6-Year-Old Girl Isn’t Responsible for Brother’s Murder, Expert Says

By D.C. Witness Staff - September 26, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During trial on Sept. 25, a witness said that, in her opinion, a six year old could not have been able to mortally injure her baby brother. 

James Embre is charged with felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children and second-degree cruelty to children for his alleged role in the death of two-year-old Aceyson Aizim Ahmad on the 3400 block of A Street, SE on April 17. According to court documents, Embre, 26, was involved in a romantic relationship with Ahmad’s mother.

A pediatric abuse and neglect specialist said there were major injuries to the baby’s liver, spleen, diaphragm, stomach and a vein that pumps blood to the heart. The injuries caused Aceyson to internally bleed to death, the expert said. 

The specialist said trauma to the vein is extremely rare. She said there had to have been an extreme amount of force to Aceyson’s body for the vena cava to split in half.

The specialist also said she believed most of the injuries were caused from punches to the front or side of Aceyson’s body. 

A forensic anthropologist testified that she discovered four different stages of bone growth on Aceyson’s ribs, meaning there were at least three other occasions where Aceyson had been beaten previously to the muder.

The rib fractures that were visible showed that the fractures could have occurred up to a year before the baby’s murder, the anthropologist said.

In addition, the anthropologist said the fractures were not consistent with CPR induced fractures or any type of squeezing of the child because the rib fractures were located at the bottom half of the rib cage.  

Defense counsel, Johnathan Zucker, inquired about the possibility that the damage to Aceyson’s body could have occurred from a six-year-old stomping, jumping and kicking instead of an adult punching.

To demonstrate, Zucker took his bag and put it on the floor. He then proceeded to stomp and jump on it to simulate how the defense suggested the child could have been attacked. 

However, a forensic pathologist disagreed with the defense’s theory.

According to court documents, the baby’s liver was severely cut. The pathologist said that if the defense’s theory were true, the baby’s liver would have not only been cut, but also smashed. 

According to DC Superior Court Judge Juliet Mckenna, the trial is ahead of schedule “by about a day.” It is scheduled to continue on Sept. 26 with testimony from the defendant’s mother.