01x09 - A Mother's Love

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR A baby's skull is fractured.

I heard this blood curdling scream,

not like a normal scream you've ever heard from an infant.

NARRATOR The parents claim it's an accident.

Authorities think it may be abuse.

And Dr. G is called in to make the final diagnosis.

DR. G It really didn't have anything

to do with a dead baby, it had to do with a pattern of injury.

NARRATOR The fate of a family hangs in the balance,

as Dr. G sifts through a tangle of medical evidence.

DR. G And I said you must have the wrong facts, because this

isn't making sense to me.

NARRATOR Then, a quadriplegic dies in the hospital

months after a car accident paralyzes

her from the neck down.

Her mother suspects foul play.

So why is Dr. G convinced she is wrong?

Some things we've just never seen before.

You'd never say you've seen it all.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR Altered lives, baffling medical mysteries,

shocking revelations.

These are the everyday cases of "Dr. G, Medical Examiner."

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As a chief medical examiner in a major metropolitan area,

Dr. G bears witness to heinous crimes every day.

In order to remain objective, she and her staff

must learn to keep their emotions in check, regardless

of the circumstances.

But sometimes, a case comes along

that changes all the rules.

And it's just such a case that compelled Dr. G to join a Texas

investigation into questions of child abuse, questions

that she would have to answer in order

to keep a family together.

When Barry and Paula Harvey were married,

they wanted more than anything to start building a family.

BARRY HARVEY We were married about four years.

We tried in vitro a few times, and that was

not successful, so we adopted.

NARRATOR Their first adoption brought them daughter Sydney.

Then, almost five years later, they

began the process of adopting a second baby, named Jake.

During Jake's first Christmas, the Harveys

seemed to be the very picture of the happy family.

But only a month later, their happiness

would come to an abrupt and devastating end.

Their story begins on an ordinary January

morning, when Paula brings Jake to work with her.

As usual, she drops him off with an in-office babysitter

before starting her day.

I work in a photography studio.

And it's basically just a large open space.

We have a small room.

It was kind of like a little office.

And we set that up for a nursery.

NARRATOR But just a few hours later, without warning,

Jake lets out a terrible cry.

I heard like this just blood curdling

scream, like not like a normal scream

you've ever heard from an infant.

I was about feet away from the doorway.

And I got up and ran that way.

And I took him.

And I said, what happened, what happened.

And she said, nothing happened to him,

nothing happened to him.

You know how you hold an infant, you hold their head.

And I felt his head just swelling in my hands.

And it just, it scared me to death.

He looked like an alien.

NARRATOR Less than minutes later,

Paula and Jake arrive at the emergency

room of a nearby hospital.

PAULA HARVEY His head was swollen.

They did the triage questions, like what happened,

and I said I don't know.

And they asked me like questions about the last few hours

of what was going on with the baby.

And I told them, nothing remarkable.

BARRY HARVEY It was probably to minutes from there

before I got to the hospital.

They put him through numerous tests.

I think he had to do somewhere in excess of to x-rays.

NARRATOR The first news they receive comes as a shock.

Jake's skull is fractured.

There's not many words that I could explain to you

how I was feeling at the time.

You know, of course, our first thought was he's going to die.

NARRATOR Thankfully, Jake's injuries

are not life threatening.

And the doctors informed the relieved parents that he

will make a full recovery.

He didn't have any permanent damage

and he basically had no pain after the first like hours.

NARRATOR But the Harvey's relief

soon gives way to shock and dismay

when hospital staffers summon them to a private meeting.

PAULA HARVEY We got in this little small room,
[ … ]

and they told us your baby has been abused.

NARRATOR The stunned parents are then

informed that there will be a full investigation

and that Jake will not be allowed to go home with them.

What are you talking about?

We were just like, oh, my God.

And we were like, no.

And we were devastated.

We couldn't understand.

It made no sense.

It was like the Twilight Zone.

NARRATOR Unbeknownst to Paula and Barry, a chain of events

had been playing out behind closed doors

while they patiently waited for Jake's test results.

Because the parents had failed to provide an explanation

for Jake's head injury, the ER doctor

followed hospital protocol and notified the Texas Department

of Family and Protective Services,

known to most as simply Child Protective Services, or CPS.

With more than three children dying from abuse each day

in the United States, any unexplained injury

as severe as a skull fracture can

be greeted with a healthy suspicion from CPS.

The mission of CPS is to protect the unprotected.

The child had a bilateral skull fracture.

And the emergency room technician

talked to the parents.

And neither one of the parents could explain

how the injury occurred.

So that's how we got involved.

NARRATOR CPS arrives and consults with the ER doctor.

His finding-- that the baby had not one, but two fractures that

occurred within hours of the time the injury came to light.

For authorities, this opens up the possibility

that there could have been two separate blows, blows

that neither parent had an explanation for.

For many child abuse experts, more than one severe injury,

coupled with no explanations for the injuries,

sometimes indicates a pattern of v*olence.

The next day, CPS begins their formal investigation

by questioning Paula and Barry separately.

BARRY HARVEY Five or six people around the table,

bringing us in one at a time two interview us.

And at that point, they ask questions, and pretty much said

that he will not be going home with us

because he's been abused.

You know, pretty much fess up to whatever it is I've done.

WOMAN Until the matter is cleared up,

we're all in agreement--

BARRY HARVEY The emotions were just flying out of hand and out

of control at that time.

NARRATOR Barry becomes visibly agitated during his interview

and is able to provide little new information

concerning Jake's injuries.

When Paula is called in, she tells

CPS investigators about the episode at the photo studio.

Mom tells us that the child was screaming and crying

uncontrollably and that's when mom

noticed that there were a couple of swollen areas on the baby's

scalp.

NARRATOR But Paula is still unable to say

what caused the injury.

And when CPS talks to the babysitter,

she says only that Jake started to cry.

The sitter is denying any knowledge

of how baby Jake could have sustained a skull fracture.

NARRATOR CPS then asks that Paul and Barry

take lie detector tests.

Paula passes without a hitch, but Barry's test reportedly

showed deceptive answers regarding how Jake may

have sustained his injuries.

Just days later, Barry passes a second polygraph test,

but the damage has been done.

At this time, the Harveys report that CPS agents present

them with a theory, a theory that

bewilders both Paula and Barry.

According to the Harveys, they are told by CPS

that they suspect Barry may have abused Jake on two

separate occasions within the last hours,

breaking his skull both times.

Treated horribly, treated like we

had really done something wrong.

We were basically convicted at that time

of abusing this child.

It was just unbelievable.

It was just like we stepped into a nightmare.

NARRATOR A nightmare that was only just beginning.

While CPS continues their inquiry,

they present the prospective parents with a temporary plan.

Whenever we do an investigation

and we find that there are risk factors that potentially put

a child in danger, we address those through the use

of a safety plan.

They decide Paula can have custody of Jake,

provided Barry is not around unless supervised.

PAULA HARVEY He could visit, but I couldn't

let him be alone with Jake.

And I couldn't let him have any overnight stays.

NARRATOR CPS then investigates whether there

is any evidence of prior abuse or neglect
[ … ]

in the Harvey household.

Barry and Paula have a five-year-old daughter

that they adopted from birth.

Child Protective Services at one point

even demanded that they submit Sidney over to their care

in order to have a full skeletal examination done on her,

to see if there were any previous fractures or

skeletal injuries of any sort.

Sydney came back with no prior fractures, no prior injury that

was obvious by skeletal X-ray.

Our check of the history revealed

that the Harveys were not involved in any previous abuse

or neglect situations.

NARRATOR After investigating Barry for three weeks,

CPS finds no evidence of any earlier abuse.

But then, a few days later, Paula is asked

to come to the CPS office.

I got a phone call.

And it was from a CPS worker.

And she said, well, we just have something

that we need you to sign.

And just you and Jake come.

I walked in, had him in his little baby carrier.

And they told me to come back into a room in the back.

So we went back in there.

I walked into this room, and there was two police officers,

and there was the two CPS workers I'd been working with.

And I said, what's--

what's going on?

And one of them immediately took Jake's baby carrier.

And I said, what are you doing?

And they said, we're taking Jake.

We're going to see to it that you do not adopt him.

And I was just like, can I see him, you know,

before you take him?

And they said, no.

And they didn't ask me what formula he's drinking.

They didn't-- you know, it was just--

they just took him.

I couldn't even stand up.

I was just--

I just had like a breakdown.

I couldn't walk, I couldn't-- you know, I just crying.

No, no, no.

And this officer picked me up by the arm, and he goes,

you're going to have to leave.

And they literally put me out of the door.

They took him.

He was gone.

We didn't know where he was.

NARRATOR CPS offers no official explanation for Jake's removal.

Key paperwork dealing with Jake's early adoption

had not been finalized, reducing the Harvey's

legal hold on Jake.

These were not biological parents.

These were people who were looking to adopt this child.

What we try to do is keep families intact.

And in a situation where the family is not really

a family at that point, it's handled

a little bit differently.

NARRATOR Jake is placed with a foster family,

making it possible for another family to adopt him.

Terrified that they will now lose Jake forever,

the Harveys appeal to an attorney, Therese Huntzinger.

They were very upset, very traumatized

by it, as was Sydney.

This is her little brother as well.

We have a little five-year-old girl.

And she very much couldn't understand where

her baby brother had gone.

They were distraught.

They were scared, plain scared and fearful that the state

could actually do this.

NARRATOR Huntzinger knows that the key to the Harvey's case

is a clear and objective medical analysis

of what happened to Jake.

And there's only one person she trusts to give it.

DR. G I'm sitting, minding my own business in my office,

and I get a call from Therese Huntzinger, who I have worked

with on many cases, where I think she's

just a terrific prosecutor.

And now, she's in private practice.

And so she calls me, and says, you know,

I have this case where this baby has been taken away.

I really value your opinion, could

you look at the medical facts.

NARRATOR Having a medical examiner consult on a case

where no death is involved is almost unheard of.

But the Harveys have an unusual case.

And Huntzinger believes that if Dr. G takes it on,

her expertise could prove more valuable

than that of a pediatrician.

Much as Dr. G would testify in a m*rder case

about this facts surrounding it, and the reports,

and the history, she's not saying who,

but she can narrow it.

She can say this is when the injury occurred.

So the fact that Jake didn't die as a result of these injuries

didn't limit her expertise in the area.

In fact, her expertise was the best you could get.
[ … ]

NARRATOR At first Huntzinger's appeal to Dr.

G is met with resistance.

DR. G She calls me up.

I told her I didn't want to consult. And she said,

I don't understand the medical aspect of it.

So she's asking me some medical questions.

I said, sure, I'll talk to you about that.

NARRATOR But it doesn't take long

for Huntzinger's description of the case

to get Dr. G's attention.

She was telling me about the case, and it just--

something wasn't right.

And I said, Therese, you must have the wrong facts,

because this isn't making sense to me.

NARRATOR With the fate of a family hanging in the balance

and the chance that CPS could be wrong,

Dr. G agrees to look at the case,

even though a death is not involved.

Well, it's really not that different to turn

my investigative work onto live people.

It's basically the same interpretation

of the facts, interpretation of wound pattern.

And I think what was missing here

is that they didn't gather all the facts.

NARRATOR For Dr. G, the case boils

down to one key question--

did the injuries occur prior to Paula arriving at work?

Or was an unseen incident at the photo studio

the sole cause of Jake's two skull fractures?

Coming up, Dr. G takes a hard look at the evidence

and is shocked by what she finds.

This is outrageous.

There is a miscarriage of justice here.

People aren't using common sense.

NARRATOR And later, over a dozen ailments

and an accusation of foul play make determining

the cause of death of a quadriplegic a search

for a needle in a haystack.

Her kidneys were shutting down,

her liver was shutting down, her lungs were filled with puss.

NARRATOR When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.

Paula and Barry Harvey are on the verge

of losing five-week old Jake.

Texas Child Protective Services took custody of the infant,

after Jake sustained a head injury, claiming

that Barry may have abused him.

Though Jake is alive, Dr. G agrees to consult on the case.

And just as she would on a mysterious death,

she begins analyzing medical and circumstantial evidence in

an effort to uncover the truth.

Dr. G's first step is to understand the full nature

of Jake's head injuries.

But there's no autopsy to perform.

And Jake's injuries have long since healed.

I review all the medical records.

I review the radiology reports and all the information

I can gather.

NARRATOR The medical records identified two skull fractures,

indicating that Jake may have suffered

two separate blows to the head.

This could suggest a pattern of abuse.

But when Dr. G reads the records,

she notices something that may contradict the theory of abuse.

He had two skull fractures.

Two skull fractures can occur with one blow to the head

or with a fall to the top of the head, depending how you fall.

It is a well-known phenomenon that can occur.

He didn't have two signs of trauma to his head.

He had one sign of trauma to his head.

NARRATOR Unlike an adult or even a small child,

the skull of a baby is thin and not completely formed.

When struck hard, the skull can deform, bend,

resulting in a fracture not only at the point of impact,

but where the bend occurred.

One blow can cause two fractures because

of the deformity of the skull.

I've seen that many times.

It's written in books.

NARRATOR Dr. G now knows that a single traumatic event

could have easily caused Jake's fractures.

The next vital question, exactly when was the injury sustained?

For that, she contacts the radiologist who examined

Jake at the hospital and who wrote the initial report,

stating Jake's injuries could have been sustained any time

within the past hours.

So I tried to track down the radiologist.

And I finally get a hold of him.

And I said, why are you saying it's any time

within the past hours.

He goes, well the only reason I say that is

because they're swelling there.

I go, that's fine.

But if I gave you the story that people heard him scream

and saw the swelling develop, when would you say it occurred?

Well, I would have said it occurred then.

NARRATOR The conversation with the radiologist

adds fuel to the theory that Jake was most likely

injured in the photo studio.

Dr. G then reviews the CPS interviews

with Paula's co-workers.
[ … ]

They verify one simple fact.

No one noticed any swelling when Jake arrived at the studio.

The baby's head was normal.

And people actually were holding the baby's head

and oohing and awing over it, previous to that,

and it was normal.

NARRATOR Dr. G now believes, based

on the timing of the injury, that whatever

caused Jake's skull to fracture happened at the photo studio.

Taking into consideration all that she's learned,

Dr. G formulates a new theory as to what might have happened.

On the morning of the incident, Paula brings

Jake into the photo studio.

After a few minutes of office ogling,

Jake is handed to the babysitter.

She carries him to the nursery, where, according to Paula,

he is typically kept in a car seat.

A few hours later, Jake lets out his terrible scream.

[BABY SCREAMING]

DR. G He most likely was placed in a car seat

that you would carry around.

The thing tipped over with him in it and hit his head.

NARRATOR Dr. G believes that this one

fall then resulted in both of Jake's skull fractures.

That's what I surmise happened.

NARRATOR Attorney Huntzinger calls CPS and runs

through Dr. G's conclusions.

But even after hearing the findings,

Texas CPS remains convinced that Jake could be in danger

in the Harvey's custody.

They didn't listen to Dr. G when she offered that

to them prior to the trial.

They just didn't keep an open mind to other possibilities.

And it's very hard to acknowledge that kind

of mistake or error in judgment when what you've done

has been to take a child away from its parents.

NARRATOR CPS remains steadfast in their position

that Jake is unsafe with the Harveys.

This is outrageous.

There is this a miscarriage of justice here.

People aren't using common sense.

They're taking this baby away from the parents

and nobody's thinking.

NARRATOR To get Jake back, Paula and Barry

will have to take CPS to court.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Coming up, Dr. G testifies on the Harveys' behalf.

But will her findings be enough to convince the judge?

I don't remember exactly my exact words,

but I do remember hitting the table.

And they felt that I was losing my objectivity.

NARRATOR And later, can a car accident k*ll a woman

months after it happened?

JAMES JOHNSON I broke down out and cried, because, you know,

I didn't know about paralyze and this and that.

But I knew I loved my wife.

NARRATOR When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Suspected of possible abuse, Barry and Paula Harvey

have lost custody of five-week old Jake.

Though Dr. G has demonstrated that Jake's injuries were not

the result of mistreatment on the part of his parents,

CPS continues to claim that Jake is unsafe in the Harvey's home."], index ,…}

To get their son back, the Harveys

will have to plead their case in front of a judge

and hope he's swayed by Doctor G's findings.

THERESE HUNTZINGER So this is a full adversarial hearing

so we could put on all the evidence,

hopefully reach the right decision--

did CPS have the right to remove Jake

or was Jake at risk by being placed back at home.

NARRATOR For the past four months, Paula and Barry Harvey

have tried to cooperate with CPS while continuing to argue

that Jake wasn't abused.

DR. G At court was the first time I met them.

I saw them right before I went to testify.

They looked very down.

They looked very sad.

NARRATOR Before the judge, CPS again presents

its case, maintaining that Jake would be

in danger in the Harveys' home.

Then it's Dr. G's turn to take the stand.

DR. G I tried to bring in all the facts,

to say just because the radiologist said it could have

happened any time within the past hours,

you have to use common sense.

Look at the fact that the baby's head was normal

when it got to that studio.

Look at the fact that there are numerous witnesses that

heard that blood curdling cry and saw

the baby's head swelling.

Look at that common sense.

In the courtroom Dr. G was just so dynamic.

And she just-- she was just like can't you

see this is what happened?

And she's just such an energetic person.

And she just was mad at what was going on.

She knew it was wrong.

And it really made her mad.

As I'm on the stand, I have to admit that I was
[ … ]

very passionate about the case.

And I think at one point, I got angry with them,

and actually, you know, put my hand

and slapped it on the table.

This is a miscarriage of justice.

I don't think you're putting all the facts together.

They felt that I was losing my objectivity.

And I felt they had lost their objectivity a long time ago.

Many experts, medical experts, are considered to be bought.

When she was cross-examined and asked

about what she was being paid to do, how much was she paid,

and so forth, in terms of what her opinion bought,

she could honestly tell the judge, no, I'm here on my own.

I'm not being paid.

I'm here because this is wrong.

It's my opportunity to make it right.

And that's pretty exceptional.

NARRATOR By the end of her impassioned testimony,

the judge is convinced.

He rules in favor of the Harveys.

Jake can finally go home.

BARRY HARVEY When the judge ruled that baby needed

to go back to us, his family, that

was an emotional break-though that was long coming.

Basically, the whole courtroom just

started yelling and cheering.

That was probably one of the best days of my life.

NARRATOR Today Paula, Barry, their daughter,

Sidney, and their son, Jake, are again

the picture of a happy family.

Jake is-- he's very smart.

And he's very, very energetic.

And he's lovable.

He's just-- he's a perfect kid.

Barry's-- he's a great dad.

He's kind of like a kid, so he plays well with them.

He's a good dad.

NARRATOR As Barry and Paula go about their normal lives,

neither of them have forgotten the priceless gift

that they received from Dr. G.

There's no words that can describe what

Dr. G did for me and my family.

She is superwoman.

It makes you feel good, because I felt like I was

really helping this family out.

You don't get any satisfaction in testifying in court

to put somebody in jail.

I mean, that just doesn't give you warm fuzzies.

But to bring common sense so that the parents,

these adoptive parents, who love this child, could get it back,

I think that was really making me feel good.

I think I was really doing something positive.

NARRATOR Coming up, can Dr. G shed light on a dying

woman's strange plea for help?

NAOMI BLUM She just looked in my eyes,

and with a tear rolling in her eye,

she said, James trying to k*ll me, Mom.

NARRATOR When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

For Dr. G, cases aren't always about the victims.

Sometimes they are more about the loved

ones who are left behind.

Such are the circumstances of Dr.

G's next case, Shannon Johnson.

JAMES JOHNSON We met when she was young.

She was and I was like , .

You know, we were as one.

Once we married, we as one--

as one.

NARRATOR -year-old James Johnson

and his -year-old wife, Shannon, have

been married for six years.

Because James is prohibited from driving due to health problems,"], index ,…}

Shannon drives him to and from work every day.

JAMES JOHNSON She knew my schedule.

I knew her schedule.

We believed in praying together, staying together.

That were her-- that were her words-- if we prayed together,

we stayed together.

And it works.

NAOMI BLUM She loved him more than I ever known

a woman to love her husband.

I seen some love, but not like that.

NARRATOR But on a spring day in April ,

James' and Shannon's world would be changed forever.

Only moments after dropping James at his job,

Shannon was in a terrible car accident.

[TIRES SCREECH]

[CRASH]

At the hospital, doctors delivered devastating news

to Shannon's family.

She is paralyzed.

JAMES JOHNSON He said she is paralyzed from her neck down.

I fell down.

I broke down and cried, because, you know,

I didn't know about paralyzed, and this and that.

But I knew I loved my wife.

NARRATOR Almost the entire time after the accident,

Shannon remains hospitalized.

James and her family stay by her side, around the clock.
[ … ]

Over the next nine months, Shannon's health

continues to deteriorate, but then rebounds.

And for several days, it looks like she will finally

be well enough to return home.

Until in a final turn for the worse,

Shannon falls into a coma, lingers for several weeks,

and eventually dies.

Her doctors at the hospital determined that her death

is the result of systemic bacterial infections,

a direct complication of her accident, months earlier.

My wife, I loved her.

I love her with all my heart.

I know she in a better place now, but oh, man, it hurts.

NARRATOR Because Shannon's death is classified

as accidental, related directly to the injuries she sustained

in the car accident, Shannon's body

must be transferred to the Orange County Morgue

in Orlando, Florida, where her case will be reviewed

and a death certificate issued.

Initially, Dr. G does not anticipate

a need for an autopsy.

DR. G She'd been in the hospital for months and months.

And basically, they knew for a long time

that her prognosis was poor.

NARRATOR But there's just one problem.

According to Dr. G's investigator's report,

Shannon's mother believes that her daughter's death

had nothing to do with her car accident.

I believe it was some foul play somewhere.

And I feel that James had something to do with it.

NARRATOR According to family member accounts,

three months before her death, Shannon became delirious

and suddenly stopped taking her medication

because she was afraid that someone

was trying to poison her.

JAMES JOHNSON Day in and day out,

she wouldn't take her medicine.

And if she put a pill in her mouth,

she would hold it in her mouth, and it'd get bitter.

And she-- you could tell they poisoned her.

NARRATOR But according to Naomi,

Shannon told her that the person trying to poison her was James."], index ,…}

NAOMI BLUM She just looked in my eyes,

and with tear rolling down, she said,

James trying to k*ll me, mama.

NARRATOR As a forensic pathologist,

Dr. G knows that survivors sometimes

experience irrational fears about the causes

of their loved one's deaths.

James denies the charge.

And more importantly, hospital records

show no evidence of foul play.

Usually, a simple call from Dr. G and an explanation

of the medical facts will quell these types of suspicions,

but not always.

OK, and I was reading through the chart,

and I just wanted to talk to you about it.

Because it's mentioned in the chart--

I tried to explain to her that complications often

arise from being quadriplegic, plus being

quadriplegic and morbidly obese, plus having

one infection after another.

But she really felt strongly that something happened

sinister to her daughter while in the hospital

and blamed her daughter's husband.

I felt bad that she didn't really believe me.

NARRATOR After her conversation with Shannon's mother,

Dr. G ultimately decides to comply with Naomi's wishes

for an autopsy.

DR. G And I felt that, well, I might not

be able to tell the poisoning, so called,

but maybe I could show what really did happen.

So I felt that maybe we owed it to this woman

to try to give her some peace.

NARRATOR But for Dr. G, providing peace

will be a difficult task.

She hopes to do it by finding the real cause of Shannon's

sudden turn for the worse, and figuring out why she

ultimately lapsed into a coma.

What we were confirming is to see if there's

anything we could point to that would

suggest why she had that coma.

NARRATOR Coming up, Dr. G begins the autopsy on Shannon

Johnson, seeking a medical explanation

for the cause of her coma.

But along the way, she makes some unexpected findings.

Some things we've just never seen before.

You'd never say you've seen it all.

NARRATOR When "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" continues.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

When -year-old Shannon Johnson dies months

after a paralyzing car accident, hospital records

state that her death was due to massive bacterial infections.

But her mother remains convinced that Shannon was poisoned

by Shannon's husband, James.

She said James is trying to k*ll me up here

and I'm not going to eat the food.

I'm not taking nothing else.

NARRATOR Dr. G hopes that the autopsy will uncover

a clinical reason behind Shannon's
[ … ]

alleged deathbed accusations, as well as the cause of Shannon's

sudden turn for the worse, just as it looked

like she was getting better.

Dr. G starts by carefully examining the exterior

of Shannon's body, where she pays

close attention to signs of her long bout with infection.

She can plainly see that Shannon suffered from bedsores.

Her bedsores, you can see the big scars.

NARRATOR Victims of paralysis, like Shannon,

face many life-threatening complications.

One of the most lethal is infection of the lungs,

urinary tract, or even bladder.

But deadly infections can also be triggered by bedsores.

When a person is immobile, the soft tissue covering bone,

such as the coccyx, spine, hips, and shoulders,

is compressed by the constant weight of the body, which

if not alleviated can result in a lack of blood supply

to the area.

The resulting bedsores can fester and eat

away at skin, muscle, bone, and even into internal organs,

causing systemic infections.

She's got a really nasty, wide scar there.

The bedsores are on her sacrum and her buttocks.

NARRATOR After completing the analysis

of the outside of Shannon's body,

Dr. G begins the internal exam.

Her goal-- to discover what caused Shannon's sudden turn

for the worse.

DR. G Really, what we're going to look

for is what had happened the three months earlier.

NARRATOR Once the body is opened,

fluids are drawn for toxicology tests.

But because Shannon's alleged poisoning

took place months ago, Dr. G will not be able to run

screens for poisons.

DR. G I can't take tox samples.

This is three months later.

Although, I checked her blood to see if there's

anything acute in her blood, all she has

is the pain medicines on board.

NARRATOR Even though Dr. G expects to find evidence

of deadly bacterial infections, she

is shocked by the extremity of the damage, some

of the worst she's ever seen.

DR. G When you open her up, you could

see she was terribly infected.

She had evidence of terrible pneumonia.

Her kidneys were shutting down.

Her liver was shutting down.

Her lungs were filled with pus.

Some things we've just never seen before.

You'd never say you've seen it all.

NARRATOR To Dr. G, what k*lled Shannon is indisputable--

systemic bacterial infections.

But she still has no answers for Naomi.

Why did Shannon claim she was being poisoned?

And what could have caused her to suddenly fall into a coma?

NAOMI BLUM I got to know what happened.

And no doctors gave me no answer to what was going on.

Why?

She was coming home--

why?

NARRATOR Dr. G has only one organ

left to look for answers--

Shannon's brain.

If her brain tissue is damaged, it

could help determine what caused Shannon's

sudden turn for the worse.

After removing Shannon's brain and preserving it

in formaldehyde, Dr. G turns to Dr. Perl, a neural pathologist

who specializes in diseases of the brain,

to see if he can find anything out of the ordinary.

Looks like we have some small discolorations

in the CA region of the hippocampus, bilaterally.

NARRATOR Sure enough, Dr. Perl finds evidence of brain damage

within Shannon's hippocampus, a region of the temporal lobe

that plays a role in memory.

Moreover, Dr. Perl can estimate that this brain damage occurred

approximately three months ago, about the same time

as Shannon's sudden turn for the worse.

We did find some definite changes in her brain,

with an event several months earlier.

NARRATOR For Dr. G, the crucial question

is what could have caused Shannon's brain to be

damaged in the first place.

She feels Shannon's recurring sequence of infections

is the answer.

DR. G And when you look at the medical record, now,

she was having one infection after another.

She was doing better, but then she got more complications.

It is not uncommon to see people's blood pressure drop

with those type of infections.

And that's what we suspect happened.

NARRATOR The drop in blood pressure

reduces blood flow to the brain and can

cause brain damage of exactly the sort

discovered by Dr. Perl.

Dr. G now knows for certain what k*lled Shannon.

She also believes that Shannon's recurring

infections triggered her turn for the worse and her coma.
[ … ]

What's more, Dr. G can now offer an explanation

as to why Shannon made accusations of poisoning.

According to Dr. G, Shannon's long descent

began on the day of her car accident, months earlier.

During the impact, the force of the collision

damaged her spinal cord and left her a quadriplegic.

In the hospital, confined to a bed,

Shannon developed several infections, including

severe bedsores, a common ailment of paralysis victims,

especially those who are morbidly obese.

Over the course of nearly a year,

Shannon suffered recurring infections

of her urinary tract, bones, and other internal organs,

and grew resistant to almost all antibiotics.

DR. G I mean, not one antibiotic

they knew could work on her anymore.

She'd even lost her hearing, due to the high antibiotics

she'd been on.

NARRATOR Her infections then trigger a sudden temporary drop

in blood pressure.

During this period of low blood pressure,

Shannon's brain is starved of oxygen and parts of it

actually begin to die.

DR. G Any of those bacterium could have gotten in her system

and caused a hypertensive or low blood pressure event that

k*lled off part of her brain.

That happens all the time in the hospital,

where you see your loved one, they seem to be doing better

and they take a turn for the worse.

NARRATOR Possibly because of her low blood pressure,

or the vast doses of medication she is receiving,

Shannon likely becomes delusional.

In this state, she may have accused her husband

and others of poisoning her.

Then it appears she has a significant hypotensive

event that causes her to slip irreversibly into a coma.

No longer responsive to antibiotics,

her infections rapidly spread throughout her body.

They destroy her kidneys and severely damage

her heart, liver, and lungs.

Weeks later, Shannon dies of the infections,

just as the hospital had reported.

DR. G So everything she was having problems with, there is

nothing-- nothing in the hospital records, nothing

at autopsy, nothing to suggest that she

was poisoned by the husband.

NARRATOR Dr. G believes she now has

the most likely explanation for Shannon's

sudden unexplained coma.

But where normally findings would be dictated,

files processed, and the case closed,

here, Dr. G still has one task to complete--

explaining to Shannon's mother that her daughter died

from infections, not poisoning.

We were trying to find something

that may have caused this all of a sudden going downhill.

NAOMI BLUM Sure.

Right?

And so that's what we did the autopsy, to try to-- maybe

we could come up with something.

We didn't see anything that would suggest,

you know, like poisoning or anything like that.

It really looked natural.

It looked like she had a turn for the worse.

She had what we call a hypotensive--

NARRATOR But in some cases, doubts run too deep,

even for forensic science.

I just don't think--

NARRATOR Naomi Blum is not convinced.

I'm not saying you've not done your part,

but I believe it's something else.

They do not suspect foul play.

If they suspected foul play, they would

have contacted the police.

So that's why I'm trying to tell you, there's no--

I know you have your suspicions.

I appreciate you trying.

Thank you.

I did try.

NAOMI BLUM I appreciate it.

NARRATOR For Naomi, death has left only haunting questions.

For James, it has left only longing.

Some people say, you'll see her again.

We talked about that yesterday--

you'll see her again, her spirit going to come.

[INAUDIBLE] you going to be scared when you see her.

All I want to do is see her one more time, just one more time.

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