Medical examiners and coroners have repeatedly mishandled cases of infant and child deaths, helping to put innocent people behind bars.
This story was produced in a collaboration between PBS Frontline, NPR and ProPublica.
By A.C. Thompson and Chisun Lee and Joe Shapiro and Sandra Bartlett, ProPublica, June 28, 2011
Her name was Isis Charm Vas and at 6 months old she was a slight child — fifth percentile in height and weight.
When the ambulance sped her to Northwest Texas Hospital on a Saturday morning in October 2000, doctors and nurses feared that someone had done something awful to her delicate little body.
A constellation of bruises stretched across her pale skin. CT scans showed blood pooling on her brain and swelling. Her vagina was bleeding, as well. The damage was so severe that her body’s vital organs were shutting down.
