Trial begins for Modesto mother accused in daughter’s death

Ashayla Jackson was 3 months old on Jan. 11, 2009, when she was found on a bedroom’s carpeted floor wearing nothing but a diaper and wrapped in a royal-blue blanket. She was dead.

The child’s mother, Christine Marie Rocco, is accused of second-degree murder in her daughter’s death. The defendant’s trial began Friday afternoon with opening statements from the attorneys.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees told the jury that the infant was emaciated with dirty pale skin and sunken eyes. The prosecutor said an expert will testify that Ashayla’s death was the result of “a profound case of child abuse and neglect.”

Deputy Public Defender Sweena Pannu, Rocco’s attorney, told the jurors the child had no wounds. She argued that Ashayla had suffered from diarrhea that caused sepsis, and that her client was waiting for a Medi-Cal card to take the baby to a doctor.

“Evidence will show that there is no murder here; just the sad death of a child,” the defense attorney argued in court.

Rocco moved from Arizona to Modesto on Dec. 2, 2008, two months after her daughter was born. Ashayla was born premature. The prosecutor argued that the infant suffered from severe malnutrition and dehydration, but an autopsy found no other abnormalities.

The defendant, her daughter and her 2-year-old son Angel had moved into a small two-bedroom home in the 1700 block of Seattle Street, just west of Crows Landing Road in south Modesto.

Rocco told authorities she had put the baby to bed about midnight Jan. 10, 2009, and fell asleep about 3 a.m. in the home’s front room. She was working as an on-call taxi driver at the time. She said she didn’t check on the baby until about 8 a.m.

Fire officials and medics were first to respond to the home that morning. They quickly called for sheriff’s officials based on suspicious circumstances. Stanislaus County sheriff’s Deputy Wade Carr arrived at the home and was directed to the deceased infant.

The deputy on Friday testified that Ashayla was found in a cluttered room filled with boxes, a child safety seat, a diaper bag, bottles with formula, and clothing strewn about. He said the baby was on the ground between two boxes.

Ashayla had abrasions on her stomach, was in a fetal position and had her eyes and mouth open, according to Carr. Her skin was waxy with a scaly-type substance, and her eyes were glazed over. He said the child appeared to have been dead for a while. The jury was shown photos of the child on the bedroom floor.

Carr testified that the infant was in a soiled diaper, and that three other soiled diapers were found behind the bedroom door. The deputy said the diapers were so soiled that it was seeping through and sticking to the floor.

Rocco told the deputy that she had been feeding her child but the girl had been suffering from diarrhea, according to Carr. The defendant told him that the infant was not under a doctor’s care because she did not have medical insurance.

Carr testified that he found a letter at the home indicating that Rocco’s two children could receive full Medi-Cal health services starting Dec. 1, 2008. He said he confronted Rocco with the letter, and she then told him that she was waiting for a Medi-Cal card to take the baby to a doctor.

During cross-examination, Carr said he didn’t write in his report that Rocco had changed her story about the medical insurance. At the preliminary hearing, Carr testified that he didn’t ask Rocco if she had received the Medi-Cal card.

The defense attorney told the jury that sheriff’s Detective Ken Hedrick, now retired, questioned Rocco on the day the child was found dead. The defense attorney argued that the detective will testify that Rocco was behaving like any other grieving mother, and he chose not to arrest her.

Prosecutors formally charged Rocco in April 2010. Her preliminary hearing ended August 2012, but her case was stalled for nearly four years as her first court-appointed attorney retired and new counsel was assigned.

Testimony in the murder trial is expected to resume next week in Stanislaus Superior Court.

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Trial begins for Modesto mother accused in daughter’s death."