TAYLOR MOORE - 4 yo (3/13) - / Charged: Father's girlfriend, Kaura Kolb - Galveston, TX

Accused Texas child killer released after evidence misplaced by medical examiner

Just two hours after prosecutors dropped charges against Kaura Kolb in the 2013 murder of 4-year-old Taylor Moore, the Galveston County Medical Examiner's office recovered the once believed destroyed evidence prosecutors expected to prove her guilty.

 
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, October 28, 2014, 4:00 PM


Taylor Moore, 4, was killed after her father's girlfriend, Laura Kolb, 38, allegedly shoved her to the floor and then threw her on a bed in a fit of rage in 2013.  



A Texas woman accused of killing her boyfriend's 4-year-old daughter in a drunken fit of rage has been set free after crucial evidence against her was misplaced.

In a jaw-dropping twist, just two hours after prosecutors formally dismissed charges against Kaura Kolb on Monday, incriminating tissue samples once feared destroyed by the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office resurfaced.

"I was told that it wasn't filed where it should have been filed," Assistant District Attorney Adam Poole told the Daily News of the shocking blow.

Fortunately for little Taylor Moore's surviving family, Poole's office now plans to re-file the charges against the 38-year-old woman and go before a grand jury on Thursday.

"Something like what happened today is not fair to our family or to Taylor," the child's grieving aunt, Marlena Belcher, told KHOU. "It makes me wonder how many more cases, how many more evidences are out there."

Until Monday Kolb had been behind bars for more than 18 months after Santa Fe police say she violently lashed out her anger toward her boyfriend, Kevin Moore, on his young daughter after he had exited their shared apartment.


Galveston County Sheriff's OfficeThe Santa Fe, Texas woman was set free on Monday after the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office misplaced crucial evidence against her.

The cherubic child was shoved to the floor and then thrown on a bed, leaving her critically injured, prosecutors said.

She died on March 23, 2013 at Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, upping Kolb's initial charge of first-degree felony injury to a child to murder.

The county's former medical examiner, Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, was later fired from his position in July 2013 after overseeing her bungled case.

On Monday, just before the evidence was found, it was suggested in a motion filed by Kolb's defense attorney that Pustilnik may have destroyed it.

While pursuing a new case against Kolb, Poole plans to visit the medical examiner's office first hand Tuesday afternoon.

"We're going to inspect the site and be shown where they were. We're also giving the defense the opportunity to inspect the site as well but so far they have declined," he said.

In a statement released by Kolb's defense attorneys they've expressed hope that the extensive lapses in protocol and procedures will ensure her permanent release.

Based on Poole's expected assessment of the medical examiner's office Tuesday, he says he doesn't believe such an argument will be successful.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/accused-texas-child-killer-released-evidence-misplaced-article-1.1990336