LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For roughly 45 minutes, Detective Zachary Flowers of the Lexington Police Department detailed the results of the autopsy performed on a 2-month-old months after his death at home in a Lexington apartment complex. The findings led District Court Judge Lindsay Thurston to call the testimony “disturbing.”
Chendra Magar and Rahar Maya Rai were back in court for a preliminary hearing on criminal abuse charges, listening to the testimony through an interpreter. When police and fire officials found the infant unresponsive in June, they claimed the baby’s 4-year-old sibling was responsible for all of the injuries. A dentist might have corroborated all or at least part of their story.
Detective Flowers testified that there were 12-14 bite marks evident on the baby and that they were in different stages of healing.
“A dentist was consulted and present during the autopsy,” Flowers testified. “He said they were consistent with a child’s bite-size,” he added.
The detective also noted that Chendra or Maya knew of an alleged incident.
“Mr. Magar also told us, about two weeks prior to the victim’s death, the 4-year-old sibling was caught dumping him face down into a mop bucket attempting to give him a bath,” Flowers said.
And despite having visible proof of injuries and witnessing some of the abusive behavior, the detective said they didn’t seek medical attention for their baby. His previous doctor’s appointment was at four weeks of age and he died at eight weeks.
“I observed a lot of bruising on all of his extremities,” Flowers stated, “as well as bruising on his scalp.”
The detective said the autopsy showed at least six internal head injuries, which were ruled the cause of death.
Magar and Rai were both bound to the Grand Jury with probable cause and are now facing an indictment on criminal abuse charges.
