An Aiken County jury on Wednesday found Ivory Blackshire guilty of homicide by child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Caleb Walker.
Walker was found unresponsive on the couch of his mother's Dallas Circle home the afternoon of Aug. 29, 2013. The mother's boyfriend, Blackshire, called 911 after the boy wouldn't wake up. He was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers, and then to Georgia Regents Medical Center, where he was declared brain dead and later taken off life support.
Jurors deliberated about 90 minutes Wednesday afternoon before finding Blackshire guilty. Circuit Court Judge Doyet "Jack" Early decided to delay sentencing until 2 p.m. Thursday.
The verdict followed testimony by several doctors, including Dr. Janice Ross of Newberry Pathology Associates, who explained that Walker died of a subdural hematoma - or a collection of blood outside of the brain.
Physicians from Aiken Regional Medical Centers and Georgia Regents Medical Center also testified that the type of force which causes such injuries is similar to that of a child who strikes a tree after being ejected from a car during a collision.
The defense did not present any witnesses, and Blackshire did not take the stand in his own defense. The state played portions of Blackshire's recorded interviews with law enforcement immediately after the incident.
In the interview, Blackshire told investigators he fed Walker and his older brother breakfast the morning of Aug. 29, then fed them lunch around noon. He said Caleb didn't eat much at lunch but that it wasn't unusual because he was a "picky" eater. At about 1 p.m., he gave the toddler medication for a staph infection he'd been diagnosed with about a month prior.
Blackshire told investigators Caleb had been asking him for water, so he gave him some about 3:30 p.m. He called 911 about 6 p.m., after noticing Caleb slumped over on the couch in his brother's lap.
Blackshire said he picked up the boy and began shaking him in an attempt to wake him, but said he was cold and pale.
During the first interview, investigators asked him about the injuries to Caleb's head and neck, which had marks that appeared to be from fingertips. Blackshire repeatedly denied hitting or spanking the boy.
Investigator Adam Truesdale, of the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, testified Wednesday that something was different about Blackshire's second interview with law enforcement.
"He added the part that while he was shaking (Caleb), his head struck the end table right beside the chair he was sitting in," Truesdale said.
Blackshire said during that interview that he wasn't aware of any head injuries on Caleb until the previous interview, and that he didn't actually see the boy's head strike the table while he was shaking him.
"That's the only way I know it could have happened," he said during the recorded interview. "I was the only one around. Forensics and doctors don't lie. It had to be me but it wasn't intentional."
Blackshire's attorney, Michael Chesser, reminded jurors during testimony that Walker had been staying at his aunt's home in the days before he collapsed. He noted testimony that said a subdural hematoma takes time to manifest.
"This could be from something that happened the day before or more," he said.
Assistant Solicitor Ashley Hammack, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant Solicitor Sam Grimes, said during closing arguments that the injuries weren't caused by a bump on the head or attempts to wake the boy.
"Shaking a little boy because he is driving you crazy and slamming his head is what would cause these injuries," she said, slamming her palm down on a table. "He was going to do whatever it took to make Caleb stop. He made Caleb stop, all right."
Teddy Kulmala covers the crime and courts beat for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since August 2012. He is a native of Williston.