Baby-sitter convicted of murder

Bill Gang

Friday, Dec. 4, 1998 | 11:24 a.m.

When the jury announced that it found licensed child-care worker Alica Wegner guilty of first-degree murder by child abuse, she crumpled in anguished disbelief into her courtroom chair.

Throughout the packed courtroom of District Judge Mark Gibbons, gasps and squeals emanated from the audience -- relief and satisfaction for some and despair for others. Tears flowed on both sides.

Once the jury was excused, Wegner sobbed openly and hugged her family and friends for several minutes, knowing that when she let go she would be handcuffed and taken to the Clark County Detention Center to await sentencing on Jan. 15.

Wegner, dressed demurely in pink for Thursday's verdict, had been free on bail.

The family of the victim, 14-month-old Kierra Harrison, quickly left the courtroom.

Gibbons could sentence the 34-year-old defendant to life or 50 years in prison with parole possible after 20 years, or a life term without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty for the slaying on March 3, 1997.

One of Wegner's friends hugged her and vowed to spend the rest of her life proving the defendant's innocence and that the conviction was the result of a "corrupt system."

Defense attorney Tony Sgro called the guilty verdict "a horrible mistake."

The jury deliberated about nine hours over three days before reaching its conclusion.

The defense had based its case on scientific evidence that the fatal head wound to the baby could have occurred when she was in the care of her parents, rather than with Wegner.

Prosecution experts, who analyzed the same slides of blood and tissue samples, disagreed.

In the end, the jury said it put aside the contradictory evidence and looked elsewhere to determine who was responsible for the skull fracture that put Kierra into a coma and eventually took her life. The girl suffered a depression fracture, like a cracked hard-boiled egg, and a crack in her skull a quarter-inch wide.

The common-sense conclusion, as Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon had urged during closing arguments Tuesday, was that Kierra couldn't have functioned normally with those injuries.

Yet, according to Wegner's statements, that is what Kierra had done at her day-care facility, according to Wegner's statements to authorities after the girl collapsed and 911 was called.

She told police the toddler had played with other children, ate apples and macaroni and cheese and gone along to run some errands, but suddenly became unresponsive and had difficulty breathing.

On a 911 tape, Wegner said Kierra had fallen and hit her head.

Wegner did not testify at the trial.

Herndon said that even a fall from a second-story balcony at her home -- as defense attorneys said could have happened -- wouldn't have resulted in such a serious injury that medical examiners had concluded was the result of child abuse.

Defense attorney Peter Christiansen II suggested that the initial skull fracture and some bleeding could have occurred while Kierra was in her parents' care, but the injury wasn't severe enough to result in unconsciousness or death until it was aggravated by a minor fall at Wegner's facility.

In convicting Wegner, the jury rejected that possibility.

While the next court date is the January sentencing, the case could resurface in court before then, if defense attorneys try to win Wegner's release on bail pending a promised appeal.

Christiansen noted there also is a pending motion for a mistrial that will have to be resolved before sentencing.

The motion for a mistrial revolves around statements made by Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe during closing arguments telling jurors of tests performed shortly before trial but which were excluded by Gibbons as legally acceptable evidence in the case.

If Gibbons does not grant a new trial on the technicality, it is expected the matter would become part of the Nevada Supreme Court appeal.