Alexis Marie Grant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On May 18th, 2005 Treasure Grant left for work, leaving 14 month old Alexis Grant in the care of David Hersey. Alexis was normally placed in a day care but that day Hersey volunteered to look after her.  When Treasure left, Hersey was seated on a couch watching television with Grant's six year old daughter. The older girl left for school soon afterward. By 9:00 a.m. something had already happened to Alexis. A call was made to 911 and paramedics arrived by 2:45 p.m. to find Alexis limp and cold in the living room. Paramedics responded to a call about that Alexis was having trouble breathing. They heard the infant had fallen down a set of three stairs. When Alexis was brought in to Stollery Children's Hospital she was in a coma. A physician described the bruises on her forehead, on the bridge of her nose, on her face, her abdomen and on her legs. Alexis' core body temperature had dropped several degrees, her pupils were fixed and dilated, and she could not breathe on her own. Alexis underwent emergency surgery for severe head trauma. Alexis was declared brain dead the following day and taken off of life support.

 

After Alexis died in hospital, police became involved. Her injuries were inconsistent with the story given of an accidental fall. An autopsy concluded that Alexis Grant died of blunt cranial trauma. Hersey told detectives Alexis simply wouldn't shut up. He tried cartoons, toys and juice, tried sitting with her, but nothing seemed too worked. He told how he threw a toy camera at Alexis while she was in her crib, which only made her more upset. "And that pushed me over the edge, even more," he said. Hersey then described taking a plastic toy box and squishing her between it and the crib. "And I just pinned her between the two." Alexis began screaming and he screamed back. Hersey then admitted picking Grant up and dropping her in the crib. She yelled more and he threw another toy at her, striking her in the face. Hersey said then he grabbed her and threw her against a couch in the living room. As Alexis fell down, he pushed a wheeled coffee table at her, striking her in the stomach and pinning her against the couch. She fell face first onto the table and then onto the floor. Hersey told detectives he went to the bathroom. When he returned Alexis was lying still on the floor. He then called 911.

 

Hersey was found not guilty of second degree murder but guilty of the lesser and included charge of manslaughter. The penalty associated with a manslaughter conviction ranges from a life sentence to a suspended sentence with no jail time. A second degree conviction carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum prison sentence of at least 10 years.