Royal Oak — A family member of a 2-year-old whose nanny is accused of killing her grandfather used the girl’s wooden high chair to defend himself against the nanny when he went into the basement to get the toddler, he testified Thursday.
The toddler was hiding in the basement laundry room, between a piece of mechanical equipment, and the washer and dryer, the family member said. District Court Judge Andrew Kowalkowski of Royal Oak’s 44th District Court ordered Thursday that the names of civilian witnesses not be used in the media.
The family member said he could not see the toddler, but could hear her crying. He walked into the laundry room and the child’s nanny, Samantha Booth, 35, approached him. She was covered in blood and he used the high chair to fend her off, striking her in the chest and pushing her to the ground.
He grabbed the toddler and rushed out of the house, past where her grandfather David Ong’s body was lying, his head covered, he said.
Royal Oak police Officer Austin Plitz said the house was in disarray and he found three screwdrivers near Ong’s body. There was a white cord wrapped around Ong’s neck, Plitz said.
Booth is accused of fatally stabbing Ong, 83, with a screwdriver after he came to check on Booth while she was babysitting his granddaughter in October.
Booth, 35, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree child abuse, felonious assault and three counts of resisting and obstructing police.
During Booth’s preliminary examination Thursday, where prosecutors presented evidence so Kowalkowski could determine if there is enough evidence for Booth to stand trial, family members of Ong and Booth crowded the courtroom. Booth began to cry toward the end of the hearing, as her attorney asked officers testifying about her actions that day.
Though Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in October that police found what they suspected to be psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana in Booth’s purse, Booth’s attorney Jim Amberg said testing found no drugs in her system other than caffeine.
Amberg asked multiple police officers who arrested Booth — who was naked, making strange statements and acting out sexually — if her behavior appeared to be the result of a mental health crisis.
Royal Oak police Sgt. Josh Little said as he tried to arrest Booth, she yelled “grandpa” and “daddy” multiple times, and at one point she said, “(expletive) kill him now.”
“Knowing my client didn’t have anything in her system except caffeine, did it look like she was having a mental health event?” Amberg asked.
“Yes,” Little said.
Royal Oak Officer Scott Bouchie was in the patrol vehicle with Booth when she allegedly made comments like “Yes, I did it” and “It was easy but it was hard then it was easy,” Bouchie said. When she got to the police station, she asked what dimension she was in.
Dr. Ljubisa Dragovic, the chief medical examiner in Oakland County, said Ong was stabbed more than 40 times in the head and seven times in the chest area. He also had wounds on his hands and forearms, which Dragovic said appeared to be defense wounds.
Ong was bleeding into his oral and nasal cavities and he had fractures to his facial bones, Dragovic said.
Amberg asked Dragovic if he had seen situations where “people have gone into a frenzy and stabbed someone multiple times,” and Dragovic said he had. He tried to ask Dragovic about Ong’s intoxication — his blood alcohol content was 0.064, below the legal driving limit — but Kowalkowski did not allow it.
“This brings in all these issues with what was the state of Mr. Ong at the time?” Amberg said. “If it was a frenzied situation … then it was not first-degree murder. What is the people’s theory in this case? That my client somehow did this with premeditation? … Could (Ong) possibly have been aggressive? That negates the people’s theory.”
Testimony in the preliminary exam is expected to resume Friday.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Royal Oak nanny accused of killing grandfather not on drugs: attorney
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kara Berg, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
