Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The unlicensed Boone County daycare owner took the stand in her own defense Thursday in the manslaughter trial against her.
Brown is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter for her alleged role after Ayla Gibson died in her care on May 25, 2023.
Brown detailed her experience in childcare noting she had been running her daycare from her home for nearly 30 years. She said she was routinely caring for children under the age of one and had never been been investigated prior to Gibson’s death.
Brown said she had briefly looked into becoming a licensed day care but she faced some hurdles, like the state’s requirement for seven foot ceilings in licensed facilities.
Brown walked the jury through what she would go through before taking a new child into her care. She said that she would make all parents aware that her daycare was not licensed and explained to them what the differences were.
Brown testified that she knew by taking Gibson into her care that she would be over her allowed child limit of six. However she said she knew some of the children in her care would be leaving soon and was under the impression that Gibson’s daycare situation was urgent.
She also said that Gibson’s mother, Leah Salisbury, downplayed her sickness. Gibson was found to have a viral lung infection.
Columbia Police Detective Brian Graff took the stand and noted three inconsistent statements given by Sarah Brown following the death and discovery of Gibson.
“She found Ayla about 15 minutes later after laying her down. Still swaddled, still on her back or on that 45 degree angle,” Graff said. “Statement number two aws she found her about 15 to 20 minutes later, but she was on her face.”
Brown is alleged to have put Gibson–who was 3-months-old at the time– in a crib at her daycare in north Columbia with a loose, unfitted blanket and pillow in a position that resulted in death by suffocation, court documents say. Documents also claim the baby had a viral lung infection and that Brown ignored parent instructions to have her sleep on her back.
Brown’s first two statements were to other officers, Graff took her third statement.
“She found Ayla approximately one hour later, but she was also on her face,” Graff said regarding statement No. 3.
The court was shown body camera footage of the encounter where Brown told Graff that Gibson was dropped off in her car at 6:30 a.m. May 25, 2023. Brown said she put Gibson down for a nap at 7:30 a.m. By 8:30 a.m. Brown said she noticed Gibson had not woken up, but since she knew Gibson was sick she decided to make a bottle and let her sleep a bit longer.
Brown told Graff she initially gave inconsistent statements to officers as to how she found Ayla because she was scared.
Brown alleged it was just after 8:30 a.m. that she found Gibson when she went to wake her up and feed her the bottle. She told Graff that within seconds, she realized something was wrong and attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation attempts before calling 911. However Graff noted the 911 call was not made until 9:58 a.m. leading him to later take a fourth statement from her.
In Brown’s fourth statement about what happened, she spoke with Graff again the day after Gibson’s death.
Body camera footage of the interview shown in court shows Brown telling Graff that she found Gibson around 9:30 a.m. When he asked her about the time discrepancy she explained she looked at her call logs and saw she called 911 closer to 10 a.m. so she must have found Gibson around 9:30 a.m.
Prosecutors also noted differing statements from Brown about the number of children in her care. Graff explained that she told officers on scene she was caring for seven children, then in Brown’s interview with Graff for her fourth statement she said she was caring for nine. Graff testified that officers accounted for 12 children in Brown’s care.
Missouri law requires that anyone caring for more than six children be licensed. Brown did not have a license for her daycare.
The defense argued that Brown told officers she normally cared for six children but extra youth were in her care the day of Gibson’s death due to school year coming to an end. Brown’s lawyer also argued that licensed daycare facilities have state laws that they have to follow, but unlicensed daycares are not held to the same standards.
The defense also questioned Graff around his conversations with Gibson’s parents. Graff recounted Leah Salisbury, Gibson’s mother, telling him Gibson had respiratory issues that started on May 4. She said the baby was diagnosed with a viral infection on May 10 and that when she placed Gibson in Brown’s care she was having trouble breath both day and night, with the symptoms being worse at night.
In body camera footage of her interview with Graff, Brown expressed multiple times that she was concerned about Gibson’s breathing while in her care. She specifically noted the issue worsening when she had Gibson doing “tummy time.”
Brown said in the interview with Graff she did “tummy time” with Gibson Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while she was in her care. Brown explained that if Gibson fell asleep during “tummy time,” she would not move her so she could sleep, but would monitor her condition. Thursday, the day of Gibson’s death, was the first time Brown told Graff she had put Gibson down for a formal nap which she said included swaddling Gibson, laying her down on her back and propping her up at a 45-degree angle to prevent any potential choking risk.
Photos were presented in court of Gibson sleeping during the ‘tummy time’ that were shared to Salisbury by Brown through text messages. Graff testified that he was provided the photos by Salisbury the day after Gibson’s death, but not the full text conversation where the defense noted Salisbury responding to Brown with texts like “that’s great” or “good.”
An investigator for the medical examiner’s office also testified on the stand Thursday. Stacey Huck said she encountered Gibson’s body at the hospital before she was taken to the morgue. Huck described blood pooling and facial blanching on Gibson’s face that was consistent with Gibson being face down when she died.
The defense questioned if the medical response immediately following Gibson’s death could have played a role in how and why the blood pooled.
The former Boone County medical examiner continued further into Gibsons post-mortem assessment and autopsy. She revealed that Gibson’s cause of death was ruled positional asphyxiation with viral pneumonia as a significant contribution. The witness also testified that Gibson’s manner of death was ruled an accident.
The former medical examiner explained that she was told pre-autopsy that Gibson had been suffering from congestion, but was not aware of her viral lung infection diagnosis. She said she found fluid that had pooled towards the front of Gibson’s lungs that would have been consistent with Gibson being face down when she died.
The defense noted the medical examiner’s description of Gibson’s lungs as “heavy and frothy” in the autopsy was not a sign of a healthy baby.
CPD Crime Scene Investigator also took the stand and testified regarding the evidence she collected at the scene. Multiple blankets, a pillow and the pack-and-play Gibson was found in were presented to the jury.
Missouri Children’s Division investigator and social worker Shannon McPherson visited Brown’s home daycare one week after Gibson died. McPherson testified that while she was examining the daycare for signs of child neglect or abuse she found a 11-month-old child face down in a pack and play crib with a blanket blocking their face and a heavy blanket over top of the crib.
Brown explained in her defense that she placed that child down properly and that the child was known to roll over in their sleep. The investigation found no evidence to support the claims of child abuse and neglect at the daycare.
Four women also testified positively to their experiences with Brown providing care to their children. Their separate testimonies were consistent with the notion that they never felt that their children were in danger while in her care.
Brown faces three-to-10 years in prison, if found guilty.
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