PITTSBURGH — On the fifth day of his trial, Kyrell Morgan took the witness stand in his own defense. He testified that he “never hurt Brielle Swinton in any way shape or form.” He said he never physically disciplined her, or squeezed her.
Just after two-year-old Brielle Swinton was pronounced dead, prosecutors say Morgan googled “what all comes out in an autopsy,” and repeatedly searched for news stories about the little girl’s death.
The Assistant District Attorney also showed text messages that Morgan allegedly sent to the toddler’s mom that said, “Brielle said I gave her boo-boos, and I squished her.”
In those messages, he went on to add that he didn’t know why Brielle would say that, and didn’t want her to repeat it to other people.
Morgan is on trial for Brielle’s murder after a doctor testified that Brielle was squeezed to death, and whoever did it used an extreme amount of force — to the point where they were able to break her ribs, and lacerate her organs.
Police say the two-year-old died a slow and painful death.
But, Brielle’s mother, Javonne Swinton, believes her daughter’s death could have been prevented.
She testified in court that Allegheny County Police never investigated a Child Line Tip that a doctor made — because the doctor suspected Brielle was being abused after he observed bruises on her body.
Despite Channel 11′s repeated attempts to ask County Police command staff on if the child line tip was investigated, the Superintendent has refused to say yes or no.
We spoke to Javonne about it earlier this week.
“Shame on you. Shame on the county, shame on the system. We failed Brielle. They failed her,” Javonne said.
Javonne is adamant that she wasn’t aware her daughter was hurt at the hands of Kyrell, and didn’t know of the bruises until a daycare worker brought it to her attention.
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