Judge weighs child’s death

As Child Protective Services investigator Kisha Earhart strapped Hailey Martino into a car seat to take her to the county home for abused children, Earhart asked the girl about any "owies" she or her three siblings had.

Hailey, who was nearly 4 at the time, told Earhart she had a bruise on her knee from falling down, and added that her younger brother, Zander, the only sibling of hers not getting into the car with Earhart the morning of July 10, had bruises all over his body.

"She told me, 'Daddy hit Zander.' I asked her what daddy hit Zander with, and she said, 'A hammer,' " Earhart testified Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court.

After hearing five hours of testimony, Judge Nancy Oesterle said she will announce by Monday whether Zander's father, Richard "Todd" Martino, 25, and his girlfriend, Brandi Reeves, 22, will face murder charges in District Court for Zander's death.

Reeves called 911 at about 8:30 a.m. on July 10 because 33-month-old Zander was unresponsive. When paramedics arrived at the couple's downtown home, they could tell that Zander had been dead for six to eight hours, Las Vegas Fire Department paramedic Anthony Pastorello testified.

A medical examiner testified that the autopsy determined the child died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen consistent with a kick, punch or blow from an object such as a hammer.

Martino's defense lawyer Paul Wommer said, "There's really no direct evidence as to what caused the blunt force."

Martino has denied he hurt the child and told police the last time he saw Zander alive was at 8 p.m. on July 9.

In initial interviews with police, Martino said he could not believe Reeves would injure Zander. Martino later changed his statement to, " 'I believe now wholeheartedly she did,' " said Lisa Myk, an abuse and neglect specialist for Las Vegas police.

Reeves is facing a lesser charge of second-degree murder. She has denied injuring Zander, but after her arrest Reeves told Myk that one or two days before Zander's death, Martino had hit the child "so hard she had to leave the room," Myk said.

"Mr. Martino is the person who did the fatal injuries to the baby, and she (Reeves) had knowledge and was aware that it happened," prosecutor Vicki Monroe said.

Reeves' defense lawyer Don Ianuzi said that in the past Reeves had lied to social workers about injuries Martino had inflicted on Zander because she was trying to protect Martino. Those injuries, however, did not lead to Zander's death, Ianuzi said.

"She is not guilty," he said.

Earhart said Zander and his siblings had been in and out of foster homes beginning in 2005, after Zander suffered injuries that his mother told a family court judge she had inflicted. She has since said she gave a false confession to get her children out of protective custody.

In March, the Martino children were back in foster care while Earhart investigated another allegation that Zander had been abused. The children were returned to their father.

But in June, county social workers again transferred the children to a foster home after they noticed Zander had bruises around his neck.