Murder hearing today for Danieal Kelly’s mother
By Joseph A. Slobodzian The preliminary hearing for Andrea Kelly, the West Philadelphia mother charged with murder in the 2006 starvation death of her daughter, resumes this morning before a Philadelphia judge.
By Joseph A. Slobodzian The preliminary hearing for Andrea Kelly, the West Philadelphia mother charged with murder in the 2006 starvation death of her daughter, resumes this morning before a Philadelphia judge.
Prosecutors are expected to take today and tomorrow to present evidence to convince Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan that Kelly, 39, and Julius Juma Murray, 51, a private child welfare caseworker assigned to ensure that the Kelly family received needed services, should be tried on homicide charges in the death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly.
Andrea Kelly is charged with murder in the death of her daughter, who had cerebral palsy, could not walk and literally starved to death in her bed.
Murray, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, worked for a private social services company under contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. He was assigned to visit the Kelly house and ensure Danieal was safe but prosecutors allege that his visits were so rare Danieal's siblings did not know who he was.
The preliminary hearing began last Friday with testimony by the Arizona special education teacher who taught Danieal at the Madison Rose Lane School in Phoenix, Ariz. from 1999 to 2001.
Lynn Levin described Danieal as intelligent, articulate and exuberant - far from the 42-pound bedsore-ridden corpse found Aug. 4, 2006.
Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann said Levin's testimony was needed "to establish a base-line" about Danieal's health and disabilities before her father brought her home to again live with her mother in Philadelphia.
Although nine people were charged in connection with Danieal Kelly's death, only Andrea Kelly and Murray are having preliminary hearings.
The District Attorney's office sought to bypass preliminary hearings and move directly to trial, arguing that the 263-page report and 141-page presentment compiled by a Philadelphia investigating grand jury over 22 months provided more than enough evidence to let the case go directly to trial.
Lawyers for Andrea Kelly and Murray argued that they deserved the right to a preliminary hearing because they, unlike other defendants, were charged with homicide.
