During closing arguments for a murder trial, a defense attorney called a victim’s six-year-old sister a “pathological liar.”

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 Aceyson’s mother.

“There is not one iota of physical evidence that would convict James Embre of this crime,” Jonathan Zucker, Embre’s defense attorney, told the jury during closing arguments Oct. 3. “If you as a juror believe, and I hate to say this, a six-year-old pathological liar then you have been fooled by the prosecution.”

The case ends and begins with the testimony of Aceyson’s sister,” Zucker said.

He said the prosecution was attempting to “paint my client as anything other than what he really is and that is all cockimamy nonsense.”

Zucker said Aceyson’s sister had been caught lying multiple times before and there were other instances where Aceyson sustained injuries from his sister before Embre began dating the mother.

“We know of at least three times where Aceyson was hurt and all three of those cases occurred before James was in the picture,” Zucker said.

He also said that Aceyson’s mom was abusive to her children, which she admitted during her testimony. He said that Aceyson’s sister was “simply replicating what she had learned from her mother.”

However, the prosecution said Embre wanted to have a bigger disciplinary role in the children’s lives and was upset he couldn’t have that.

“All James Embre wanted to do was to get high and drink and it angered him that he had to care for children that were not his without being able to punish them,” said the prosecutor during her closing arguments.

The prosecutor also said Embre was the only possible culprit of the crime because of the size of the abrasions on Aceyson were not consistent with a six-year-old’s fingernails.

She said Embre had “exclusive care of Aceyson.”

Aceyson’s sister was the only eyewitness who has repeatedly said, in multiple testimonies, that she saw Embre punch Aceyson when he was on the bed, the prosecutor said.

She said that when Aceyson’s sister was talking to police about what happened she mentioned that Embre punched her in the leg and told her not to tell her mother what happened.

The prosecutor also said body worn footage shows that when Aceyson’s mother confronted Embre about hurting the baby he immediately got aggressive and “put his fists up like he was ready to fight.” She said he did this because he knew he “had been caught.”

Jury deliberations are set to begin on Oct. 4.

A forensic pathologist said that a six-year-old jumping on her baby brother could have fatally injured him.

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 forensic pathologist said Aceyson’s injuries could not be pinpointed to a specific type of blow to his abdomen area but the sister’s jumping on the boy could not be ruled out as a cause of death because of the injuries the baby sustained.

Defense counsel, Jonathan Zucker, called the pathologist to the stand because he did not agree with an earlier opinion, from a forensic anthropologist, who said an adult’s fist was the only way the injuries could have been caused.

D.C. Witness previously reported that the anthropologist testified that the baby’s injuries were inconsistent with a child jumping on Aceyson because his liver “would’ve not only been cut, but also smashed.”

However, the pathologist said he disagreed with the anthropologist’s opinion. The pathologist said some of the liver was actually smashed and “appeared to have some matter missing.”

“The constellation of bruises do not formulate markings of knuckles which means there’s nothing that could really tell me that he was punched as opposed to being jumped on,” the expert said.

The pathologist said he agreed with the autopsy report, Aceyson died due to blunt force trauma and the manner of death was a homicide.

During the prosecution’s rebuttal, the forensic anthropologist, who testified earlier in the trial, said that she believed the injuries, “came from only a grown man punching Aceyson multiple times while Aceyson was laying down on a hard surface.”

She also said that since Aceyson’s bruises were on his sides, it wouldn’t make sense that a child jumping on him would cause those bruises on those locations.

The defense and prosecution rested their cases after the experts testimonies.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Oct. 3.