Woman must stand trial in son’s death
Mom charged with murder in eight-year-old boy’s death
LANCASTER — A 22-year-old Lancaster woman was ordered to stand trial on murder and assault charges stemming from her eight-month-old son’s death in November 2018.
Superior Court Judge Daviann Mitchell rejected a defense motion at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing that contended there was insufficient evidence to allow the case against Anaiyah Alise Perry to proceed to trial.
Perry is charged with one count each of murder and assault on a child causing death involving her son, Royal Marshall, in a residence on Moccasin Place in Lancaster.
Ten witnesses testified at the hearing, including one of Perry’s neighbors, Dustin Stober, who testified that the boy’s father rushed over to his house holding his son and pleading for help on Nov. 6, 2018.
The military veteran said he began CPR on the baby as his wife called 911. He said the boy’s father was “visibly upset’’ and “crying,’’ while Perry seemed to be very deadpan.
The baby was rushed to Antelope Valley Hospital and subsequently airlifted to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he died the next day.
Dr. Travis Deuson, a long time emergency room physician assigned to Antelope Valley Hospital, tried to save the baby. He testified in the preliminary hearing.
Dr. Matthew Miller, who performed an autopsy on the boy, testified that he determined the baby had died from blunt force neck trauma, with the manner of death determined to be a homicide.
Dr. Carol Berkowitz, a Board-certified child abuse pediatrician, testified that she reviewed records from the case and concluded that it was her opinion that the boy was subjected to a “shaking motion’’ near the time of his death, not 10 to 14 days earlier.
The baby’s biological father and maternal grandmother also testified.
Perry initially denied shak
ing the baby, then later acknowledged that she had lightly shaken him about a week and a half earlier while gently rocking him back and forth, sheriff’s investigators testified.
She was arrested in September 2019 by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives and has remained behind bars in lieu of $2 million bail since then.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, who handles complex child abuse murders in the Antelope Valley.
The judge ordered Perry not to have any contact with her older son — Hatami told the judge the boy has permanently been removed from Perry’s custody — as well as the boys’ father and the paternal grandparents.
Perry — who is due back in a Lancaster courtroom for arraignment April 22 — could face a potential life prison term with the possibility of parole if she is convicted as charged.