutors said.
“This is not just frustration, this is not a momentary shake,” Pedri said. “This is a strike of the baby’s head off of something.”
Blum, advocating for a third-degree murder or manslaughter conviction, called it a “classic case of shaken baby syndrome.”
Dr. Mark Trachtman, a pediatric ophthalmologist who examined Xavier at Lehigh Valley Hospital, said the boy suffered from “the worst case” of retina hemorrhaging he had ever observed.
“It is clearly indicative of a non-accelerated trauma,” Trachtman said.
Two other medical experts — Dr. Kerrie Pinkney, a pediatric emergency physician at Lehigh Valley Hospital, and Dr. Samuel Lamb, the forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on Xavier Simmons — are expected to testify when the trial resumes today at 10 a.m.
Amy Vendura, who has five children with Leitzel’s brother, Josiah Heller, said Leitzel protested whenever Simmons visited with Xavier.
“Alan asked her to take the baby home or to find a baby sitter when she came over,” Vendura said. “But she brought the baby anyway.”
Vendura said she never heard Leitzel yell at her children, his ex-girlfriend’s four children, or his own 5-year-old daughter. She said she never saw Leitzel shake or strike them either.
Leitzel’s friend, Richard Saieva, said Leitzel argued with Simmons “about him watching Xavier” about a month before the boy’s death.
“He didn’t think it was fair for him to watch someone else’s baby when it’s not his,” Saieva said.
story link:
http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/05/05/news/wb_voice.20090505.t.pg2.cv05cdleitzel_s1.2498366_top4.txt