Alexandra Alexi Bound Over for Trial
Alexandra Alexi, a Lansing mother charged with abusing, torturing and causing the death of her infant son, Julian Alexi, has been bound over for trial in the Ingham County Circuit Court. She is facing felony charges of first and third degree child abuse, torture and open murder.
According to testimony provided by Dr. Stephen Guertin at Alexi’s recent preliminary examination, little Julian, who was only two months old when he died, had a vast array of injuries. At the time of his admission into the hospital, the baby apparently had a broken collarbone, 19 separate rib injuries, bleeding on his brain, and cuts and bruises all over his body.
When he was transported to the hospital last year, he was suffering from cardiac arrest, and wasn’t breathing. The baby was placed on life support from September 3rd to September 12th, when he finally died. According to his death certificate, his manner of death is listed as homicide, the cause as complications arising from head trauma.
Dr. Guertin explained to the court that the infant’s injuries showed a history of child abuse. When the baby was x-rayed, all of the 19 rib fractures were visible, but they didn’t all happen at the same time. Due to the differing levels of healing that had taken place, medical staff were able to ascertain that some of the injuries were over a month old. Others, only hours old.
The same applied to the bruises and scratches on the boy’s body. According to testimony provided by a nurse who had been involved in the baby’s care before his death, some of the scrapes and bruises were fresh, while others were in different stages of healing. This, says the prosecution, is a clear indicator of sustained child abuse over a period of time.
Detective Shannon Thielen of the Lansing Police Department, was the lead investigator on this case. According to the testimony she provided in court during the preliminary examination, Alexandra Alexi had actually admitted to shaking the baby on a single occasion. But that occasion was allegedly only after she found him unresponsive, and was trying to wake him up.
Toby White, Alexi’s defense attorney, explained to the court that an admission of having shaken her baby once in a futile effort to get him to respond shouldn’t result in charges of murder. But according to Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor Debra Rousseau, it’s enough. After all, she said, Dr. Guertin summed it up neatly, “Julian’s injuries didn’t come from a single event, weren’t self-inflicted and most likely didn’t happen by accident, but were instead the result of child abuse. A sequence of violence. … The last act ending up killing him.”
If convicted, Alexi is facing up to life in prison.