Medical testimony undercuts defense in girl's death

In scientific testimony that undercut the defense of accused child-killer Margarita Garabito, a former Philadelphia medical examiner testified Wednesday that 10-year-old Charlenni Ferreira's five ribs were broken over one to four weeks - at a time when the girl's father was out of the country.

Defense attorney J. Michael Farrell has told the jury that Garabito, 48, will testify that Charlenni was beaten and sexually abused by her father, Domingo Ferreira.

But the testimony of Marlon Osbourne - now an associate medical examiner in Broward County, Fla. - if accurate, would make it impossible for the father to have inflicted the fatal injuries, because he was in the Dominican Republic visiting relatives from Sept. 18, 2009, until three days before Charlenni died, Oct. 21.

If believed by the Common Pleas Court jury, Osbourne's testimony could spell the difference between a life sentence, if Garabito is convicted of first-degree murder, and a far lesser term for third-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter.

In his opening statement Tuesday, Farrell told the jury of seven men and five women that Garabito should be found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, for covering up the physical abuse that killed Charlenni.

Farrell said that Garabito would testify that she hid the years of abuse because Ferreira threatened to kill her three teenage children if she went to authorities.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Notaristefano has said Charlenni's injuries began after she moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2005 after spending her first six years in Puerto Rico with her birth mother.

He told the jury that Garabito hated her husband's daughter and started physically abusing her, inflicting the fatal injuries in 2009. Charlenni died of a lung infection caused by the untreated broken ribs.

Domingo Ferreira, 53, was arrested with Garabito after Charlenni's death and hanged himself in prison three days later.

Farrell has argued that the father was responsible for sperm found in the girl's mouth and anus, and was therefore more likely to have beaten her than was Garabito.

When the trial resumes Thursday, Charlenni's half-sister, Glenny Ferreira-Rosario, 31, is to continue her testimony.

On Wednesday, Ferreira-Rosario testified that she was raised alone by her father and that he never hit her.

She then described how Charlenni changed from an outgoing little girl to an incommunicative, bruised, and hobbled 10-year-old after she and her father moved into Garabito's home in Feltonville.

As Ferreira-Rosario testified that Garabito increasingly isolated Charlenni from contact with her or her children, Garabito erupted. "God, just tell the truth!" she blurted out in Spanish.

Garabito spent the rest of Ferreira-Rosario's testimony with her head buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking.