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By
Andrew Michaels
- August 23, 2022
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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Victims
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A Baltimore jury found 25-year-old Anthony Ford guilty of first-degree child abuse resulting in death and first-degree assault for the death of his 5-month-old daughter in October 2018. Ford was found not guilty of second-degree murder after the jury ended their deliberations on Aug. 22.
“Mr. Ford maintains his innocence,” defense attorney Tony Garcia told Baltimore Witness on Tuesday. “We believe that the medical examiner’s office is biased, and we believe that Mr. Ford would never hurt his child.”
Garcia concluded that Ford will accept accountability but plans to file an appeal as soon as legally possible, which is within the first 30 days of the final judgement.
Ford’s defense counsel questioned the medical examiner’s findings at the start of the trial, specifically the bruising that was found on Brailynn Ford’s body on the afternoon of Oct. 4, 2018, when paramedics also saw blood coming out of the baby’s nose.
Paramedics were called to the home on the 1000 block of Mosher Street after Ford called 911 and said he saw his child limping in her crib.
Brailynn’s death was later ruled a homicide from blunt force trauma.
During the trial, Garcia suggested that the bruising could have been from CPR that was administered to the baby. The defense attorney’s suspicions of bias were further fueled by a forensic pathologist who testified that the medical examiner had spoken to investigators and paramedics about possible bruising on the victim’s body prior to the autopsy.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Jones presided over the four-day trial