Lower Providence man faces murder trial in infant death
LOWER PROVIDENCE » A Lower Providence man must answer to charges in Montgomery County Court that he allegedly sexually assaulted his 10-month-old daughter who subsequently died after also suffering blunt force head trauma.
Austin Kamal Stevens, 29, of the 3400 block of Germantown Pike, was held for trial after a preliminary hearing on Tuesday before District Court Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar on charges of first-, second-, and third-degree murder, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the alleged fatal assault of his infant daughter, Zara Scruggs, on Oct. 3 at his residence.
Stevens will be held in the county jail without bail while awaiting trial on the charges.
During the hearing, defense law yer Christian Hoey argued that the homicide and aggravated assault charges should be dismissed for a lack of sufficient evidence.
“I don’t know that the evidence presented in this case, including the statements of the defendant which were recited by the different officers and detectives, establish anything other than an accidental death,” Hoey argued. “There’s nothing to dispute the statements of the defendant which were that this was a purely accidental event. At best what we have in terms of evidence at this point is an accident that occurs in a tub involving this child.”
But Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood argued prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to support the homicide and assault charges.
“The entire autopsy preliminary findings are in evidence,” argued Ringwood, quoting the coroner’s conclusions that the child died of blunt force head injuries and that the “injuries are consistent with non-accidental head injuries.”
“I think it’s pretty clear the doctor’s opinion is that these injuries are not consistent with a fall. The defendant’s explanation is not adequate. The cause of death being blunt force head injuries and from that your honor can infer a specific intent to kill from the defendant’s use of force on a vital area of this very young, 10-month-old defenseless baby’s body,” argued Ringwood, who handled the case along with First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr.
“I suggest to you this child was a complete inconvenience to him,” Ringwood argued.
Rebar determined prosecutors did provide sufficient evidence to support all the charges and moved the case to county court.
Stevens originally was charged in October with the sexual assault-related charges and the cause and manner of the child’s death was listed as pending while officials awaited the results of additional forensic tests.
This week, the coroner’s office finalized the cause of death as blunt force head injuries.
The additional homiciderelated charges were lodged against Stevens on Tuesday morning, just hours before he faced the preliminary hearing.
The investigation began about 10:40 p.m. Oct. 3 when township police r e sp onde d to a 911 call for a re - ported cardiac arrest of an infant at Stevens’ apar tment. Arriving officers found 10-month-old Zara Scruggs unresponsive and began to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Michael Crescitelli and Lower Providence Detective Scott Dreibelbis.
“She was unresponsive. Her skin was gray. She was cold to the touch,” Lower Providence Police Officer Eric Honick testified on Tuesday, referring to the child.
Describing Stevens at the time, Honick testified, “There was no panic, no emotion.”
The child was transported by ambulance to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery where, despite resuscitation efforts, she was pronounced dead at 12:12 a.m. Oct. 4.
During the investigation, detectives interviewed Stevens who stated he was home alone with the child and after giving her a bath briefly left her unattended while he went to the kitchen to get a beer, according to the criminal complaint and testimony. Stevens allegedly told detectives he heard a “bang,” which he believed was Zara striking her head against the bathtub.
Stevens allegedly claimed he returned to the bathroom, removed the child from the tub, placed her on a bed and observed her head fall back and become unresponsive.
“He said he began to panic and he said he started to Google what he should do, a Google search,” Crescitelli testified, referring to Stevens’ statement.
Detectives subsequently obtained a warrant to search the contents of Stevens’ cellphone and determined he conducted multiple internet searches, between 9:27 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Oct. 3, including the topics, “If baby stop breathing,” “How to give CPR to a baby,” “What if you don’t hear baby heart or beat,” “My baby isn’t breathing,” and “How do you know if a baby is dead,” according to the criminal complaint.
The internet searches were performed prior to Stevens placing the 911 call at 10:39 p.m., Crescitelli testified.
Testimony revealed Stevens also used Instagram and text message applications to communicate with two unidentified females while conducting the internet searches.
“The messaging content did not discuss any issues regarding Zara or her need for emergency care,” Crescitelli and Dreibelbis alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Detectives recovered a diaper worn by Zara during emergency transport to the hospital. Medical personnel found the diaper saturated with blood, according to the arrest affidavit.
Doctors found the child to have trauma indicative of sexual assault.
Detectives concluded that Stevens had sole care and custody of the child at the time of the alleged assault.
“During that time, Stevens physically assaulted Scruggs causing blunt force head trauma. Additionally, Stevens sexually assaulted Scruggs…,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit. “These actions were a continuing course of conduct that created a substantial risk of death and Stevens failed to provide a duty of care when the child was in need of emergency care.”