BAYLEE STENMAN - 3 yo (8/2011) - Kalamazoo MI

An autopsy has been done on 3-year-old Baylee Stenman, but her cause of death has not be released.
The coroner says they need to do more testing.
Baylee died Monday morning.
Last week while at home her mother's boyfriend says he found the toddler
unconscious on the floor in her bedroom. He says Baylee must have fallen off the bed.
But her biological father says it looks like child abuse because her injuries were so severe.
Police are calling her death suspicious. They are still investigating.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/says-1394317-death-baylee.html

Funeral services are planned for this afternoon for a 3-year-old who
died under what Battle Creek Police say are suspicious circumstances a
week ago today. Baylee Stenman was found by her mother’s
boyfriend, lying on her bedroom floor, unresponsive, and was
immediately rushed to Bronson Battle Creek. Emergency Room doctors
identified child abuse as the likely cause of her traumatic head
injuries. An autopsy was conducted, but the results were not released.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 3PM at Baxter’s funeral home, followed immediately by services and burial at Hicks Cemetery.


http://wkzo.com/news/articles/2011/aug/08/funeral-services-planned-for-this-afternoon-for-3-year-old-battle-creek-girl/

Updated: Thursday, 25 Aug 2011, 5:54 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 25 Aug 2011, 10:22 AM EDT

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - It's been nearly a month since 3-year-old Baylee Stenman
died, but investigators say they need more information on the girl's
medical condition before deciding whether this is a criminal case.
"Right now we're just looking," Battle Creek Detective Sgt. Austin Simons told 24 Hour News 8. "We have a baby death and we're investigating it."
Baylee
was found unresponsive by her mother's boyfriend, lying next to a bed
on July 28. The boyfriend took the child to a relative's home, and was
headed to the hospital before pulling off on the side of the road and
calling 911.
On August 1, Baylee died.
Court documents
connected to a state Child Protective Services petition to have Baylee's
6-year-old sister removed from her mother's care indicate Baylee
suffered swelling of the brain stem and retinal hemorrhaging.
While
preliminary autopsy results are complete, Battle Creek police said
they're awaiting reports from two specialists before determining how the
case will move forward.
"They'll help determine the cause of death. And they'll help determine the time of death," Simons said.
One
of those specialists is looking at her brain to help determine when and
how her brain was injured. The timing of the injury is important to
narrow down who Baylee was with if it becomes a criminal case.
A
second specialist is looking at the 3-year-old's eyes for signs of
retinal hemorrhaging, which could provide further information on the
injury.
Some family members expressed concerns over the pace of
the investigation. Simons told 24 Hour News 8 they want to make sure
they have all the facts before moving forward with the case.
"To
determine the injury and see what actually transpired is what we're
trying to determine," he said. "With us not being there, now it's back
to looking at the doctors and looking at the information they have at
hand."
Those results could be available in the next few days.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kalamazoo_and_battle_creek/investigators-await-experts-reports-in-child-death

September 29, 2011
3-year old Battle Creek toddler died while under the care of mother's boyfriend

A murder warrant was issued Thursday in the death of a Battle Creek toddler.
Officials are looking for 25-year-old Leo Ackley. Calhoun County
prosecutors have charged Ackley for open murder and first-degree child
abuse in the warrant. 3-year-old Baylee Stenman died while under the
care of Ackley according to detectives. He was the boyfriend of the
Baylee’s mother Erica Stenman. In July, the child was injured
and later died at the hospital. Autopsy results were completed earlier
this week. Even though the official cause has not been released,
detectives are now convinced that the toddler was murdered. Anyone with
information on Leo Ackley’s whereabouts should call Battle Creek police or Silent Observer.


http://wbck.ils-bc.com/index.taf?event_id=2972

A Battle Creek man wanted in the death earlier this summer of a young Battle Creek girl was arrested this morning.The Fifth District Fugitive Team arrested Leo Ackley, 25, of Battle Creek at the home of a relative in Delton in Barry County.
He is wanted on a warrant charging murder and first degree child abuse in the death Aug. 1 of Baylee Stenman, 3.
Battle
Creek police allege that Ackley was caring for the child on July 28
while his girlfriend and the mother of the child was working.
He
told police he believed the child fell from bed but officers said an
autopsy said the little girl suffered a severe head injury.
Ackley was taken to the county jail after declining to talk with police this morning about the case, officers said.
It is not known when he will appear for arraignment.
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110930/NEWS01/309300010/Suspect-child-s-death-arrested?odyssey=nav%7Chead

TomTerrific0420 wrote:A Battle Creek man wanted in the death earlier this summer of a young Battle Creek girl was arrested this morning.The Fifth District Fugitive Team arrested Leo Ackley, 25, of Battle Creek at the home of a relative in Delton in Barry County.
He is wanted on a warrant charging murder and first degree child abuse in the death Aug. 1 of Baylee Stenman, 3.
Battle
Creek police allege that Ackley was caring for the child on July 28
while his girlfriend and the mother of the child was working.
He
told police he believed the child fell from bed but officers said an
autopsy said the little girl suffered a severe head injury.
Ackley was taken to the county jail after declining to talk with police this morning about the case, officers said.
It is not known when he will appear for arraignment.
[url=http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110930/NEWS01/309300010/Suspect-child-s-death-arrested?odyssey=nav%7Chead

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110930/NEWS01/309300010/Suspect-child-s-death-arrested?odyssey=nav%7Chead[/quote[/url]]



Just so sick of these "boyfriends" MOMS must put their children FIRST ALWAYS.....so very sad

Friday saw emotional testimony as the man accused of killing his girlfriend's young daughter was officially charged.
Leo Ackley is charged in the brutal death of three-year-old Baylee
Stenman. Ackley claims the girl fell out of bed while he was
babysitting, but autopsy results show Baylee died from blunt force
trauma to the head.

In court on Friday, Baylee's mother, Erica Stenman, recalled the last words she said to her daughter.

“I didn't have much, I only had fifteen minutes to get out the door,”
said Stenman. “She came up and sat on my bed, she said, 'Mommy, what
are you doing?' and I said, 'I'm in a hurry honey, I'm running late for
work.'”

Stenman says later that day she received a phone call from her live-in boyfriend, Leo Ackley, who was watching Baylee.

“He was crying, he was really upset,” said Stenman. “He said he thinks Baylee is having seizures.”

Stenman says she rushed to the hospital to see her daughter.

“She wasn't talking, she wasn't moving,” said Stenman.

Battle Creek Police Officer Todd Elliott says he was asked by a paramedic to look at some bruises on Baylee's body.

“They were on the sides of her neck, one on each side, slightly below her jawline, half way between,' said Officer Elliott.

Little Baylee died at the hospital a few days later. An autopsy
showed her death to be the result of blunt force trauma to the head, an
injury consistent with child abuse.

Ackley is now charged with open murder and first degree child abuse.
His preliminary hearing is not yet over and is scheduled to continue on
November 22nd.
http://www.wwmt.com/articles/officially-1397622-daughter-death.html

After a noon sandwich, Erica Stenman stopped before returning to work
and peeked through a bedroom door at her sleeping daughter.Ninety
minutes later, her boyfriend called and said her 3-year-old daughter,
Baylee, had a seizure and was going to the hospital.
“Then I saw her in the emergency room and there were people all around working on her,” Stenman said.


Her daughter would never regain consciousness and on Aug. 1 was pronounced dead.
Baylee
Stenman had sustained a fatal blow to her head on July 28 and Calhoun
County prosecutors began Tuesday trying to convince a circuit court jury
that Stenman’s boyfriend, Leo Ackley, 25, of Battle Creek was
responsible for the child’s death.
Erica
Stenman, 24, was one of the first witnesses in Ackley’s trial on murder
and child abuse charges. Testimony continues today before Judge Allen
Garbrecht.
Stenman said her daughter was “beautiful, smart, loved me and her sister and her family.”
But
by June, a few months after their relationship began, Ackley had moved
into the house and Stenman said her daughter was losing some hair, had
some bruises, developed an erratic appetite and and was not progressing
on her toilet training. In early June, Ackley began taking care of
Baylee and her older sister while Stenman worked as a home health care
aide.
Her day had been normal that July day until Ackley called and said her daughter was having a seizure.
The
little girl went to Bronson Battle Creek and then to Bronson Methodist
Hospital in Kalamazoo where doctors told Stenman the injury was fatal.
During those days Stenman said Ackley was quiet.
“He
didn’t say what happened,” she said. “He said he loved her and he was
sorry to Baylee. He said he was sorry to me just one time.”
Then
one day, Stenman said, Ackley said, “I am going to jail for murder
because the police think I did something to our daughter.”
Ackley’s sister, Brittany Lake, told the court that her brother loved the little girl and she loved him.
“Baylee loved Leo,” testified Brittany Lake. “She called him Daddy Ledo.”

But in her opening statement, Assistant Prosecutor Sarah Lincoln said Ackley is the one responsible for the death.“She
was a 3-year-old when the defendant murdered her,” Lincoln said. “No
regular childhood activity would cause the tremendous injury to the back
of her head.”
Lincoln
said the injury was caused when “a grown man slams a 3-year-old onto
something hard. And the only person in the house capable was the
defendant.”
Lincoln
told jurors she expected to show that the little girl died from severe
trauma to her head and brain. She said evidence will show that Ackley
was abusing the little girl.
And
one of the first witnesses, Officer Todd Elliott, said he saw small
round bruises on each side of the girl’s neck and a larger bruise on her
buttocks.
Lincoln
said the little girl began to show signs of stress soon after Ackley
took over child care for Baylee and her older sister.
Before
that, Lincoln said, Baylee Stenman was a happy child. But soon after
Lincoln said the girl’s hair began falling out, she often complained of
being ill, she had bruises and her toilet training seemed to regress.
“People commit crimes behind closed doors,” Lincoln said. “They don’t commit child abuse in front of witnesses.
“This
action was purposful, intentional and caused by the defendant. The
defendant abused Baylee, slamming her head leading to her death.”
But
defense attorney Ken Marks cautioned the jury to avoid emotion while
listening to the evidence to ensure that the prosecution proves its
case.
“The claim my client is a murderer just isn’t so,” Marks said. “This isn’t a criminal case.”
He told the jury that the testimony from the pathologist will leave them with reasonable doubt.
“We
can’t tell with certainty it happened or that the defendant did it,” he
said. “It was accidental and the defendant didn’t do anything to
Baylee. It was unfortunate. Three-year-old children aren’t supposed to
die.”

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120410/NEWS01/304100032/Boyfriend-trial-toddler-murder

A 25-year-old Battle Creek man is expected to be sentenced to life in
prison without parole following his conviction in the death of a
3-year-old girl left in his care.The Battle Creek Enquirer reports
Leo Ackley’s sentencing is May 7 after a Calhoun County Circuit Court
jury convicted him Wednesday of felony murder and first-degree child
abuse.
Police say
Ackley was watching Baylee Stenman while the girl’s mother was at work.
Baylee died Aug. 1 at a hospital after being found unresponsive July 28.
Ackley
testified at trial that he didn’t harm the girl. He said he thought the
girl had a seizure when he found her on the floor.
A pathologist testified that the child died from a blow to the back of the head.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120419/NEWS01/304190040/Battle-Creek-man-convicted-death-girl-3?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE