DANIEL JAIYESIMI - 2 yo - (2008) - Las Vegas NV

Musediq Jaiyesimi tried to take a picture of his 2-year-old son,
Daniel, every single day starting the July 2008 day he got his
camera-phone.

He said he wanted to be able to show Daniel photos of their early
days in the United States as a young immigrant family after Daniel grew
up.

Maybe he would even be able to show the photographs to his
grandchildren and be able to talk about the struggles and triumphs his
family endured.

When Jaiyesimi took a picture of Daniel’s bruised back on Aug. 7, 2008, he did so to document Daniel’s story.

He had no idea that the next day his young son would be rushed to
the hospital for what prosecutors allege was a severe head injury
caused by child abuse. Three days later, Daniel would be dead.

Jaiyesimi had no idea that the photo of his child’s purpled back
later would be shown to a jury as evidence against his close friend,
Victor Fakoya, who is on trial this week on a charge of murder by child
abuse in connection with Daniel’s death.

If convicted, Fakoya, 42, could get a life sentence.

Jurors saw the photo Jaiyesimi took of Daniel’s back on Tuesday as
Jaiyesimi testified about his family’s immigration to the United States.

Fakoya had explained that the injuries were caused by his oldest
daughter, whom he said had struck Daniel with a wooden spoon, Jaiyesimi
told the jury.

As part of his testimony, which will continue Wednesday, Jaiyesimi
also detailed how his relationship with his once-close friend and
college roommate, Fakoya, and Fakoya’s wife, Lola, had peaked shortly
after Jaiyesimi, his wife and Daniel moved in with the Fakoyas’ in
their two-bedroom Las Vegas home in hopes of chasing the American dream.

“Almost every African has a dream of being a part of the United
States. Everyone wants to know what it is like to come to the United
States — to experience the United States and the Western world,”
Jaiyesimi said.

Fakoya and Jaiyesimi became close friends in 1992 when they attended
the same college in Nigeria. The men remained close after Fakoya moved
to Las Vegas to be with Lola.

A few years later, Jaiyesimi and his wife got the opportunity to
come to America. Fakoya was more than willing to assist the Jaiyesimis
in any way he could, Jaiyesimi said.

The Jaiyesimis arrived in December 2007. About a month later, the Fakoyas had a second child, Christina.

Daniel and the Fakoyas’ oldest daughter, Elizabeth, only about eight months apart in age, played together often.

But the interactions of the two children became contentious and the two young families disagreed about how they should behave.

Prosecutors contend Fakoya, who was taking care of all three
children on Aug. 8, 2008, injured Daniel so severely he caused the
boy’s death. They say the boy suffered severe head trauma inflicted
while under Fakoya’s care and that Daniel showed signs of being shaken.

Fakoya’s attorneys say any number of things could have led to
Daniel’s death — possibly an infectious disease, an undiagnosed health
problem or even an accident.

From the stand, Jaiyesimi outlined how the families’ interactions
began a downward spiral as he and his wife worked to get on their feet.

Disagreements over child-rearing came to a head in April, Jaiyesimi
said upon direct examination from Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline
Jeanney.

Jaiyesimi said Lola Fakoya complained about Daniel making noise.
When Jaiyesimi pointed out that Elizabeth was noisy, too, Lola Fakoya
said her daughter’s noisemaking didn’t bother her — just Daniel’s.

“In April, I discovered we were no longer friends,” Jaiyesimi said.

In June 2008, Jaiyesimi got a full-time job. He had been working
occasional security jobs for conventions but finally landed full-time
employment with a company doing security at a construction site.

Also in June, Victor Fakoya asked the Jaiyesimis to move out, a
thought that Jaiyesimi said he and his wife had already been mulling.

Jaiyesimi said from the stand he and Victor Fakoya had agreed the Jaiyesimis could stay until the end of August.

In July, tensions flared when Fakoya accused Jaiyesimi of stealing a
cordless phone, which had gone missing in the Fakoya house. The item in
question turned out to be a portable radio Jaiyesimi had recently been
given at his job.

As Jaiyesimi recounted what happened after the confrontation, he broke down in tears on the stand.

“I calmed myself down and went back into the bedroom. I was weeping;
I was crying. I took my Bible and I started reading, asking God, ‘Why
should my family be put through all this ordeal?’” he said, his voice
wavering.

He said Daniel came over to comfort him. “He lay his hand on my head
and started saying, ‘Daddy sorry, Daddy sorry.’ He saw me crying.”

On Aug. 8, 2008, Fakoya was looking after Daniel and his own two
young daughters while his wife and Toyin and Musediq Jaiyesimi were at
work.

Police investigators said that during that time period, Daniel suffered serious injuries consistent with child abuse.

Dr. Thomas Gowan, an emergency room pediatrician who evaluated
Daniel when he was taken to Summerlin Hospital, testified Tuesday about
the boy’s injuries.

He said when Daniel arrived at the emergency room, he wasn’t
breathing on his own and his heart had stopped while in the ambulance.
The boy’s heart had begun to beat again by the time he arrived at the
hospital, but he was otherwise in poor condition, Gowan testified.

He said the boy’s pupils were not reacting and one was slightly
larger than the other, which in his opinion signified a “severe
neurological event.”

Gowan said he suspected heat trauma and was suspicious of the boy’s
injuries. He was eventually taken by air ambulance to University
Medical Center for further treatment.

Daniel remained in the hospital several days and was pronounced dead
on Aug. 11, 2008. The Clark County Coroner’s Office said he died of a
subdural hematoma due to child abuse. The death was ruled a homicide.

Toyin Jaiyesimi and the medical investigator who conducted Daniel’s
autopsy are among a long list of witnesses — including medical experts
for both the defense and the prosecution — expected to testify during
the trial. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Prosecutors are expected to continue today laying out their case in the second trial for a Las Vegas man accused of child abuse in the August 2008 death of a toddler who was under his care.And so far, prosecutors haven't changed tactics for trying to get a conviction for Victor Fakoya, 42, whose first trial in March ended with a hung jury and was declared a mistrial."It's moving kind of slow," said Deputy Public Defender Norm Reed, who noted it took longer to seat the jury for the trial, which got under way Nov. 8.Part of the reason for the slow start was that potential jurors weren't asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire and were instead asked voir dire questions by Judge Valerie Vega.Also, it was more difficult to get jurors who were able to serve around the holiday, Reed said. And jurors were also screened to find out whether they could be impartial concerning a case involving the death of a child and alleged child abuse, Reed said.A six-man, six-woman jury, with four alternates was selected Wednesday and the state has called four witnesses. The state is so far using the same witnesses it did during the first trial, Reed said.Fakoya, a Nigerian immigrant, has been charged with one count of felony homicide by child abuse in the death of Daniel Jaiyesimi.The 2-year-old boy died Aug. 11, 2008, at University Medical Center after three days in intensive care. Doctors testified the boy was brought to the hospital “in extreme medical distress.”The boy and his parents, Musediq and Toyin Jaiyesimi, were living with Fakoya and his wife, Lola, along with the Fakoyas’ two small children, in the Fakoyas’ two-bedroom Las Vegas home at the time of Daniel’s death.The Fakoyas were helping the Jaiyesimis get on their feet as they adjusted to life in the United States. The Jaiyesimis had moved from Nigeria to Las Vegas in December 2007 after the Fakoyas agreed to be their host family.The boy was under the care of Fakoya on Aug. 8, 2009, and during that time suffered injuries consistent with child abuse, police investigators said.During the first trial, Fakoya’s attorneys cited a number of other possible reasons for the boy’s death. They offered theories of a possible infection, an accident or possibly an undiagnosed health condition.Prosecutors said the boy’s injuries, which included a skull fracture, bleeding in his brain and bruises, were inflicted by Fakoya after Musediq Jaiyesimi left the home after lunch to return to work.Reed said the defense plans to again put Fakoya on the witness stand, as well as bring in witnesses who will provide expert medical testimony to rebut the testimony of witnesses presented by the state.Reed said the defense will also bring in a myriad of character witnesses to vouch for Fakoya's credibility.Based on the length of the first trial, the second trial is expected to wrap up around the end of the first full week of December, Reed said.Meanwhile, Fakoya is being held on $500,000 bail in the Clark County Detention Center, where he has been since his arrest.

Fighting back tears at times, the father of a boy who prosecutors say died of child abuse testified Monday afternoon in the second trial for a Las Vegas man accused of causing the boy's death.Musediq Jaiyesimi, a Nigerian immigrant, told the jury about how his family came to live in America with his longtime friend Victor Fakoya and the events that led to the Aug. 11, 2008, death of Jaiyesimi's 2-year-old son, Daniel.Jaiyesimi is expected to continue testifying at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the child abuse murder trial for Fakoya, 42. Fakoya's first trial in March ended with a deadlocked jury.Daniel was under the care of Fakoya on Aug. 8, 2008, and during that time suffered injuries consistent with child abuse, police investigators said. The boy died three days later at University Medical Center.During the first trial, Fakoya’s attorneys cited a number of other possible reasons for the boy’s death. They offered theories of a possible infection, an accident or possibly an undiagnosed health condition.On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Jeanney questioned Jaiyesimi about the tension that developed between the Fakoyas and the Jaiyesimis as the four adults, two toddlers and a baby lived together in the Fakoyas' two-bedroom home.Jaiyesimi first talked of how he and Fakoya, who were college roommates in Nigeria, shared a longtime dream of coming to America.He talked about how Fakoya and his family settled here first, and then how Jaiyesimi's wife, Toyin, won a visa lottery that allowed his own family to immigrate.Fakoya then invited the Jaiyesimis to move in with him, Fakoya's wife, Lola, and their daughter. The plan was for the two families to share Fakoyas' two-bedroom Las Vegas home for a year while the Jaiyesimi's found work and a home of their own, Jaiyesimi said.All was well at first, he said. Daniel and Elizabeth, the Fakoyas' daughter who was eight months older than Daniel, played together in the home as the Jaiyesimis each went looking for work.But when Fakoya's wife, Lola, had a baby in January 2008, the domestic situation became tense, Jaiyesimi said. The Fakoyas began complaining that Daniel was making too much noise in the household, Jaiyesimi said.Daniel's noise issue led the Jaiyesimis to keep Daniel in their bedroom whenever the Fakoya adults were around, Jaiyesimi said.He said the tension grew between the two families as they tried to provide childcare for each other's children while at the same time holding down full- and part-time jobs.Jaiyesimi said Fakoya told him it would be important for his family to move out as soon as possible. Jaiyesimi said he wanted to get his family out of that situation."We were no longer wanted in that house," he said.Jaiyesimi said he eventually got a full-time job as a security guard in July 2008. He said he worked shifts that kept him away from home most of the time, although he was able to keep in contact with his family on the telephone.Before Jaiyesimi could recount what happened on the day his son died, Judge Valorie Vega recessed the trial for the day.Prosecutors have said the boy’s injuries, which included a skull fracture, bleeding in his brain and bruises, were inflicted by Fakoya after Jaiyesimi left the home after lunch to return to work on Aug. 8, 2008.Earlier in the day Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe questioned Dr. Thomas Gowan, a pediatric emergency room physician who treated Daniel when he was first brought to Summerlin Hospital by ambulance before being transferred to UMC.Gowan testified that the boy's condition and his head injuries were consistent with what he had seen in other child abuse cases.He said he was "very certain," although not 100 percent certain, that his examination indicated the boy had had "non-accidental trauma."The trial is expected to continue through the first week in December.

Jury acquits Nigerian immigrant in death of 2-year-old boy


LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL




Posted: Dec. 20, 2010 | 5:08 p.m.

Victor Fakoya spent two years in jail before a Clark County jury cleared him of murder and then another weekend behind bars before he was freed to be with his wife and two daughters.
The six-week trial of the 42-year-old Nigerian immigrant ended about 3 a.m. Friday and the jury began deliberating. When the verdict was read about 7 a.m., the jury ruled Fakoya had not caused the death of a 2-year-old Daniel Jaiyesimi.
Fakoya collapsed to his knees, praised God and wept, said Deputy Public Defender Norm Reed.
But Fakoya, who had been fasting throughout the trial, remained locked up Friday, Saturday and Sunday on an immigration hold. The immigration paperwork was straightened out Monday morning and Fakoya was released.
Prosecutors alleged Daniel suffered injuries consistent with child abuse, including bruising to his head, bleeding in his brain and a skull fracture, while being cared for by Fakoya on Aug. 8, 2008. He died three days later at University Medical Center.
Fakoya had sponsored the boy and his family when they relocated to the United States from Nigeria in December 2007. They were living with Fakoya and his family in their Spring Valley home.
Defense attorneys argued the medical facts and the time line of events were inconclusive.
Following the trial, jurors said they believed Fakoya was innocent of any wrongdoing, Reed said. Some jurors believed Daniel suffered from child abuse but from another suspect, and others believed Daniel's death was a tragic accident, the defense attorney said.
Either way, Reed said he was happy "justice was done" for Fakoya.
Reed said the jurors also did not believe Fakoya was the "monster" prosecutors tried to make him out to be after he testified in his own defense. "His character didn't fit that," Reed said.
This was the second trial for Fakoya. The first ended in March with Judge Valorie Vega declaring a hung jury after the jury deliberated for several days and told the judge it was "hopelessly deadlocked," according to court records.
The trials featured myriad expert medical testimony from physicians for both sides.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/jury-acquits-nigerian-immigrant-in-death-of-2-year-old-boy-112218434.html