KINGWOOD, W.Va. — A West Virginia jury has found a babysitter guilty in the November 2018 death of a 1-year-old girl.
According to the Preston County News & Journal and WBOY-TV, Tunnelton resident Kelly Tusing, 24, was convicted of death by abuse Friday, nearly two years after 13-month-old Braylen Louk suffered a brain injury in Tusing’s care and later died, prosecutors said.
Tusing, who watched Louk from Nov. 8 to 10, 2018, claimed that the child fell off a bed onto the floor, the News & Journal reported. Tusing’s attorney, Bill Frame, said a chronic or days-old injury could have led to the child’s death, according to the newspaper.
Prosecutors, however, alleged that Tusing struck or shook the toddler, who also suffered a subdural hematoma and hemorrhaging, WBOY reported. Medical examiners called Louk’s death a homicide, according to the News & Journal.
Tusing, who will be sentenced in January, could face a prison term of 15 years to life, the newspaper reported.