She suffered swelling of her brain as a result of lack of oxygen to her brain, and as a result of which, she died,” Rao testified. “What she sustained was tremendous force on her neck, such that she basically, she could not breathe. The cause of death, Rao determined, was mechanical asphyxia. With the exception of the insect activity, Rao says they determined all of the injuries she suffered happened before her death. There were many areas of injury uncovered during the testimony, from scrapes and bruises that Rao believes were the result of Cherish being transported to where her body was found, to ant bites that happened after her death. While preparing to bring out photos taken during that autopsy, State Attorney Melissa Nelson questioned- and Rao confirmed- that they limited the amount of photos they would show, to those which would assist Rao’s testimony. The next day, the full autopsy was performed. When Cherish’s body was brought to the Medical Examiner’s Office, Rao says the conducted a sexual assault kit, where “a lot of evidence” was collected. It was a child that was abducted, it was something that the entire City of Jacksonville was concerned about,” she says. Rao says she actually went out to the scene where Cherish was recovered. It's all part of the second day of the trial of Donald Smith, the man who's accused of taking the girl from her family at a Northside Walmart, raping her, and leaving her dead in water near a church. Valerie Rao performed the autopsy of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle back in 2013, and today, she walked jurors through photos and details of her findings regarding the child's death. It was testimony that not only caused several jurors to shed tears, but led to the Chief Medical Examiner asking for a brief recess as she appeared to fight back emotion as well.ĭr.
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