Michaela's injuries detailed
By Cassondra Kirby
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
JANET WORNE
Michaela Watkins, 10, died March 11
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WINCHESTER -- In dramatic fashion, Winchester police yesterday contradicted claims that 10-year-old Michaela Watkins died after she accidentally burned herself in hot water in the bathtub and then fell down stairs, as her father and stepmother have said.
In a Clark County District Courtroom, Detective James Hall painted a starkly different and more violent picture of the circumstances surrounding Michaela's death. Authorities also said evidence shows Michaela had been dead at least five hours before police were called to Patrick and Joy Watkins' apartment.
Hall said autopsy results show that someone held the girl in scalding water and beat her to death with an object similar to a 2-inch-by-4-inch piece of lumber.
Hall said he was called to Patrick and Joy Watkins' apartment at 35 Memorial Park in Winchester about 4:45 p.m. March 11, for reports of an unresponsive child. When he first saw Michaela she was lying in bed in a downstairs room. Her body was partially covered by a blanket, he said.
Michaela, an unnaturally thin girl, had large bruises on her face and chest and burns so severe on her buttocks and the back of her legs that the skin had peeled off, Hall said. An autopsy revealed that the girl also had seven fractured ribs.
A medical examiner has determined that Michaela died from respiratory failure caused by blunt force trauma to her chest, Hall said.
Based on her body temperature and the amount of rigor mortis that had set in, the Clark County coroner said Michaela had been dead at least five hours before police were called. During those hours, Hall said, a security camera at a Winchester Save-A-Lot food store showed Patrick Watkins buying bread and chips.
The Watkinses -- who have been charged with murder -- declined to comment yesterday as police led them out of the courtroom. Their case will be presented to a grand jury.
New details also emerged about what the Watkinses have told police regarding Michaela's injuries.
On March 10, the day before Michaela died, Joy Watkins had gotten into a scuffle with Michaela, Hall said. He said the two wrestled; Joy Watkins told police that she slapped Michaela with the back of her hand.
Later that day, Michaela urinated on herself, and the Watkinses ordered her to take a bath and clean up.
The Watkinses told police they heard water running and then a scream. They said they ran upstairs and discovered that Michaela had fallen into hot water in the tub, burning her skin, Hall said. He said the Watkinses told police that while they were helping Michaela out of the tub she fell, hitting her head twice.
"They didn't take her to the hospital," Hall said. "They didn't call 911."
Instead, Joy Watkins drove to a pharmacy in Winchester and purchased cream to treat Michaela's burns.
The next day, the Watkinses told police, they packed and went to the Red River Gorge in Powell County for a family picnic. They said they were at the Gorge for about three hours.
On the way home, Michaela drifted in and out of consciousness and had trouble breathing, the Watkinses told police. They did not take the girl to a hospital.
The Watkinses said they arrived home about 2:30 p.m. and Michaela fell again while attempting to climb stairs in the apartment. The couple put the girl in bed. The Watkinses told police that Michaela had been dead about 45 minutes before a relative who was visiting the apartment called for help at 3:54 p.m.
Hall said yesterday that several aspects of the Watkins' story don't add up.
The Watkinses told police Michaela was burned when she fell into hot water. But Michaela's feet and toes were not burned, nor were the fronts of her legs. Only the back of her body -- her buttocks and legs -- were burned, Hall said.
The medical examiner told police that it was impossible for Michaela to fall while getting into the tub and not burn her feet or the front of her legs. The medical examiner said Michaela's injuries showed that someone picked the girl up and then set her down in the hot water, Hall said.
Similarly, Michaela's chest injuries, including bruises and fractured ribs, were not caused by falls, Hall said. He said the injuries were caused by an object, which the medical examiner likened to a 2-inch-by-4-inch piece of lumber, hitting Michaela in the chest at a high speed.
Hall said police have seized a table leg and part of a tobacco stick from the couple's vehicle. Those items will be sent to a state lab for testing.
Police have not yet said who may have hit Michaela.
Authorities have interviewed three other children the Watkinses were raising but declined to release information about what the children said. The Watkinses adopted Michaela's half-brother Michael, 4, who isn't related to either of the Watkinses, and they had two children of their own, Zachary, 4, and Mariah, 6. All three children are in state custody.
As the details emerged yesterday, gasps could be heard in the courtroom from family members and others in attendance.
"It hurts. It really hurts," said Jesse Samuels, the grandfather of Michaela by marriage. "I just can't believe it."
