SOUTH BEND – Day 2 of the Dellia Castile trial brought some emotional testimony.
Castile is charged with 3 felony counts of neglect in the death of her grandson, 10-year-old Tramelle Sturgis.
Investigators say Castile knew her son, Terry Sturgis, beat and tortured Tramelle and abused two of his other kids.
Jurors on Friday heard from lots of witnesses.
Terry Sturgis’ oldest son, who is now 15, was on the witness stand more than an hour. He talked through specific examples of times his father abused him, and his grandmother knew what was happening. He also said his grandmother would put cocoa butter on his cuts, burns and scrapes suffered at the hands of his father.
One of those times was last November 3.
During hours of beatings that night, the 15-year-old told jurors he and Tramelle “screeched and screamed.” At one point, he testified his grandmother sent a cousin downstairs to ask if Terry Sturgis could stop beating his children for a minute. Later that night, after Terry Sturgis realized Tremelle wasn’t breathing, the 15-year-old testified: “My grandmother said she didn’t want to come downstairs and see Tramelle like this.”
At the end of questioning, one of the jurors asked the 15-year-old if Castile was afraid of her son, Terry Sturgis. The 15-year-old replied, “I don’t think it was being scared. I think it was just hard to choose between him and us.”
The 15-year-old also testified his grandmother did laundry, cooked, cleaned and tried to convince Terry Sturgis to give the children lesser punishments, such as mowing the grass or cleaning the house.
But the principal at the school the 15-year-old attended last year told the court Terry Sturgis was listed as the main contact for his child and Castile for the three cousins who lived inside the home and also attended that school. However, when the principal had to call home for the 15-year-old, she would call and speak with Castile when she could not reach Sturgis.
When the defense attorney asked the 15-year-old about that, he testified that his dad was in charge of the house, and he NEVER saw his grandmother in the basement where Terry and his children lived.
Early Friday afternoon, jurors heard from the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.
They saw photos from the autopsy and focused on the multiple injuries - burns, cuts, bruises and broken bones he had.
Thursday, prosecutors told the jurors the abuse that took place inside the West Washington Street home could have been prevented.
But the defense says Castile and Sturgis lived separate lives. They say he lived in the basement with his children. She lived upstairs.
The defense attorney is objecting a lot.
