Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Trial begins today for Ohio man in death of infant girl

Trial will begin this morning for a Portsmouth, Ohio man charged in the death of his daughter while on vacation in Myrtle Beach, after a jury was chosen on Monday.

Miles Ferguson, 26, is charged with homicide by child abuse after his 5-week-old girl, Mylee Grace Ferguson, died Aug. 2, 2007, at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Horry County police said the baby suffered injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome. He told police he shook his child in an effort to save her when she appeared to be choking, according to information released in a pretrial hearing Monday. Ferguson's trial is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in Conway.

On Monday, about 50 people from Ohio gathered outside the Horry County courthouse wearing teal T-shirts on that read "I support Miles Ferguson," while several of Ferguson's family members were in courthouse waiting for a jury to be chosen.

Those who wore T-shirts showing support were not allowed in the courtroom. An order posted outside the courtroom banned individuals from bringing in "any apparel, writing and/or other material" that shows support for or against anyone involved in the case. Ferguson's supporters declined to comment Monday.

Before ending the day Monday Judge Benjamin Culbertson decided during pretrial motions that a police interview conducted with Ferguson at the Horry County Police Department on July 31,2007 would be allowed during the trial, but not a police interview conducted that same day with Ferguson in Charleston. Ferguson's attorney Morgan Martin said Monday that no statement of the interview in Charleston was provided to the defense.

During the pretrial motions Horry County Police Det. Todd Cox testified that he conducted an interview with Ferguson at 6:35 p.m. July 31, 2007, in a private room at MUSC in Charleston, and then another one at 11:30 p.m. that day in Horry County with another detective.

At the time, Ferguson was under arrest and charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, authorities said. Cox said Ferguson initiated the second interview as he told detectives "he wanted to tell us what happened."

Prosecutors played a video of that interview Monday to support Cox's testimony.

On video, Ferguson told Cox and another detective that he had rocked his daughter and sat her in her bouncy seat when she coughed and "messed her pants a little bit."

He took her out of the seat and was getting ready to change her diaper when he began to think she was choking.

Ferguson said he hit her on her back and nothing came out, so he breathed three times into her mouth when he noticed she was turning pale and couldn't breathe.

He said he panicked, grabbed her, and shook her, but couldn't say how hard.

Ferguson said he shook his daughter with both hands and was yelling her name, hoping she would spit up something as he demonstrated on video using a doll provided by police as a visual aid.

"I was not slamming her," Ferguson said. "I was not slamming her by any means."

Ferguson said he ran out of the door screaming and holding his daughter.

He stated his wife and baby's mother, Ashley Ferguson, was at the beach at the time.

The incident happened on July 29, 2007. The baby girl was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center before being flown to Charleston where MUSC officials alerted police of the suspicious nature of the baby's injuries.Ferguson stated on video that he didn't know what he was walking into when he arrived in Charleston as he was never told his daughter suffered any brain trauma.

"I didn't want to tell myself I killed my daughter and that my daughter was lying there," Ferguson said. He said he thought, "God, you're going to take care of this. I'll leave it in your hands."