Closing arguments begin in trial of Springfield Township couple accused of killing son
CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Closing arguments started Wednesday in the trial of John and Katherine Snyder, who are accused of killing their 8-year-old son Adam in 2016.
The trial started in mid-October and over the weeks, both sides have called witnesses and experts to testify.
The prosecutors are building their case around the repeated discipline the Snyders allegedly imposed on their children.
After Adam Snyder’s death, they said their other five children were discovered in their home malnourished and showed signs of physical abuse.
The Snyders’ attorney, Jeremy Evans, argued that 8-year-old Adam died of natural causes.
Lead-Up to Closing Arguments:
Among those called to the stand included a pediatric child abuse specialist.
Dr. Kathi Makaroff testified that Adam Snyder could not have struck his head to cause the injury that killed him.
“With Adam’s limitation of movement, he could not have inflicted such a deadly injury upon himself,” Makaroff said.
She said that children who come to the US from international adoption agencies are typically malnourished when they get here. But during the period Adam was with the Snyders, he actually lost five pounds.
Makaroff also said Adam Snyder was suffering from medical neglect, that her opinion was he didn’t get all the medical care that he could have.
Defense attorneys said the Snyders were loving parents and did everything they could for the five children they adopted from China, who suffered various mental and physical deficiencies. They also said he also had a brain infection that led to him banging his head.
The prosecution said Katherine Snyder had disciplined her son for soiling his pants and slammed his head into the floor.
Makaroff was asked by the defense if she knew the Snyders had planned to take Adam to the doctor four days after his death. She said it was possible, but added it’s not something that usually shows up in a medical report.
Day 8: Firefighter takes stand in trial of slain 8-year-old Springfield Township boy
A Springfield Township firefighter, who responded to John and Katherine Snyder’s home on the day of Adam Snyder’s death, testified during Day 8 of the trial on Wednesday, focusing on her demeanor when they arrived at the scene.
Lt. Matt Morgan said they were dispatched to the Snyder’s home when Katherine carried an unconscious Adam out of the house.
“Is it unusual to have someone carry carry the person out to you?” the prosecution asked Morgan.
Morgan said: “Yeah, it can be. It all depends on the circumstances.”
Morgan said he found it odd that Katherine wasn’t showing signs of panic when she carried the unconscious Adam out of the home.
“Is focused and calm the preferred interaction with a parent when you’re trying to get information?” defense attorneys asked.
Morgan said: “It is the preferred, yes.”
Morgan said Adam Snyder’s heart rate was between 35 to 50 when the emergency crews arrived at the home. He said the normal heart rate for a child is between 80 to 100.
Springfield Township Police Lt. Brian Uhl testified for the prosecution - he took photos of Adam Snyder’s room not long after his passing. Uhl testified that a server crash in 2018 caused the department to lose some of its records tied to the case.
Day 7: Defense, prosecution continue to question coroner’s employee
Dr. Gretel Stephens, who formerly worked with the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office - and conducted the autopsy on 8-year-old Adam Snyder in 2016 - was the continued focus of questioning during the trial’s seventh day on Monday.
It was Stephens’s second day on the stand in the trial of John and Katherine Snyder, who are accused of killing their 8-year-old son.
Prosecutors worked to rule out other explanations for Adam Snyder’s death, while defense attorneys said other health issues were the cause, such as aspirational pneumonia.
“Based on what you reviewed at this point, do you believe the child was suffering aspirational pneumonia?”
“No,” Stephens said.
The defense questioning left open other possibilities, like an infection.
“With the brain, you found a lot of small hemorrhages, are those associated with infection?” a defense attorney said.
“They can be associated with response to dying, response to previous injury, additional injuries or infection,” Stephens replied.
“So, it’s certainly well within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the small hemorrhages on Adam’s brain were caused by infection, right?”
“They may have been,” Stephens said.
The trial will have an off day on Tuesday and resume on Wednesday with more testimony.
Day 6: Former coroner’s office employee testifies in trial of slain 8-year-old Springfield Township boy
The sixth day in the trial of two Springfield Township parents facing charges in the 2016 death of their adopted son saw a former Hamilton County Coroner’s Office employee take the stand.
John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.
Prosecutors claim Adam died after Katherine slammed his head for soiling himself on Oct. 4, 2016.
Throughout the first five days of testimony, it was established that Adam was not built like you would expect a child of his age to be.
Testimony revealed the Snyder’s told doctors he had stopped eating in the days prior to his passing.
“He was very thin, had very little muscle mass,” testified former Hamilton County Coroner’s Office employee Dr. Gretel Stehpens. “He had multiple areas where he had injuries to the skin, had changes to multiple joints that looked like they were stiff and probably not bending and usable.”
Dr. Stephens has since retired from the Hamilton County Coroner’s office, but she performed the autopsy on Adam in the days following his death.
The most impactful part of her testimony came when she discussed where they found a bruise on Adam’s head.
She said from the witness stand the bruise was in a place that was not consistent with someone throwing themselves or hitting their own head, which is what the defense asserts happened to Adam.
“The point where the bruise is located is off to the right and underneath as the skull curves under to join the neck,” Dr. Stephens said. “So here, we are finding this unusual contusion was in this area.”
Katherine took Adam to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead due to a blunt-force traumatic impact to his head, according to Hamilton County prosecutors.
Testimony continues on Oct. 23 at 11 a.m.
Day 6 of Trial: Psychologist takes stand in trial of slain 8-year-old Springfield Township boy
A psychologist who worked with Adam Snyder the night before his death took the stand during the fifth day of his parents’ trial on Thursday.
Dr. Rena Sorenson said Katherine Snyder had taken her 8-year-old son to see Sorensen at the Cincinnati Children’s College Hill Campus.
“When they initially adopted him he was self-eating and feeding well,” Sorensen testified. “After he broke his femur, he started to decline. He wanted them to feed him. Pretty soon they had to puree his food and put it in a bottle. Then he was even refusing that and they had to move to syringe feeding. The last days prior to him coming in, he had hardly eaten at all.”
The defense said Adam Snyder’s health issues could have been a potential cause of his passing.
Sorensen also testified about the boy’s behavioral issues. She said she was told by Katherine Snyder that Adam was hitting and scratching himself, throwing himself into things and banging his head.
Katherine Snyder has maintained that Adam had thrown himself and hit his own head. The coroner had determined a blow to the head led to Adam’s death.
“She said they were using discussion ... about his emotions, trying to appeal to him through reasoning to discuss the self-injuries,” Sorensen said. “Letting him know, ‘Don’t do that,’ rather than stopping it.”
Sorensen said the Snyders put socks on his hands to help prevent him from self-pinching and scratching. She said, at times, the Snyders had taped the socks that were on his hands to his pants.
The prosecutor asked: “Is that a recommended treatment fora child that is engaging in these behaviors?”
Sorensen responded: “It is not.”
Sorensen said she had recommended he be taken to the emergency room immediately.
Day 4 of Trial: Children’s doctor takes stand in trial for Springfield Township couple charged in son’s death
A doctor from Children’s Hospital took the stand Wednesday as the trail of John and Katherine Snyder continued Wednesday.
John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the 2016 death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.
Prosecutors claim Katherine Snyder slammed Adam’s head, which led to his death, after he soiled himself on Oct. 4, 2016.
“Katherine picked him up and slammed him on the ground and caused this subdural hemorrhage to the back of his head,” said Assistant Prosecutor Stacy Lefton.
Katherine took Adam to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead due to a blunt-force traumatic impact to his head, according to Hamilton County prosecutors.
The defense claims that Adam had behavior problems and would often bang his head and died of natural causes.
Doctor Mary Staat was on the witness stand Wednesday but did not want to be filmed or recorded.
She told the court that she specializes in infectious diseases and international adoption at Children’s and testified to Adam’s condition.
The prosecutor asked the doctor if there were any reports of headbanging.
To which the doctor replied, ”There were some reports of headbanging.”
The doctor said Adam was sick when he was brought to Children’s, but defense attorney Ernest Lee asked her, “Did an infection kill this child?”
The doctor answered no.
Lee then asked, “Did he die of natural causes?”
The doctor again replied, “No.”
Defense attorney Joe Cello questioned the doctor about Adam’s body temperature at Children’s, saying it was recorded at 85.3 degrees.
“That’s a cold temperature, correct,” Cello asked.
Dr. Staat answered, “Correct.”
Cello then asked the doctor, “Is that a sign of infection?”
The doctor’s answered, “No.”
Day 3 of Trial: Judge issues warning to both sides
The judge overseeing the trial of the Springfield Township couple accused of killing their 8-year-old son issued a stern warning to both sides on Tuesday.
The warning from Judge Wende Cross came after concerns were raised that someone tried to make contact with a child witness who gave testimony in the trial of John and Katherine Snyder on Monday.
“The court has a duty to make sure that these proceedings do not cause trauma to these minor children, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Judge Cross said. “I will have you arrested, plain and simple. You can explain it to me after you get out of the justice center.”
John and Katherine face 26 total charges in connection with the 2016 death of their adoptive son, 8-year-old Adam Snyder, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.
The couple’s other adopted children were found malnourished and had signs of physical abuse, according to prosecutors.
For the second day in a row, one of the Snyder children took the stand.
On Tuesday, the child was asked, "Do you feel safe around the Snyders?”
The child’s response was, “No.”
When the child was asked why, the response was, “I don’t want to be around people that killed their own son.”
On the cross-examination, the defense asked who had told the child the Snyders killed their child.
The child answered, “No one.”
The defense was also able to establish with the child that 8-year-old Adam sometimes fell and hit his head, which is important because Adam’s cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma.
Day 2 of Trial: Neighbor takes the stand
A neighbor of John and Katherine Snyder testified she once found their son Adam inside their home with a broken arm.
Lynn Hortemiller, who lived across the street from the Snyders, was a witness for the prosecution during the second day of the trial on Monday in Hamilton County court. The Snyders are accused of murdering their 8-year-old son in 2016 and facing multiple charges including four counts of aggravated murder.
Hortemiller said she was close with the couple until she found Adam Snyder with a broken arm.
The prosecutors are building their case around the repeated discipline the Snyders allegedly imposed on their children. After Adam Snyder’s death, they said their other five children were discovered in their home malnourished and showed signs of physical abuse.
Hortemiller testified the Snyders used duct tape on Adam. The Snyders said it was to keep his diaper on and to keep him from soiling himself and smearing it.
The defense asked Hortemiller if she had ever asked the couple why they used the duct tape, and she said she didn’t.
One of the Snyder’s children - who is still a minor - also testified. They were asked by the prosecution if they were afraid of the Snyders. The child said yes.
Prosecutors allege Katherine Snyder slammed Adam’s head after he soiled himself, killing him in October 2016.
The couple - both 51, face four counts of aggravated murder, four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault and 14 counts of endangering children.
Adam was one of five children with learning disabilities the couple adopted from China, court documents show.
“On the surface, you think this looks like a really great situation,” Assistant Prosecutor Stacy Lefton said Friday during opening statements. “Here’s these two people; they already have three children of their own, and they’re willing to open up their home and their hearts to take in these children from another country in an orphanage.”
The prosecutor said about seven months later, in October 2016, Katherine rushed Adam to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead due to a blunt force traumatic impact to his head.
Lefton claimed on the morning of Adam’s death, Katherine punished him for defecating in his pants.
“And the routine punishment in the Snyder home for soiling yourself was to place these children in cold showers and baths and smear feces on them,” the prosecutor told the court. ”And not only did that happen, but they, Katherine, picked him up and slammed him on the ground and caused this subdural hemorrhage to the back of his head.”
The Snyders’ attorney, Jeremy Evans, argued that Adam died of natural causes.
Evans said Adam’s injury was a result of his behavior.
“He became more aggressive with others, hitting and tripping them,” Evans said. “He became more aggressive with his self-harming behavior, banging his head, bruising his body creating pressure sores, picking at his wound.”
The defense said Katherine did not injure her son.
“The evidence will show that on Oct. 4, this came to a head when Kate woke up and found Adam covered in feces,” the defense attorney explained. “She placed him in a bathtub and going for a few seconds to get soap, came back and found him face down in the water.”
Lefton said the Snyders didn’t immediately take Adam to the hospital after the bathtub incident.
“This poor kid comes from China, from an orphanage to this family, and what do they do? They kill him,” Lefton said.
Hamilton County court records say the abuse happened when the Snyders lived on Conrad Drive in Springfield Township, but they were living in New York at the time of their arrest.
The Snyders’ other five children were found severely malnourished and had signs of physical abuse, according to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.
Those surviving children were the ones who gave the authorities the information leading to their indictments in October, the prosecutor’s office said.
Now that the kids are older and safe, the prosecutor’s office said they were able to disclose details of what happened in Springfield Township years ago.
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