Testimony got underway Tuesday in the trial of a former Mid-State pediatrician accused of killing her adopted daughter nearly two years ago in Wilson County, according to
WKRN.
Deborah Mark is charged with first degree murder and several counts of child abuse in connection to the death of her four-year-old daughter Kairissa, who was adopted from China.
Kairissa Mark was unconscious when she was rushed to Summit Medical Center on July 1, 2010. She later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
The child had severe bruising and Mt. Juliet police said in the months following it was one of the worst cases of child abuse they'd seen.
During opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors painted Mark as a mother who often abused her young daughter.
Kairissa was adopted by Mark and her husband Steven three months prior to her death and in that time, prosecutors allege Deborah Mark disciplined the girl by hitting and pinching her, something putting her in a dark room and hitting her on the fingers with a stick.
"This isn't just one incident, this isn't just one voluntary lapse in judgment, time after time, decision after decision, injury after injury and abuse after abuse, that's what you're going to hear on this tape and then on June 30, 2010, the final act of the abuse," Jason Lawson, assistant district attorney in Wilson County, told jurors about a taped conversation they'd hear between Mark and investigators.
The defense argued Mark loved her daughter despite the child's serious behavioral and medical problems.
Defense attorneys also laid the ground work to place blame on Steven Mark, who is also charged with murder and child abuse in the case.
"This is a real tragedy," Lowery said. "Not only is this small child Kairissa a victim in this case, we're going to show you Deborah Mark, the defendant in this case sitting at this table, is also a victim."
