Zimmerman trial for failing to prevent child death, injuries inflicted by boyfriend begins

The trial of Tabitha Zimmerman for negligent complicity in the death of one of her 22-month-old twins and physical abuse of the other on November 8, 2017, by her then-boyfriend Chad Ritchie began Monday afternoon, April 8, following several hours of jury selection. Zimmerman faces one count of Cruelty or Injury to a Child for each of her children beaten by Ritchie while she was at work at Rubbermaid that November evening almost a year and a half ago.

In just under an hour ending at 3:30 p.m. jurors heard opening arguments outlying the commonwealth and defense cases and testimony of the first two prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution case is built on the theory that the boys’ mother ignored a pattern of physical abuse by Chad Ritchie that culminated with the death of Malachi and injuries to Micah on November 8, 2017, while she was at work and Ritchie was pressed into baby-sitting duty. Defense attorney John Bell told the jury that due to the unavailability of the twins’ regular babysitter, Ritchie had gotten the assignment.

In December Ritchie entered an Alford guilty plea on the second day of his trial for the Second Degree murder of Malachi and injuries sustained by Micah that same evening. In an Alford plea a defendant does not admit guilt, but accepts that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict.

Last month Ritchie was sentenced to serve 20 years of a 55-year sentence imposed by Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. in the death of Malachi Zimmerman and injuring of his brother Micah. Judge Athey is also presiding at the Zimmerman trial.

That actual 20 years of time-to-serve was at the higher end of sentencing guidelines in the Alford plea agreement. Ritchie attorney Jason Ransom argued that his client had an uncharacteristic outburst of frustration and violence toward the children that night that not only killed Malachi Zimmerman, but crushed his client’s spirit.

Chad Ritchie mug shot from 2018, closer to the time of his December 2018 trial. Courtesy Photo RSW Jail

Defense counsel Bell is likely to echo that contention in countering the prosecution theory of a longer-term pattern of physical abuse of the children. In Ritchie’s sentencing hearing a string of relatives and friends said they had never seen Ritchie act mean or violent toward the Zimmerman twins, and that social media posts indicated the positive relationship they perceived and Ritchie claimed with the boys.

In his opening statement Bell urged the jury to listen to the testimony of his client. Bell said that testimony will indicate that Tabitha Zimmerman had no reason to suspect what was to occur the evening of November 8, 2017, when she left her children in the care of Ritchie, “a man she loved and trusted”.

Bell told jurors that Zimmerman had turned her life around upon discovery she was pregnant with twins while in jail as a consequence of an opioid addiction.

“She went to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous); she got jobs; she got better jobs and was working 50, 60 hours a week. She was a single mother and at some point met Chad Ritchie; someone with no criminal record” … and unlike a previous relationship “he never laid a finger on her … she thought she had found something with him,” Bell told the jury.

Defense counsel also described an investigation into Malachi Zimmerman’s death that “jumped to conclusions” about a mother’s involvement leading to a distraught Tabitha Zimmerman being held in isolation by law enforcement for 13 to 14 hours while in emotional crisis. Noting her call to 911 after being texted by Ritchie at work that there was a problem with her son, he said, “You will hear a mother’s fear and panic in her voice.”

Bell questioned his client’s interrogation method and an alleged admission of complicity.

“She was isolated, interrogated, arrested and incarcerated – but never listened to … No one ever listened to Tabitha Zimmerman; no one was ever interested in her voice,” Bell told the jury of law enforcement’s interrogation of his client in the immediate aftermath of her son being taken from her. “I hope you will listen and not slip a razor blade under her door.”

The razor blade was a reference to an incident Bell described while Zimmerman was being kept in solitary confinement in jail when someone slipped a newspaper article about her son’s death under her door with a razor blade for her to cut her wrists with.

The prosecution’s opening witnesses were Malachi and Micah Zimmerman’s primary care pediatrician Dr. Ashley Blanzit and Warren County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Michael Robinson, who responded to the scene.

In cross examination Bell asked Robinson about Zimmerman’s condition when he encountered her arriving from work as her son Malachi was being transported from the scene at her parents home by ambulance.

“She was upset, crying – pretty hysterical actually,” the sheriff’s office deputy replied.

Dr. Blanzit testified that she saw both twins till they were 15 months old and Malachi again at 17 to 18 months old for diaper rash. However, other physicians in her practice saw the boys beyond her direct contact.

Asked about any concerns for the boys’ health under direct examination by Layton, Dr. Blanzit cited one when Malachi was 21 months old. That concern was weight loss from 25 pounds at 18 months, to 17 pounds at 21 months. That much weight loss for a child that size was a matter for concern the doctor said.

At 22 months of age Malachi Zimmerman was dead, not from weight loss, but from cardiac arrest brought on by internal bleeding into the stomach cavity after being struck in the body by the Ritchie.

Chad Ritchie’s RSW mug shot at the time of his November 2017 arrest. Courtesy Photo RSW Regional Jail

Ritchie’s defense counsel contended that Malachi Zimmerman’s death was caused, not by the blows admitted to by Ritchie to the child’s body and head during three outbursts of anger the evening of November 8, 2017, but rather by faulty administering of CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) by the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Ritchie. After evidence was presented that Ritchie was certified in CPR and should have been aware of the differing techniques for adults and small children it was a contention the court did not appear to buy into during the sentencing hearing, as apparently Ritchie and his attorneys may have feared a jury would not at his December trial.