Sage said the evidence against Tompkins, including testimony from doctors about the nature and likely cause of the child’s injuries, was convincing.
“This was not an accident,” the judge said before handing down the verdict.
Tompkins, who claimed he shook and squeezed the child while performing CPR in an attempt to “save his life” while choking, had no reaction to the verdict. He said afterward that what happened to Bryce under his watch should not have happened.
“As you know, this was a tragic event. I am very sorry for my actions,” Tompkins said. “I want to apologize to the family. I am sorry for their loss.”
Shari Barrett, the toddler’s grandmother, told the judge that she loved Bryce with all her heart.
“He did not deserve what that monster did to him,” Barrett said. “That man does not deserve to be on the face of the earth, but I want him to know he did not break me, and he did not break Ashli (Pelfrey, the child’s mother).”
Ashli Pelfrey added: “It is very hard to see him (Tompkins), but I am glad for the verdict. It won’t bring my son back. “
Dr. Robert Shapiro, director of the Mayerson Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, testified Tuesday that the massive head injuries that killed Bryce could not have been caused by CPR or other life-saving techniques as Tompkins claimed.
Tompkins was caring for Bryce on Aug. 2 while his girlfriend and the child’s mother was at work. Within minutes of Ashli Pelfrey’s departure, the boy was lifeless. He died two days later at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Prosecutors said the toddler was killed by Tompkins’s reckless actions.
“This defendant killed this kid,” Assistant Prosecutor Josh Muennich said during closing arguments. He added the child was fine until Tompkins tried to “save him.”
Shapiro testified that toddler’s injuries were caused by more force that what Tompkins explained to police during an Aug. 3 interrogation. Tompkins told police that after Bryce vomited three times and began to choke he attempted to help by squeezing the 19-pound child; then once he became lifeless, he shoot him in an attempt to wake the boy up.
“None of those actions were the case of his (Bryce’s) injuries,” Shapiro said. “It would have taken significantly more force.”
The toddler’s entire brain was swollen, and the severe injury could not have been caused by choking or a simple fall, Shapiro said. The doctor said it was likely caused by shaking with a great amount of force.
Defense attorney Donald Leroy said his young client, who doesn’t a high school education, “panicked” when Bryce became ill.
“He was faced with a baby that stopped breathing, a baby the was vomiting, and he tried the best he could do in the situation,” Leroy said during closing statements. “He did not intend to harm Bryce.”
Tompkins did not testify and his attorneys called no defense witnesses.
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