The Garden City Telegram

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Woman bound over on murder, child abuse charges

Published 9/9/2010 in Local News

By RACHAEL GRAY

rgray@gctelegram.com

SCOTT CITY — A Scott City woman has been bound over for trial on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse in the July death of her 3-month-old son.

Marilyn Hoffman, 26, will be arraigned Nov. 12.

According to preliminary hearing testimony Wednesday from KBI Special Agent Mark Malick, Hoffman had expressed frustration in July about her home life to Kansas Bureau of Investigation officials at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital, after she knew her son, Xavier Hoffman, would not survive.

Xavier was flown to Via Christi-St. Francis July 10, after Hoffman and a neighbor initially took the infant to the Scott County Hospital. Hospital officials testified Hoffman had brought Xavier to the Scott County Hospital after his cries were abnormal, he had difficulty breathing and his pupils were fixed and dilated.

He died in Wichita after being taken off of a ventilator, according to KBI agents. Hoffman was arrested the next day in Wichita.

Hoffman told investigators she never had time for herself and felt she didn't have support from her family, and that she sometimes wished to harm her children, Malick testified.

According to testimony from Dr. Kerri Meyer, a specialist in child abuse and neglect cases who assessed Xavier's injuries at Via Christi, the boy suffered retinal hemorrhages, which can be caused by shaking or an abusive head injury, a skull fracture, global swelling of the brain, or rib fractures that are in various stages of healing. She said she also found an older injury to his stomach.

Xavier ultimately died from lack of oxygen due to the swelling of his brain, Meyer said.

At the time of the boy's death, Hoffman was living with her boyfriend, Dromico Elam, 30, who now is living in Salina.

According to testimony from Elam, on July 10, he had arrived home from work and was sitting in the living room of the mobile home he shared with Hoffman. He said he had been smoking marijuana and was high at the time. He said that he heard Xavier fall from a bed in a back bedroom. Elam said he picked Xavier up, gave him a bottle and put him in his crib. He said Xavier was breathing and acting normal.

When Hoffman came home, Elam went to a convenience store to purchase a cigar, Elam testified. Elam said that after he returned home, Hoffman was preparing a bath for Xavier and became concerned because "he wasn't looking right."

Elam said Xavier couldn't hold his head up and his eyes were rolled in the back of his head.

During his testimony, prosecutors asked Elam if he was the father of the child. He said Hoffman said he was, but a DNA test had never been done.

Social Rehabilitation Services had been in the home before, according to Richelle Sims, a social worker in Garden City.

Sims testified that in late June, Hoffman had made an appointment with doctors because she had concerns for Xavier's health. After receiving care, Xavier seemed to be healthier and was gaining weight, Sims said. After the visit, doctors made a recommendation that Hoffman be investigated by SRS.

Sims said she visited Hoffman's home on a report of child neglect and lack of supervision. Sims said during the visit, Xavier would vomit and cry and Hoffman wouldn't comfort him. She made the recommendation that Xavier and Hoffman's other two children be removed from the home.

Sims said the children were not removed from the home, but law enforcement officials made themselves available to assist Hoffman.

After another home visit, Sims testified, Hoffman's behavior and demeanor toward the child had improved.

When Xavier was pronounced dead in early July, investigators searched Hoffman's home for evidence of abuse. Investigators located an indentation in the hallway of the home, and found a hair at the site. No conclusions were drawn at the preliminary hearing as to who the hair belonged to.

Special Agent Mark Kendrick said the agents were "looking for things that could have caused the injuries we were hearing about from Wichita."

He said the indentation in the wall was about five feet from the floor, and could have been caused by a baby's head.

Malick said that after he told Hoffman about the indentation investigators found in the wall, she explained that she had hit the baby up against the wall.

Malick said that at first Hoffman said she didn't know what happened to her son. After hours of interviews, during which Hoffman was not in custody, she explained that she had harmed her child. Malick said Hoffman may have harmed the child while the boyfriend had gone to get his cigar. Surveillance videos from U Pump It, a convenience store, confirm that Elam was in the store at the time he said he was.

Meyer, who had testified about the injuries to Xavier, said the injuries were clearly intentional and a lot of force must have been used on the infant.

She said a fall from the bed would not have caused the extent and type of injuries Xavier suffered. She said difficulty breathing and trauma caused by the head injuries would have occurred almost immediately after the injuries were done to the child.

Scott County Attorney John Shirley and Christine Ladner, assistant attorney general, are prosecuting the case. Hoffman is represented by Kristi Cott, a public defender from Garden City.

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