Vanderbilt doctor: Kairissa was "tortured" and then killed

Prosecutors called several witnesses to the stand on Thursday, including the pediatric doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who examined Deborah Mark's daughter Kairissa on July 1, 2010, the day she died, according to WKRN News 2.

Dr. Paul Hain said the four-year-old girl was already comatose and being kept alive by machines when she arrived at Vanderbilt.

He told jurors the girl had suffered severe brain trauma within 24 hours prior.  He compared the brain damage to that caused only by a car wreck or falling two to three stories, for example.

"This is not and ‘I slipped and bonked my head injury.'  That does not happen," he said.

Hain said Kairissa had a total of 13 fractures in various stages of healing, including nine rib fractures ranging from two months to less than a week old.

In his expert opinion, the doctor said Kairissa was "tortured" over a span of months and deliberately killed.

"This child wasn't abused just once.  This child was abused over the course of time, multiple times.  Painful skin issues, painful broken bones and was never brought for medical attention. This child was tortured and then killed," Dr Hain said from the stand.

A doctor from Summit Medical Center also testified Thursday that he also suspected abuse after examining Kairissa.

Dr. David Lien said the little girl was at Summit for only about 30 minutes before she was taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt.

Prosecutors also showed jurors a picture of Kairissa's on the day she died.  Witnesses in the courtroom called the photo "hard to look at."

Deborah Mark, for the first time, was visibly emotional in court during the doctor's testimony.

The prosecutions' last witness, Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Deering, took the stand Thursday afternoon and testified the autopsy found Kairissa had multiple blunt force trauma injuries.

Deering said the little girl had extensive bleeding in her brain and down to her spine, in addition to multiple rib fractures of varying ages.

He said an adult had to have put their hands around the child and squeeze "very hard" to cause the injuries.

The autopsy determined Kairissa's cause of death to be acute blunt force trauma that was not accidental and in his opinion, homicide.