Retired pediatrician testifies injuries to infant Kaylin Garner are consistent with abusive head trauma

Dr. George A. Edwards, a retired pediatrician who directed child-abuse consultations at Dell Children's Medical Center and has served on faculty at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, told the 252nd District Court that his review of medical records, imaging and police/CPS reports led him to conclude the injuries sustained by infant Kaylin Garner were caused by physical abuse — specifically, abusive head trauma.

Edwards said the child's course showed an abrupt onset of massive brain swelling with unresponsiveness and breathing problems between the morning and early afternoon on the day in question. He described bilateral, multilayer retinal hemorrhages extending from the central retina to the periphery and characterized that pattern as strongly suggestive of traumatic injury: “retinal hemorrhages with that distribution pattern strongly suggest or or I probably should say indicate trauma,” he said.

The expert testified that imaging (CT) demonstrated widespread anoxic/hypoxic changes and massive cerebral…