The State of Georgia vs Tiffany Moss | The Sad Case of Emani Moss

0:00 Welcome to True Crime Stories with Crime-A-Trorium. 29-year-old Tiffany Moss stood trial on April 15, 2019, for the 2013 death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Imani Moss. Imani's father, Iman Moss, did nothing while Tiffany systematically starved, neglected, and abused his daughter and later helped to cover up the murder. Eventually, he would call the police, after which Tiffany hid Imani's body in a trash can in a grassy area at the apartment and fled. Police arrived at the apartment where they were told by Iman that Imani ingested chemicals which caused her death.

1:03 He pleaded guilty in 2015 and is serving life without parole in exchange for his testimony against Tiffany. Tiffany Moss rejected a plea deal and chose to represent herself at her trial, despite the judge and others' efforts to persuade her otherwise.

1:24 Tiffany presented no defense, didn't call any witnesses, cross-examine any witnesses, nor did she give an opening or closing statement. In August of 2019, she agreed to accept representation for an appeal and is hoping for a new trial. Her defense team claims that she should not have been permitted to represent herself in the trial due to brain damage to areas of her brain that control decision-making and impulse control.

1:58 Imani was described as a precious and happy child who always had a smile on her face by everyone that knew and loved her. At age three, she studied ballet, and when she was five years old, she took guitar lessons. She did everything in her power to escape her abusive situation and was removed at one time, but was returned time and time again. The details of this case are disturbing and graphic and involve heinous crimes against a child. Discretion is advised. On November the 2nd of 2013, at approximately 4 o'clock in the morning, the Gwinnett County Police received a call.

2:42 At first, they thought that it was a suicide call. There was a male threatening to commit suicide, but he also said he was there with the body of his dead daughter. When the police arrived, they discovered Iman Moss, the husband of this defendant. You'll hear from Iman Moss, you'll hear that he's already taken responsibility for his part in this case and that he's currently serving a life sentence in prison. But what they learned immediately from Iman Moss was that there was a trash can across the parking lot sitting in the grass the apartment complex that they lived in.

3:27 And when the officers went to the trash can and they opened the trash can, the words of the officer were, I saw the burned body of a little person. What was later discovered at autopsy is that it was the body of Imani Moss. She was 11 years old. She weighed 32 pounds. She had been wrapped in a comforter and then put in a trash bag and stuffed head down into a galvanized trash can and sat on fire.

4:05 And that's where this case began its investigation. investigation. But Amani's misery really started a long time ago, much longer, three years before that date in November. Because at that time, Aman was at work. There were two other children. There was Tristan and Emma. And in 2010, they were little. They were babies. So this defendant stayed at home and took care of the babies and watched Imani and was responsible for the discipline of Imani. And in 2010, in March, she beat the lights out of that child.

4:54 she used a belt she used the buckle end of the belt and the next day when Imani went to school the teachers noticed that there were bruises all over and they reported it because they're required and it's the right thing to do they they reported it and there was a police investigation and this defendant was eventually charged with cruelty to their child in the first degree and pled guilty to that charge and was sentenced.

5:28 And that changed the entire dynamic of this family because you'll learn that this defendant has a background in early childhood education. That for a while she worked as a teacher, you know, in a pre-k. But with that conviction, she couldn't do it. She couldn't have her job. She couldn't have what she was trained to do. And she was at home. Two little babies and a 10-year-old girl that wasn't hers. Imani was only six at that time, so she was at home with a six-year-old who wasn't hers. Over the next few months and few years, Imani tried to run away.

6:15 In June of 2012, Gwinnett County Police responded to an apartment where Imani and Tristan and Emma and Iman and the defendant lived all together.

6:33 And she had gone up to the apartment office manager and said, I want to run away from home. I don't want to go home.

6:45 that the defendant tied me up with belts and put me in a cold shower.

6:52 The police responded. They didn't observe any injuries on the child. They went back. The defendant said the child wasn't telling the truth. And what they did is they returned her to her stepmother and her father, because there was no evidence, charge anyway. Even though the defendant at that time was on probation for child cruelty. A report was made to the Department of Family and Children's Services and was investigated by the Department of Family and Children's Services, but Imani remained in the custody of her father and her stepmother.

7:27 In July, this defendant called the police in the evening of July the 26th and reported that Imani had run away again. The officers responded and in the early morning hours of the 27th, they found her asleep in the bushes up by the gate of the apartment. And when they asked her why she was there, she said she didn't want to go home. The defendant was mean to her. And she wanted to run away. But again, there was no evidence. There was no evidence of abuse. There was no evidence of injury. And Imani was returned.

8:09 to her father and her son.

8:15 The school year on the other hand was going pretty well. You'll hear from Amani's teachers that she was a healthy, happy child. She was little, but she was really friendly and everybody liked her.

8:31 She even tried to befriend the bully of the class because she felt sorry for the bully. and she was a little skinny thing and we'll show you pictures she's no giant but she was healthy and she's smiling and we'll show you pictures from a field day where she was running and where she was enjoying the field day activities and then on Mother's Day in 2000 and that of course year went into 2013 and on Mother's Day of 2013, she had a chance to meet with her family, particularly Iman's mother and his sister.

9:18 And the first thing that Iman's mother noticed is that her long hair had been clipped down, like mine. and Imani's grandmother said what happened to your hair and this defendant said if you don't act pretty you don't look pretty and she admitted that she'd cut off all of Imani's hair that was really the last time that any of Iman's family saw Imani Because in the summer of 2013, they moved into an apartment here in the Lawrenceville area. It was 1100 Veranda Place. They rented an apartment there that they actually had one before and then they moved into the apartment where the body was born.

10:14 And for all intents and purposes, Imani vanished from the face of the earth. They filed a notice with the state that they were going to homeschool their children. You'll hear testimony from neighbors in the apartment complex that said they knew this couple had two children. They never saw the third. Were never aware that that child even existed. They saw instances where Amon and the defendant and Tristan and Emma would go out. They said, we never saw the third child.

10:56 And that's what began a period of isolation.

11:04 And it's hard to even find a word to describe it. Because imagine what her life must have been like. There were two little ones. They weren't in school. By this time, Amon was working two jobs to try and keep afloat. He worked from early in the morning until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. And then he would come home for a short period of time, and then he would leave to go to work again at 6 at night, 6 in the evening, and work until 10.30 or 11 at night. He had to drive an hour or 45 minutes to each job.

11:45 So essentially, he was sleeping and eating at his house, but was at work the rest of the time, because that's how the bills had to be paid.

11:56 So the defendant is there with a stepdaughter she hates, two children of her own. And in the fateful week of Halloween of 2013, right before the body was discovered, we're going to show you a series of events. Halloween was on a Thursday. But according to the statement of Iman, it really began on October the 24th. On the 24th, he came home from work and found Imane unresponsive in a bathtub. She couldn't speak. Her eyes rolled back and forth, but she couldn't communicate. And Ahmaud picked her up and put her into bed, and she never left that bed.

12:45 Because either on the 28th or more likely the 30th, she died. The defendant was home when she died. And in fact, may have called Ahmaud at work and said, Ahmaud is passed. But certainly when Amon came home from his first job, on the 30th, he discovered Amon he dead. The defendant was in the room when he discovered her dead and said, we have to hide the body. I can't go to jail. I don't want to lose my other children. So Iman went to work for his second job, and after that job he went to Walmart and he bought a trash can.

13:37 You'll see that trash can. We'll bring it to you to look at it, but it's a galvanized trash can. And we know at that point from his own statement that he took Imani out of her bed, a bed that will show was soiled with human waste.

14:01 And they flipped the mattress. And the next day, this defendant went to Anna's linens and bought a cover, a new coverall and new sheets. And she put the new cover, they flipped the mattress, stripped the bed, put the new cover on it. And the whole plan was, we're going to get rid of the body. We have to get rid of the body. Those are the words of the defendant and we'll record her as a wrong one. Halloween came and Tristan and Emma were dressed up for trick-or-treat. We'll show you pictures of that but keep in mind during the time that those pictures were taken and those two smiling children were in their costume.

14:47 Imani's laying dead because her body had been moved into a computer room that was part of the apartment.

14:55 While Tiffany was texting with her sister about bags of candy, Imani was laying in the computer room dead.

15:04 On the 31st, sometime on the 31st, they decided they had to move the body and they were going to take it out and burn it. This defendant urged Iman to do that. Iman, by this time, was starting to say this is messed up. That's not the words he used. But he said this is messed up. We need to call the police. The defendant continued to insist we can't call the police. I can't go to prison. I'm on probation. We have to get rid of the body. So they took her out of the computer room. By that time, rigor mortis had set in.

15:46 Her body was stiff. Her limbs were stiff.

15:51 But they bent her and they broke her. And then Amon said that he couldn't put her in a trash can that way and he covered her with a comforter. And they stuffed it all in a trash bag and carried it down from the apartment and put Amon in the trash can in their truck, which was a trailblazer.

16:14 That night, early in the morning of November the 1st of 2013, they decided to take the two small children with them and go and burn the body. At first, this defendant was suggesting that they burn the body and get rid of it in Bethesda Park, which was near where they lived. But that didn't work. So they drove around with Imani's body in a trash can in the back of a trailblazer. And eventually they went up Satellite Boulevard and Iman noticed a place that he could pull off the road. They both took the trash can out of the truck.

16:56 We'll prove that to you by the fingerprints of this defendant on the trash can. They poured charcoal briquettes into the bottom of the trash bag. They doused her with lighter fluid and they set her on fire. And both of them stood there and watched her burn. Amon realized she wasn't going to burn. She wasn't going to burn down to ash. So the fire was put out and the body was loaded back into the truck. And this defendant, her two children, and Amon drove back to the truck. The next day, Amon drove the truck to work with the body in the back of the truck.

17:41 He worked a regular shift, but when he came home, he couldn't take it anymore. He called one of his friends who urged him to call the police. He thought about it. He went to work his second job. But when he got home, he couldn't take it anymore. He told this defendant, I'm calling the police. I can't do this. This is screwed up. What did this defendant do? She took her two children, jumped in the Trailblazer, and she split. That's how the police got that three o'clock in the morning call on November 2nd.

18:26 Because a mom who was hysterical and distraught, thought he wanted to kill himself, and he called the police. The defendant is gone. Now, eventually she turned herself into a Roswell police officer and made some statements to that officer, which you'll hear.

18:49 But that's how this case came to this courtroom, and we intend to prove everything I've told you. And like I said, earlier today, you swore an oath to reach a verdict that speaks the truth. The truth in this case is this defendant, based on the medical evidence and the evidence that we're going to put together, intentionally starved the county. Not by accident, not because she wouldn't eat. She refused as she got sicker and sicker to give her medical treatment. And then tried to dispose of the body so that they could tell this for the reason.

19:30 Thank you very much. I'd like to call your attention to March the 18th and 19th of 2010. Okay. I noticed that you have a copy of your report there, and feel free to use that to refresh your memory if you need to. Okay. What was your assignment then? I was in the special victims unit as a detective. And as part of your duties as a Special Victims Investigator, did you receive a referral regarding a possible cruelty case where the victim was Imani Moss? Yes, I did. And can you describe for the jury, how did that referral come in and from whom?

20:18 Well, it came in from Officer Everett, who was a police officer with our department as well. He was called out to Cooper Elementary by administrators there with respect to a crime against a child. All right. And are teachers and administrators in schools mandated reporters, are they required to report child abuse? Yes, they are. All right. As a result of the information you received from Officer Everett, did you go to Cooper Elementary? No, I requested Officer Everett transport Imani to police headquarters so I can conduct an interview of her.

20:51 Well, I guess I want to ask, as part of your investigation, did you also take statements from the administrators who had made the report? I did not. Officer Everett might have. I believe he spoke with them on scene. So, Amani was transported to the police department, is that right? Yes. Tell the jury, there are special techniques and special training that you had regarding the interview of children. First of all, can you tell the jury what your training is and give them some idea of the challenges that is involved in interviewing a child?

21:33 One of the most important things to do in interviewing a child is not to lead them and to ask open-ended questions. Basically, a yes or a no answer is what you're looking for. We try not to put any ideas in their heads, so we qualify them. So we ask questions such as spatial recognition, if something is over something or under something, whether or not they know the difference between a truth or a lie, if telling the truth is good, telling a lie is bad, questions like that. We ask them all different types of colors to make sure they're at the appropriate level to be interviewed.

22:08 And Imani was six at this time? Yes, she was. How did you find her in terms of, first of all, her demeanor and then her response to your questions? She had good spatial recognition. She knew all of her colors. She was able to differentiate between telling the truth and telling a lie. She was not able to tell me her full address at the time, but she was able to tell me her full name and her birthday. And so did you, where did the interview take place? It took place at police headquarters. Is there a special room for interviewing children, or did you do it in a standard interview room?

22:47 We have a victim interview room up in Detectives. And is that where the interview took place? Yes. So, once you established her ability, I guess is the best way to put it, what did she tell you had happened? She told me she got in trouble by her stepmom, Tiffany Moss, for not doing her homework the previous night. And she was spanked with a brown leather belt.

23:16 Did she tell you how many times she'd been struck? Several times. She had bruises and welts all over her body to include her arms, chest, back, and legs. Did you document those injuries? Yes, I did. All right. Your Honor, may I approach? Yes, sir. Your Honor, I've shown the photographs that I intend to introduce to the defendant and she is reviewing them prior to my tender of those exhibits. Thank you, sir. Are you done, Ms. Moss? Your Honor, may I approach the window? Yes, sir. Sergeant King, I have a series of photographs here.

24:06 If you could, what I'd like to do first is go through and identify those photographs and reference them by their exhibit number, which begins with PS.

24:20 And if you could describe what the photograph is, and then I'll ask you if those are accurate representations. We'll go through all the photographs if you'll describe them each to the jury. Okay. Now, when you interviewed Imani, did she say anything about that she tried to get away or that she tried to run away? Yes, she did. She said she tried getting away from Tiffany. And did she ever inform you whether or not the defendant stopped hitting her when she tried to run away? She said she was just hit all over and she tried getting away.

24:59 She was still being struck. Did she indicate to you that she was struck with the buckle portion of the belt? Or based on your experience in looking at the injuries, did you reach a conclusion as to whether or not she'd been struck with the buckle edge of the belt? I cannot definitively answer that. She did say that Tiffany folded the belt when she struck her. So, which in the marks are indicative of a belt wrapping around her. Your Honor, at this time we would move to tender into evidence. May I have heard of it?

25:31 Yes, sir. Tender into evidence state exhibit PS1 through PS20, which have been identified by Sarge in the beginning, these photographs that were taken at her direction in the investigation of the 2010 case of cruelty. Any objection? States PS1 through 20 are each admitted without objection. That is PS1. Can you tell us what that is? That's a close-up, a headshot of Amani Moss. Yes. PS2. Can you describe what that is? The full body shot of Imani. Three. Full body shot of Imani facing to her left.

26:21 And the clothing that she's wearing, are those the clothes that she was wearing at school? Yes. When she was transported to the Gwinnett County Police Department? Yes, sir. Again, that's PS4. Can you identify that for the group? Yes, that's a full body shot of Imani facing to the right. And PS5. Full body shot of Imani facing away from the camera. It's not clear from these particular photographs, but when you interviewed Imani, were the injuries to her visible to your naked eye? Were you able to observe them despite her clothing?

26:58 Yes, I was. You can click to the next photograph. Can you take a look at PS7 and identify that? It looks to be the shoulder area of one of her arms Imani arms with bruising on it And obviously they using the measuring tool Can we move to the next Can you identify PS8 Yes. With the measuring tool, they're showing the bruising to the upper left back of Imani in the shoulder area. And then moving to PS9. It's Imani's lower back. They're showing it with a measuring tool. I believe that's her right side going towards her midsection.

27:52 And moving to PS10. Same side of the body. That's Imani's lower right back going towards the midsection with the measuring tool.

28:05 And then moving to PS11. With the measuring tool, they're showing the marks on Imani's. Right back.

28:18 And then moving to PS12.

28:22 That is the right side of Imani's body. They're showing with the measuring tool right in there are the marks and bruises on her right side underneath her arm. Those are marks. They're using a measuring tool, and those are marks on her upper chest just underneath her neck, on the front side of her. Moving to PS 14.

28:49 Yes, that's with a measuring tool. They're showing the bruising on Amani's right leg, her right upper thigh.

29:01 And using a measuring tool, they're showing marks on one of Amani's legs. This is PS 15, correct? Yes, I'm sorry. No, I got distracted. All right, if we can move to 16.

29:19 I believe that is Imani's right lower arm. They're showing, using the measuring tool, they're showing the bruising and the marks on her lower arm.

29:30 And then moving on to 17.

29:33 That is, I believe that's one of Imani's legs. I believe that's her left eye, and they're using a measuring tool there to show the bruising and marks. And then we can move to 18. That would be one of Amani's arms. They're using the measuring tool to show the bruising that's wrapped around her arm. And is it your testimony that these were wrapped around her body or her arm or her leg? Yes. And is that consistent with a belt based on your experience as a SDU investigator? Yes, it is. This is state's exhibit, PS number 19.

30:11 Can you identify that? It appears to be Imani's right lower arm with marks going up and down her arms and bruising at the lower using the measuring tool. And then finally, state's exhibit, PS number 20. Can you look at that and identify that? One of Imani's lower arms. It's the under area of the wrist using the measuring tool. Now, Sergeant King, once you got the statement from Imani, did you interview any other witnesses? Yes, I did. And what witnesses did you interview? Imani's father, Iman Moss, her grandmother, Robin Moss, and then her stepmother, Tiffany Moss.

30:58 All right. Now, was Tiffany Moss there at the same time that Amon Moss and his mother were there? No, she showed up sometime later. Did you have to look for her? We were trying to get a hold of her for quite some time, and no one could reach her. And finally, Mr. Moss said she was having car trouble, so she showed up about 6 p.m. that evening at police headquarters with her mother. Okay, just so I understand, when was the report brought in and your interview with Amani? When did that take place?

31:30 Towards the end of the school day, so around three in the afternoon. So three hours or so later, the defendant came in for an interview. Yes. Did you advise her over Miranda warnings? Yes, I did. And did that interview take place in an interview room at the Gwinnett County Police Department? Yes, it did. Did you use any force or threats against her to get her to speak to you at all? No, not at all. And did she speak to you? Yes, she did. What did she tell you? She admitted to striking Imani with a brown leather belt, as Imani described it, for not doing her homework.

32:08 Did she describe to you how many times she thought she had struck Imani? She said she thought it was only three times. Is that consistent with the injuries that you observed? Not at all. And based on, did she make any other statements to you?

32:26 Forgive me while I look at my.

32:30 Yeah, she said she had given Imani five minutes to complete her homework, sent her to her room. And when the five minutes was up and Imani had not completed her homework that morning, that's when she struck her with the belt. She said Imani tried getting away from her, and she actually physically demonstrated Imani covering her face like that to avoid being struck with the belt. And based on the evidence that you gathered in this case, what did you do? I secured a warrant for Tiffany's arrest for cruelty to children in the first and arrested her.

33:02 Thank you. That's all the questions I have. You're on the state calls, Robin Moss. You could state your name for the court and for the jury, please. Robin McArthur Moss. and miss moss how do you know how did you know amani moss my granddaughter and she was the daughter of one of your children obviously and which child was that that was my oldest son my first grandchild let's go back when amani was um was first born did she and amon live with you at period of time in her early days. Yes, she did.

33:37 Right. And if you could tell the jury in the court, when was Imani born? She was born April 23rd, 2003, and yesterday was her birthday. Okay. And if she was born in 2003, would she have turned 16 years old yesterday? It would be, calculation would be exactly about 15 or 16. 16, okay. It was 2003, is that right? 2003. Yes, ma'am. When she, you said that she and your son, Iman, lived there initially, how long did they live with you after Imani was first born? Since Imani, well, since she was eight years old.

34:23 Then she went to live with her father. And you said until she was about eight? Yeah, she was eight years old. So, over the first several years of her life, did she stay with you? Yes, she did. And then she and Amon, they relocated. Did they still stay here in the Atlanta area at that time? They did. And ultimately, your son Amon married the defendant, in this case, Tiffany Moss. Is that right? Correct. Did Amonnie live with both your son Amon and the defendant Tiffany for some period of time? Yes.

34:57 When we go to, let's go to an incident that happened in 2010. Did you receive a phone call about an incident that had happened with Imani and the defendant regarding a beating? Yes, I did. Where did you respond with regard to that news when you were called? They told me to come to the police station, and I think it was in Lithonia. Not Lithonia. I'm sorry. In Lawrenceville? In Lawrenceville. That's all right. In Lawrenceville. And I got a call while I was at work, an emergency call at work. So I left work and went straight down to the police station.

35:44 Once you arrived at the police station, was there, did you meet with the detective, Detective King? Yes. Did she get a little bit of background from you about your relationship with Imani and Iman and Tiffany? Yes. Based on that, was Imani removed from living with Iman and Tiffany at that particular point? Yes, she was. Where did Imani go and live after that? She lived with me. So that would have been in March of 2013 when that happened. how long did Imani live there with you then for six months and I'm apologize 2010 I said 2013 we have to get our dates right I apologize so in March of 2010 it's probably why you looked at me funny but you can correct me all right March of 2010 was when she came to live with you is that correct correct okay and you said for about six months um and so where did you live at that time?

36:48 I lived at 900 Legacy Park Apartments, that's preserves in Lawrenceville. Did Imani go to school while she was there staying with you? Yes, I took her to school every day, picked her up every day. Did she remain at the same school that she had begun the school year out and then finished it out while she was there with you? She did. How was Imani doing in school at that particular time? Well, when she was with me, Her everything was approving, her grades, her action, and even she was just doing awesome, a lot better than she was because they said she was closed then, and she started having tantrums and screaming.

37:30 So I don't know what was going on before then, but I know when she came back with me, everything calmed back down in her life. And she stayed there with you then through the spring and the summer. Did she begin her school year still living with you there in 2010? She was with me until school was over, and then after that, she was back with her father. You said that she stayed about six months. So the beginning of the 2010 school year then, was she placed back with Amon and the defendant in this case?

38:03 Yes. With regard to that, did you want, without going into a lot of detail, but did you want Imani to still remain with you and live with you at that time? Yes, I did. I went and fought it. When you say you went and fought it, was that a decision that was made by the Department of Family and Children's Services? Yes, it was. Was it their decision to place Imani back with the defendant, Tiffany Moss, and her dad, Iman Moss? Yes, it was. You indicated you did object to that. Is that right? Correct.

38:39 But ultimately, she did not stay living with you. She went back with the defendant and her dad. Yes. After that time in 2010, were you able to see Imani very often? No. Did you make efforts to try to see her from that fall of 2010 until ultimately she died? Yes, I did. What type of efforts did you make in order to try to talk to her or see her? I called my son, and he would just say... You can't tell me a lot about what Iman said, okay? But were you allowed to see her? I was not allowed to see her.

39:23 All right.

39:26 But did you make more than one call? Yes. Was it something that you did repeatedly in order to see your granddaughter? Yes, I did. And when I couldn't see her, I called DFACS. Did you make reports to DFACS based on that? Yes. How many times would you say that you saw Imani between the time that she left your house, when she lived with you in the fall of 2010 until she died in November of 2013. One. And when was that time that you actually got to see your granddaughter, Imani? Well, it was twice.

40:10 One at Tristan's birthday party. It was twice. And one was at Tristan's birthday party. And who is Tristan? Tristan is Tiffany's son. Was he a child that Tiffany, the defendant, and your son Iman had once they were married? Correct. Where was that birthday party that you saw Imani? At Tiffany's mother's house.

40:39 Were there several family members at that birthday party? Yes, it was. And when you say at the birthday party, do you remember what year that was? Not exactly.

40:54 When you saw her there, did you get to speak to Imani at the birthday party? Yes, I did. And that was the first time you had seen her, or was that the first time you'd seen her since she had moved out from your house? That was the first time I've seen her. At that time, at Tristan's birthday party, was her outward appearance the same to you or similar to you, just obviously older than when she had left you? In other words, her hair, her physical appearance? She didn't look well. She looked very thin.

41:29 Very thin. And how did Imani typically wear her hair? She usually wears her two ponytails or three, two on the side and one on the back or just two. Was that a typical hairstyle that she liked and the way she liked to wear her hair? That's what she used to tell me to comb it that way. Okay.

41:50 And I'm going to show you what had been previously marked and taken to evidence in State Exhibit Number PS1. It's already been entered into evidence. I'm going to show you a picture of that. I'm not a picture on it. You may. And is that, I know that she was a little younger there, but that was, is that how she typically would wear her hair? Yes.

42:12 When you saw her at Tristan's birthday party, she still had her hair like this. All right. Yes. When you saw her at that particular family event, you said you didn't think she looked well. But at that point, was she still living with your son and the defendant? Correct. And were you able to keep up with where they were residing when you were trying to get to see Imani from the fall of 2010 until the birthday party for Tristan? No, I wasn't able. I was looking for it, but I couldn't find it.

42:51 Did your son and the defendant live in some different apartments and with different individuals during that time frame? I believe they did. I'm not sure. I just never could find them. They kept moving.

43:04 But you, in fact, did you make efforts to try to speak with Imani or be able to see her? Yes. After you said that you saw her at Tristan's birthday party, when was the next time? Because you said there were two times. When was the next time that you saw your granddaughter, Imani? It was Mother's Day. And when you say Mother's Day, was that Mother's Day of 2013? No, yes, because she, yes, it was. Was it the May before she passed in November? Yeah. Yes, okay. Where did you see her on Mother's Day?

43:37 I was at my daughter's house, living with my daughter, staying with my daughter for a while, and my son and Tiffany came to the house, and Imani was with them. when they came um so there were several family members there at your daughter's house yes us my daughter and amon and his family so my daughter her family and amon and me and tell me um what's your daughter's name sharonis so you're at sharonis's house um and uh how did amoni appear to you then? It was so thin, so thin. She had this shirt on and you can see the bones protruding out of her shoulders and in her arms.

44:23 She was so skinny. I wasn't used to that. How was her hair? Cut off. All of it. It's cut. I'm going to show you a photograph. You may. I'm going to show you what's the mark for identification as state exhibit PS21 and PS22. And ask you, let's just do 21 first, ask you if you recognize what is depicted in that particular photograph. Her hair and the bones protruding out of her shoulder. Who is that person in the photograph? That's Imani. And is this state's exhibit, PS21, is that an accurate depiction of the way Imani looked to you in May of 2013?

45:10 How about state's exhibit, PS22? Is that also an accurate depiction of Imani in May of 2013?

45:22 Does that also show how her hairstyle was at that time? You said that you noticed her hair on Mother's Day. And why was it so different to you? Because Imani had long hair and it shouldn't have been cut. Did you ask about how her hairstyle came to be like that? I did. I said, why is her hair cut off?

45:49 And who did you ask that to? I asked Tiffany that. And what was the response? If you act ugly, you should look ugly.

46:06 At any time, did Imani tell you that she had cut her own hair? No, she did not. When you saw her that day, did you get to spend some time with Imani, your granddaughter, that day? I did. I did.

46:24 And at that particular time, your son, Iman, and the defendant, in this case, Tiffany, they had two additional children. Is that right? Did they have Tristan and Emma? Right. And so were all, that entire family, were all of those people present there for Mother's Day? Correct. Did Imani leave? You were staying there at Sharonisa's house, is that right? Okay. And then I'm assuming obviously everyone left ultimately after the festivities were done that day? Correct. And did you say goodbye to Imani that day?

47:04 Yes, I did.

47:07 And were you, after that, did you try to see her anymore after you saw her on that Mother's Day? Yes, but I didn't have a number anywhere to reach them or know where they were. I'm sorry? I didn't know where they were or a number to reach them.

47:27 And would, did you ever at any time ever try to communicate with the defendant to try to have contact with Imani, with Tiffany? No, just my son.

47:39 And after that Mother's Day, would your son, Iman Moss, would he respond to you or grant your request to see Imani? He said he had called me and said that he would bring her by. Did that ever happen? No.

48:03 Ms. Moss, was Mother's Day of 2013 the last time then that you saw your granddaughter alive? Yes, it was. I know we've referred to her as Tiffany, but do you see the person that you have referred to as Tiffany Moss, your daughter-in-law, sitting in the courtroom today? Yes, I do. And where is that person? Right there. Okay, I know you pointed. Can you just tell me what color shirt she may be wearing so it can be reflected for the record? Or you blue. Your Honor, I'd ask that the record reflects she has identified the defendant in this case.

48:38 Miss Moss, those are all the questions that I have for you. Could you state your name, please? Moan Giovanni Moss. And can you spell both your first and your middle name for the court reporter? First name Moan E-M-A-N. My name is Giovanni G-I-O-V-A-N-N-I. And how old are you, Mr. Moss? 35 years. Where do you currently reside? Smith State Prison. And are you currently serving a sentence at Smith State? Yes, sir. What sentence are you currently serving? Life without. Life without what? Rule. Right.

49:25 And is that because of a guilty plea that you entered in regard to the case you're in court here today on? Yes, sir. And what did you plead guilty to? Um, in front of the mirror, child cruelty and considerable death. All right. And who was the victim in those cases? My daughter. He married in February of March. And do you remember when you actually took that, when you actually entered that plea guilty? I'm not familiar with the, I know it was in the middle of August 2015. I know that much. I can't remember the date.

50:04 That's close enough. And so since August of 2015, you've been serving the sentence on that case? Yes, sir. During the times that you were at work, would you get calls from Tiffany during the day? Yes. Did they ever talk about Imani? A lot of times they were, text messages. And what were the types of text messages you would get? Um, one incident said Imani, um, and put it on the wall. Um, got another, I got another call. I take me at Imani, um, boo again and put it in the oatmeal, in the food. Um, uh, get, I get, I'm just going down with this different thing.

50:57 Or Imani tried to run away. Would it be fair to say that a lot of the text that you got had to do with Tiffany claiming that Monty was misbehaving? Yes. So you're her father. What did you do about that?

51:17 I didn't do absolutely nothing. Did you believe your wife when she told you that? I did. Why? I don't know. I had a question, but I did. Did you ever seek out more family counseling for your child? I didn't. Did you ever take her to a doctor to see if she was sick? I did one time. It was in what we were saying with my mother-in-law, but I didn't stick to the appointment. So you really didn't take her to the appointment? I didn't really. I went to one thing. And when you say that Tiffany was telling you that Imani boo-booed, that means she went to the bathroom, right?

52:04 Yes, defecated. And did you ever see evidence of feces on the wall of your apartment? No. Did you ever see a bowl with oatmeal and feces in it in the sink? No.

52:25 Let's go to the week, approximately the week of October the 24th of 2013.

52:35 At that point, had you noticed that Amani was sick? Yes. Tell me what I mean by sick or what you mean by sick. Well, we moved to Verena Chase. We were saying it wasn't that she had a growth spurt, but she was thin, but she started to get thinner when we moved to Verena Chase. Whose responsibility did you feel at that point was to feed your child?

53:12 During the weekday, Tiffany, and mostly on the weekend, it was me. And on the weekends when you were with Imani, did she eat? Yes, she was. She was trying to eat a lot. Actually, on the weekends, she was trying to get out. You mean gorge? Yeah, gorge. I'm sorry. I don't mean to correct you. I want to change your word. That's what you meant to say.

53:40 And that was during basically the summer of 2013, right? Yes. Well, I'm sorry. Almost going into the fall of September. You moved into the apartment in September. So it would have been in the fall of 2013, right? Yeah.

53:59 Did Imani get thinner? Yes.

54:04 And did she seem like she had lost her ability to be active? Yes. On the 24th, was there an occasion where you came home and Amani was in a bathtub? Yes. Going to the bathroom, she's in the tub, and she's shaking like she's having a seizure.

54:33 So what did you do? I didn't go with my first mind. I said we need to go take her to 911 and take her to the hospital Did Tiffany have anything to say about when you said that She said we can Did she explain to you why you couldn take your daughter to the hospital She was real, real thin. Yeah, but did Tiffany tell you why you couldn't take your daughter to the hospital? No, she didn't give me why. Now, let's stop there and go back four or five days into October. At some point, did you come home and discover Imani had been burned?

55:12 Yes. Tell the jury about that. Matter of fact, I think I got a phone call at work that she was cooking somewhere with a pot, and she spilled the water on her stomach. Imani was cooking? Imani, yeah. Tiffany said Imani was cooking. and that she spilled a pot. Yeah. Did Tiffany tell you what was in the pot? No. It said hot water. So when you went home, did you look at your daughter? Yeah. What did you see? She had a skull on the stomach, like a round of skull part on the stomach.

56:02 And... Did you say we ought to take her to the doctor? Yeah, but I didn't do it.

56:10 So on the 24th, you found her in the bathtub, and did it look to you like Imani was having a seizure? That's my knowledge. I know you're not a doctor, but what did she look like? She was shaking. Could she speak? She was trying to say something. She wasn't speaking much. She was, you know. Were her eyes moving at all? They were going from left to right. So after Tiffany said we can't call the doctor, we can't take her to the hospital, what did you do with her?

56:51 Kept her in the room. Which room? In her room. I mean, did you put her on the floor or where did you put her? On her mattress. and on the floor.

57:09 Amon, did she ever get up out of that bed? No, she didn't after the seizure thing. No, she didn't. Did you go in and check on her in the days that followed? Yes. Yes.

57:23 I was trying to... Excuse me. Sorry. Yes, I did. And I was trying to feed her through a spoon with infantile. Okay. What were you trying to feed her? Infamil, like a liquid diet, whatever wasn't working. What do you mean it wasn't working? It wasn't working. Well, I mean, did she spit it back up or did she not be able to swallow it or did it spill on the bed? You say not working. What I'm talking about, I'm talking about her weight. Okay. As far as, you know, she was swallowed, but it wasn't, you know, as far as, what I'm saying, it was beyond repair.

58:14 At that time, was she able to get up herself and go to the bathroom? No, sir. Was she going to the bathroom and the bed? Yes, sir. Did you ever see any sores or anything like that on her? Like dead sores or just sores? Just sores around her bottom or sores from laying in the bed, anything like that? She had, she had, for her, when she got scarred, it was healing around her stomach, fired the scab. Could she talk to you at that point? She wasn't talking.

58:59 Would you agree that she was in pretty bad shape at that time? She was in bad. She was in a bad state. Amon, did you take her to the doctor then? I did not take her to the doctor, sir. Why not? Why not?

59:15 I really can't explain it. I was trying to fix something, like I said, you know, I'm not God, but I was trying to fix something irreversible or beyond repair. What I should have did... No, go ahead. Finish your sentence. I'm sorry to interrupt you. What I should have did was when I said when the incident happened to call 911, and when I didn't, I put myself in the bad mind. Sir. What was Tiffany telling you about what you needed to do at that point? She was saying that we can't go, we can't call 911.

59:54 We can't do that.

59:58 We got to hide the body. Why did she tell you that we can't call 911? I mean, you're this child's father. because she said I'm on probation I don't want to go to jail did she say anything about losing your other children yes I want to go now so from the 24th you put her and you put Imani in bed yeah On the 28th of October of 2013, did Tiffany notify you somehow that Amani had died?

1:00:51 Yes, she called me at work. And did you actually speak to Tiffany or did you just get a text?

1:01:01 I think I talked to her on the phone. And what did she tell you? She said she's gone. She didn't say too much. She said she's gone. So when I came home, I go in the room, and from that time, I usually take a nap. I was in the room with... All right. Let me ask you, did you do anything to confirm that she had died? She was dead. How could you tell? I've been in a lot of funerals, and I can tell, you know. She was cold. Her assing was there. Her eyes, she was gone. Where was Tiffany when you came in the house?

1:01:43 When I walked in, the other two kids, when Tristan was running around playing, he came in. I'm really messed up at the time. He said, Daddy, Daddy. I walked past him. Emily in the pack and play, and she was watching TV. Did you have any conversation with her when you? When you walked by her watching TV? No, not at that moment. And after you went into the room and saw that Imani was dead, did you go out and talk to Tiffany?

1:02:18 Yeah, that was after. You talking about after I came from in there? Yeah. Yeah. What did y'all talk about? Talking about Priscilla and Adeff, making it like since she had a history of running away making it seem like she ran away. But Iman, let me ask you. When you discovered your daughter dead, what did you want to do?

1:02:46 911.

1:02:49 What did Tiffany want to do? She wanted to hide it.

1:02:54 The body was inside the trash can with the feet pointing up. The body was wrapped in a trash bag that covered the entire body except for the feet. The feet were sticking out a little bit. There was also a strong odor of charcoal lighter fluid, and part of the body had been burned. Once you made those observations, do you, as a medical examiner, do you also photograph and document those types of things? Yes. Is that one of the first things that you do before you make any changes to the body or how it has been presented to you?

1:03:35 Yes, a photograph or photographs are generally taken of my first view of the body. So receiving the trash can, opening the lid and the body inside the trash can. Once you observed the body inside the trash can, did you then begin to remove it and the contents of the trash can? Yes. And how did you, or what did you do when you did that? What did you observe, I should say? The body was removed from the trash can, and it was wrapped in a trash bag, as I said, with the feet exposed. inside the trash can.

1:04:15 Left inside were some partially burnt charcoal briquettes that remained at the bottom of the can. At that point, more photographs were taken with the body, and we could see that there was burning on the outside of the bag. the bag, part of it was melted. The feet and one of the hands were burnt, and so we started to remove the plastic to observe the body inside the bag. Were you able to then, ultimately you said you started to remove the plastic, I'm assuming, do you take all of those external items off in order to get a better view of the body?

1:04:55 Yes. And when you ultimately removed the bag, you said there was a bag. Was there any other clothing items or anything around the body? Yes. She had a folded-up comforter or blanket made out of quilt squares that was folded up and in the top of the bag near her head. And she was wearing some white and pink socks she had on a pair of white underpants and a blue shirt. And those items were charred where they had been in contact with heat. Once you were able to examine that, what is the next step in your examination process?

1:05:46 Once again, photographing the body. We removed the clothes and get some photographs. In this case, in addition to the clothing, she also had some duct tape wrapped around her in order to keep her legs and arms in a flexed position. And so the duct tape was removed. And all of those items from outside the body were transferred to the police department for further examination. until all we had left was the body for examination. Do you then begin your process with a complete external examination of a body?

1:06:26 Yes. The next step is to perform an external examination. We obtain x-rays and so forth. Anything preliminary is part of the external examination. With regard to the x-rays that you did, did you determine whether there were any type of fractures or anything that you noticed in the x-rays? There's no evidence of any acute fractures. In other words, at or around the time of death, there's no evidence of healing fractures that I could see on the x-rays. When you observe this body, I know in your report you talk about post-mortem changes.

1:07:07 What types of things do you look for in that? When I'm looking for post-mortem changes, I'm looking for any evidence of the passage of time after death. There are certain changes that happen more or less sequentially. One of those is the formation of rigor mortis, where the body will become stiff. And generally, the limbs become stiff and you can't really move them. and it'll stay that way for a period of time, and then it'll start to pass. I look for color changes. As the body starts to decompose, it'll start to darken and turn green and red.

1:07:55 I look for lividity. Lividity just means that once the blood is not circulating anymore, all of the red cells in the body sink to the lowest part. and if it's been only a few hours since death, you can move the body and the lividity will shift around to the next lowest part, but if enough time passes, you can't shift it anymore. It'll be fixed, so all of these things would be something I would examine as part of my external exam. What type of changes like that, if any, did you observe in Imani Moss?

1:08:33 In this case, there was fixed lividity, which indicates that the passage of at least several hours has taken place. There was no fixed rigor. It had already passed. So that would indicate to me that at least a day or two had passed. She was starting to turn green and red and develop marbling changes. and there was starting to be a strong odor to the body, which also indicates the passage of time of at least a day or two. Once you have done that, do you take body measurements of when you're conducting an autopsy?

1:09:15 Yes. We measure what I refer to as the length because we can't measure it while they're standing. It's not really a height, but I measure the length of the body and we get a weight on a body scale. In this particular case, what was the height or the length, I should say, as you said, it's not truly a height, but what was the length of Amani Moss?

1:09:40 Her body was 50 inches in length. And do you also, when you do that, do you calculate a percentile, especially for a child, in what percentile they would be in, in comparative to other children? Yes, I compare that to a standard growth chart. And for a 10-year-old girl, that length falls in the fifth percentile, meaning that approximately 95% of girls are the same height or taller, and 5% of 10-year-old girls are shorter than that. With regard to weight, were you able to weigh Amani Moss? Yes. And what was her weight?

1:10:21 32 pounds. And what percentile? Did you also do a comparison into a percentile for that? Yes. According to the standard growth charts, a 10-year-old girl should weigh somewhere between 54 and 103 pounds. So this is at less than the fifth percentile. Were you able, I know that you then continue your external examination. What is the next step that you do? Continuing the external exam, we look for evidence of injury.

1:11:03 So in this case, there was the acute burning of her feet and one of her hands and the right side of her body. that happened at or around the time of death, actually most likely after death. It appeared to be a post-mortem damage to the body as opposed to an injury. Did you notice any type of marking or burn that was what you attributed to have been in a healing state? Yes, she also had a marking on her abdomen that looked similar to a burn in the healing stages. The skin was depigmented. It was lighter than the rest of her skin.

1:11:49 And there were little dots on it where the skin pores would be, where the hair roots and the sweat glands would have been preserved. So this was a partial thickness burn. It didn't completely destroy all of the skin requiring a skin graft, but it at least took off the surface layers of the skin, which can regenerate from those hair follicles. And with regard to that, we'll come back to that in a second because you're still doing your external examination. Once you made note of that potential recent injury, do you then continue and look at her head and other parts of her body?

1:12:33 Yes. Was there anything of note that you noticed when observing Imani at that time? No, there were no other significant injuries that I could identify that would have directly caused her death. And when you say directly caused her death, are those the type of things that you're looking for in that external examination? Yes. During the external exam, I look for evidence of blunt injuries, defects in the skin, other types of trauma, broken bones, and so forth that would indicate some sort of trauma happening around the time of death.

1:13:12 With regard, you said that there was some discoloration. The green or red had come there. Did you notice anything about her skin that would indicate how long she had been deceased? The color changes and the odor are generally associated with the passage of one to three days after death. Did she have what you would refer to as skin slippage? Yes, she did. Some areas of her body were starting to show some skin slippage. It's one of the changes that happens as decomposition starts to set in. Before you did your internal examination, did you notice if there was any type of, and I think you might term it a defect or something, on her buttocks area?

1:14:00 Yes, she actually had an area on her left buttock where the skin was worn away through the epidermis and through whatever small amount of fat was left on her buttocks. So this was on the opposite side from where the burning was. So to me, this looked like something that may have been there before she died. Because of its location and because of the nature of the skin defect, it resembled to me a decubitus ulcer or a bed sore. Did you then move to an internal examination of Imani? Yes. What do you begin with, doctor?

1:14:49 What is the first organ?

1:14:54 It's listed in my report as beginning with the heart. I don't always examine them in the order. They're listed in my report. But her heart was roughly the normal size for her age. There were no anatomic changes to her heart that looked like she had heart disease. It looked like a normal heart. Tell me what other, and you can go in the order in which you examined or the order of your report, whatever is easiest for you. Tell me what you would do. All right. Going on from there, her lungs, just with the naked eye, look to be normal size and weight.

1:15:37 I also took some sections of the lungs to look at under the microscope. And we can talk more about that in a minute. I generally go on to the gastrointestinal tract. In this case, in her stomach, she had about a tablespoon of nondescript tan fluid. It really didn't look like anything resembling food, but just some nonspecific fluid in her stomach. Nothing else abnormal about her gastrointestinal tract. Moving on to the liver, her liver weighed 340 grams, and ordinarily for a 10-year-old girl, it should weigh between 724 and 967 grams.

1:16:29 So her liver was less than half of what a normal liver should weigh.

1:16:38 Her kidneys were also small for her age. They were below the lower cutoff for normal weight. Everything else was appropriate size and configuration, the uterus and fallopian tubes. Her spleen only weighed 30 grams. The normal weight for a spleen in a 10-year-old girl is 60 to 119 grams. There were no fractures of her musculoskeletal system, but her skeletal muscles were extremely atrophied. She looked very thin and had lost a lot of fat and muscle tissue so that she was more or less skin and bones.

1:17:24 Her endocrine system looked normal. There were no injuries of the neck. Her brain was about at the lower limit of weight for a brain, but still within the normal range. So the brain weight was relatively preserved, although several of her other organs were not preserved in weight. And let's go back and talk about those, because you said you noted that the liver and the spleen specifically were smaller than what you would have expected. Let's talk about the liver first. Dr. Stauffenberg, what are some reasons for why Amani's liver could have been that size?

1:18:06 Generally, when a person has been starved, the organs and tissues that show the changes first are the ones where there's a lot of energy storage. So fat is going to go early on, muscle is going to go early on, and the liver is going to go because it's a storage site for glycogen. And so once all of the other sources of fuel in the body are used up, then the liver starts to shrink as the body uses that for fuel as well. You indicated that you felt like the spleen was of a little bit smaller than normal size.

1:18:47 Is that correct? That's correct. With regard to that, the brain, you did indicate that the brain, what was indicative of the fact that the spleen was smaller? That goes along with all of the other findings in the organs. Generally, in starvation, the brain size is relatively preserved, whereas all of the other organs in the body will be smaller than expected. Now, and I'm sorry, did you answer, let's turn to the brain, the size of her brain. You said that did appear to be normal size or around what should have been a normal size for a 10-year-old.

1:19:29 Is that correct? That's correct. And what, if anything, did that indicate to you? It's a natural response during starvation that the body will try and preserve the brain at all costs. So all resources available go towards the brain at the expense of other parts of the body. Now let's turn for a moment. You said you went through those. Let's talk about just very briefly. You said you found about a tablespoon of nonspecific fluid in her stomach. And when you say nonspecific, what could that fluid have been in her stomach at that point?

1:20:06 Well, it wasn't recognizable as food. So it could have been something that was thoroughly digested, or it could have been a digestive fluid that had been secreted into the stomach. But there was really nothing that I could see in the stomach contents that resembled food. With regard to that fluid, was there anything about that fluid that gave you pause as to whether that had anything to do with her cause of death? Not really. Moving on, when you do the examination of those, some other procedures that you do, do you typically test those particular gastric contents or any of her blood for any other unknown substances?

1:20:53 Yes, we generally draw blood samples during an autopsy and test those for drugs and alcohol. In this case, we tested for blood alcohol, which was negative, barbiturates, cannabinoids, benzodiazepines, cocaine, and opioids, and those were all negative. We also tested for ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze, and that was negative as well. In addition to the other specific drugs of abuse I mentioned before, a comprehensive drug panel was also negative, so there were no prescription drugs or anything else found in her blood.

1:21:39 Let me see if we can move on. You also, I think, submitted an additional fluid sample. Is it vitreous? Is that how you say that word? Yes, vitreous fluid. That the fluid that in the eye We sent some vitreous fluid off to the Shepherd Center Laboratory for electrolyte testing And specifically we had it tested for sodium chloride and urea nitrogen and generally in the case of dehydration all of those tests should be higher than normal in this with with regard to this case that's exactly what i was going to ask you next what type of results did you find in that regard in this case we found that the sodium and chloride were more or less normal, but the urea nitrogen is very high.

1:22:37 So either this is a case of dehydration where the sodium and chloride haven't read the charts and they're not elevated like the urea nitrogen is, or it's evidence of kidney failure or renal failure. And when you say kidney failure, what exactly happens in kidney failure? Well, the kidneys are supposed to filter the blood and take the wastes out and excrete them in urine. But if the kidneys are not working, then they're not going to remove wastes. Instead, the wastes will build up inside the blood, and it can cause illness and death.

1:23:23 Dr. Stockenberg, you obviously conducted the internal as well as the external examination. I want to get to some of your findings and then go back and kind of discuss some effects of that. What do you then in your procedure make a summary of all of the findings that you find based on your internal and external examination? Yes, I generally summarize all of my findings in an outline form and bullet points at the end of my exam. And with regard to that, what was one of the things that obviously you noticed about the physical appearance of Imani Moss?

1:24:01 Well, she was extremely thin and emaciated. She had a starved look, and based on her weight and the loss of muscle mass and the fact that her organs were so small compared to the normal charts, I was able to conclude from that that she had died from starvation. And in your capacity as a medical examiner, you rule a cause of death. Do you also rule a manner of death? Yes. And what was the manner of death that you determined in this case with regards to Imani Moss? The manner of death is homicide.

1:24:46 With regard to that, let's go back and look at some of the findings that you did have. You mentioned, in fact, the burn that was in the healing state. Let's talk about that for a moment and where you saw that. You said that was located on her stomach area. Can you describe for the jury the size of that burn? Yes, it was 8 by 8 1⁄2 inches. And you said it was in a healing state. Could you tell by the type of burn that it was in that healing state, are you able to determine what degree of burn it would have been?

1:25:20 It would be something that would be called a partial thickness burn. That's generally a first or second degree, probably second degree because it looks like some of the surface skin was lost. But it's only a partial thickness, meaning it's not a third degree burn because there are still sweat glands and hair follicles left for the skin to regenerate from. If it's a third degree burn, would that typically require skin grafting? Yes. With a first or a second degree burn, if you could, in your expert opinion, would that still be very painful and open to infection?

1:26:02 Yes. With the type of burn that you observed, would that be the type of burn where medical attention should be sought? I would expect that it should at least be looked at by a doctor. It's fairly extensive. I mean, 8 by 8 inches is a fairly large area on the body of a child, and it would be very painful. I would think that the first reaction when that happens would be to get medical attention right away. You talked about that you examined the contents of her stomach. You did the drug screen paneling and looking for other things of that nature.

1:26:45 Did you notice anything indicative of Amani Moss ingesting any type of poison or chemical in any way? No. Were there any signs that that had occurred, either corrosive materials on her esophagus or her throat or anything of that nature? No. If you look then moving to, let's talk about the starvation. You ruled this starvation. In your opinion, do you know and can you describe for the jury kind of the order or what would happen when somebody is being starved? Well, the first thing that would happen in the early stages, they would experience hunger pangs.

1:27:27 She would probably feel hungry. She would be asking for food, looking for food, craving food. Following that, the next step would be apathy, fatigue, not able to do her usual activities. And from there, she would become more and more listless, eventually lethargic and mental status changes. She would not feel like moving around much. She wouldn't have much energy. There would be extreme weight loss that would be visible. And then finally, death. Is your immune system in any way compromised when you're not, obviously when you're starving or you're not eating?

1:28:21 Eventually, the immune system is going to be affected. There's less ability to fight off infections in the later stages. And I know you cannot put a number of days, I'm assuming. you weren't able to put a number of days that Imani may have gone without food. But have you, in your experience, known of studies with individuals that potentially are without water or food? Yes, there have been some studies done, mainly observatory or retrospective studies, where they look at people who have been deprived of food and water.

1:29:00 and these studies are generally done in adults where an adult has survived anywhere from 8 to 21 days when they're deprived of food and water. When they're allowed fluids but not food, they may survive for up to two months. In a study of 10 hunger strikers who are all roughly in their 20s, They found that they lasted anywhere from 53 to 73 days before death. And you said those were all studies that you are aware of that were done on adults. Are you aware of any studies that have been done on a child?

1:29:46 No. When you talked about the different stages of starvation and ultimately the fatigue, lethargy, things of that kind of nature, would that affect an individual's ability to walk or to get around? Yes, she would have less and less energy, less ability to walk around. Even if she was able, she would be weak and probably unwilling. Even if you are not ingesting food, is the human body, would you still be creating waste? Would you still need to urinate or defecate? Yes. Yes. There's fluid that gets secreted into the stomach, and it's going to go through the GI tract just like food would.

1:30:34 Any blood that's in the body is still going to get filtered through the kidneys. And so as long as the kidneys are able, they're going to keep making urine.

1:30:45 I'm going to show you some photographs. I know you said that you documented your work in the autopsy that you did in just a moment. I'm going to show them to the defendant.

1:31:00 That is, Dr. Sollenberg, that is State's PS-107. And I believe you described it. What is that? This is a photograph of the body once it was removed from the trash can. It's still wrapped in the garbage bag. What we can see on the right side of the photograph is her two feet. and you can see that they're both very charred, but there's still some remnants of her sock on the right foot. And looking at State's Exhibit PS-108, what is depicted in that? It's a little closer view, but it's also turned a little bit to the side.

1:31:39 But we can see in this photograph the body still inside the trash bag. You can see a little bit of melting of the plastic on the side that's towards us. her feet, once again, over at the right side of the photo, and there's a defect towards the left side where you can see a little bit of the yellow fabric that's in that comforter. I'm going to show you what's been admitted to evidence as PS-112, and what is depicted in the state's exhibit PS-112. In this photograph, the body is still partially inside the trash bag, but the legs have been partially exposed.

1:32:18 So you can see both of her feet showing there, a little bit of the pink and white sock on the right foot. The left sock is a little more charred. You can see the duct tape around the knees, and you can see a little bit of the comforter showing on the right side of her body. And looking at State's Exhibit PS109, when you look at this, this is a little bit closer view but a different angle. What do you see and what is highlighted in the photograph that you took here? In this photograph, we're looking at the left side of the body, and you can see the duct tape around the knees and connecting to the rest of the body to hold her in that flexed position.

1:33:04 The garbage bag is still in place. Once again, you can see the comforter up above her knees. You indicated that ultimately you did, in fact, once you opened the bag and I think removed Imani from the bag. I'm going to skip ahead to State's Exhibit PS113. And is this after Imani had been removed from the trash can and the bag and comforter? Yes. In this picture, the garbage bag has been removed. She's been removed from the trash can, and the comforter has been moved out of the way. So what we can see here is her body with clothing and the duct tape around her legs and around her body.

1:33:52 And you had previously mentioned something about the look that she had. I know this photo is graphic, but does it depict the way her face appeared to you at that particular time? Yes, her face looked very thin to me. It's what doctors describe as cachectic. It's an appearance where the eyes get sunken into the sockets, and the normal fat that's in their cheeks is gone, and it sinks in so that it just looks like skin over a skull. I'm going to show you what was previously marked and admitted into evidence.

1:34:34 It's basically P116. The measuring part of this tool is 5 centimeters, and that's roughly 2 inches. In this case, we can see that her arm is probably more like 4 centimeters in width. So, you know, picture how much that would be, and it just is an indicator that her arm is very thin. We can also, in this picture, see where the duct tape was removed across the outside of her left arm. And ultimately, obviously, to complete your examination, you have to remove the clothing from the body. And also, you ultimately removed all the duct tape.

1:35:18 Is that correct? That's correct. And I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's Exhibit PS-117.

1:35:29 All right. And what is the injury that you previously talked about, the injury in the healing state, is that depicted in this particular photograph? Yes, that's on the abdomen. You can see where some of the pigment on the skin has been lost. That's part of this injury. It goes almost up to her ribs and all the way down to the groin areas on both sides. So even though 8 by 8 doesn't sound like, well, 8 by 8 1⁄2 inches doesn't sound like a large size, it actually is quite large on the body of a child.

1:36:09 So this area had been depigmented, and the skin has started to grow back. So it's all covered over now, but it hasn't completely healed in that the pigment has not returned. And with regard to these markings here, where you see that and you see that, although those are discolorations, what was actually caused that discoloration? That's from where the duct tape was placed. So she had duct tape around her thigh and the lower leg to hold her knee flexed. What is this type of discoloration? discoloration what what is that and maybe some of these injuries it appears to be injuries but you as a doctor can explain what those are um there are actually some larger areas um like on the end of the knee and underneath where the duct tape was where um there's some white areas that's areas of skin slippage and so that would be evidence of decomposition um so once the body starts to decomposed, the skin will slide off.

1:37:14 And since all the pigment is in the epidermis, once the skin slides off, all the color is gone too, and it just looks white underneath. I'm going to show you what's been admitted as stated to the PS118. And is this a photograph in which you indicated that the decubitus ulcer that you noticed on her left buttocks is visible? Yes, it's that yellow area. You can see part of it on the side of her left buttock. So it's very dry, but it's not really burnt. The burning is on the right side of her body, but there isn't really that much burning on the left side.

1:37:55 This is something that was there before she was burnt. In this picture, you can also see burning of her left hand. You can see a little bit of her feet there. Step down if you'd like to, Dr. Sofenberg, if you don't mind, so that they know exactly. And the ulcer that you were referring to, if you could point that out. I'll point to that. This is part of the ulcer. It's on the side here, and it goes across the back as well. I was also pointing out that the hand here, the left hand, is charred just about down to the bone.

1:38:31 The soles of the feet are charred. And also you'll notice how thin her legs are. We saw that her arm was very thin before, but you can see what her legs look like. And that her ribs are very prominent in this picture as well. All of those factors that you just pointed out are those indicators of the cause of death that you determined to be starvation? Yes. Looking at state exhibit PS 120, I think you talked about the back of Imani was where you noticed the tarring. Is that what you were referring to and what is depicted in this particular photograph?

1:39:07 Yes, let me point this out to you here. Right here on the left buttock, this is part of the decubitus ulcer. So you can see we have skin, skin, skin, and then there's just this fat. But this appearance here is different from this appearance, where we have all of this dark black charred injury. So the cubistles are on the left side where there is the burning, and the burning here on the left hip and side of the back.

1:39:40 You indicated the charring, and I think there was one additional photograph, and then I think we're finished. This is State's Exhibit PS 119. You noticed extensive charring on the child's foot, on Imani's foot. Is that correct? Yes. And were the feet upward, did you say, or were they downward? The feet were up in the can. She was headfirst into the can. And with regard to the vermin, I think you did say that there was, that you did was there any indicators that Amani was alive when the burning occurred?

1:40:17 No. And based on your findings was that a post-mortem infliction? Yes, the burning is all post-mortem. You indicated previously that the manner of death is homicide. What are the factors Dr. Stauffenberg that led you to believe that in this particular case? the reason this was called a homicide is because she's a juvenile and if a child has basic needs they need to be met by somebody else who is caring for them if they have a need for food then the need should be supplied by a caregiver if they have an injury or an illness The caregiver has a responsibility to take them to the doctor for care.

1:41:06 So in this case, the fact that she lost so much apparent weight without being either adequately fed or taken to the doctor to see why she's not maintaining her weight, then that would indicate a level of neglect on the part of the caregiver. With regard to your final examination and your conclusions, were there any other medical issues, any other trauma, anything that you noted that could have caused her death other than starvation? No.

1:41:49 That's all the questions I believe I have, Your Honor. Press examination. May this witness be excused. She may, Your Honor. You're excused. Thank you for coming. Thank you, Your Honor. We're returning to 18B, 1541-1, State of Georgia v. Tiffany and Paul Moss, the defendant's president, along with standby counsel, state's counsel's president as well. I am informed we have a verdict, and I'll be bringing the jury in here momentarily. Just a note to our various observers, I have no idea what it is that the verdict might be.

1:42:18 You might be happy with it. You might be unhappy with it. But whatever your reaction to the verdict is, don't react out where the jury can see it. Keep your feelings about the verdict to yourself. If you don't believe that you'll be able to do that, please step outside at this point in time. Please bring our jury.

1:42:41 You can be seated. Thank you very much. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I am informed you have a verdict. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor, we do. Is it unanimous? Yes, Your Honor. Has it been signed by your foreperson? It has. Please give it to the bailiff.

1:43:07 This is the jury's verdict in case 18B-1541-1. This is the state of Georgia v. Tiffany Nicole Moss. Verdict, count one, murder. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder. Count 2, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of felony murder. Count 3, felony murder. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of felony murder. Count 4, cruelty to children in the first degree. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of cruelty to children first degree. Count 5, cruelty to children first degree.

1:43:38 We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of cruelty to children first degree. Count 6, concealing the death of another. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of concealing the death of another. signed and dated by the foreperson. Please give it to counsel and the defendant for their review as to form.

1:44:11 Any exceptions to the form of the verdict by the state? No, we have no. Any exceptions to the form of the verdict by the defense? No. Does the state wish a poll of the jury?

1:44:24 Does the defense wish a poll of the jury? All right. Ladies and gentlemen, there are some matters that we need to take up outside of your presence. If you'll please remember the instructions I gave you previously and go out with our bailiffs. Thank you. We're returning to 18B 1541-1 State of Georgia versus Tiffany Nicole Moss, the defendant's present along with standby counsel, state's counsel's present as well. I am informed that we have a verdict. Please bring our jury. Yes, sir.

1:45:16 You can be seated. Thank you very much. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm informed you have a verdict. Is that correct? Correct. Is it unanimous? Yes, it is. Has it been signed by your foreperson? It has. Please give it to the bailiff. This is jury's verdict in case 18B 1541-1, State of Georgia v. Tiffany Nicole Moss. 1 findings of jury as to alleged statutory aggravating circumstances. We the jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that the offensive murder as alleged in count one was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved torture of the victim before death.

1:46:12 We the jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that the offensive murder as alleged in count one was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved depravity of mind of the defendant, signed and dated by the foreperson. Verdict as to penalty, count one, murder. We, the jury, recommend and fix the penalty as death, signed and dated by the foreperson. Please give it to counsel for their review as to form. Any exceptions to the form of the verdict by the state? None from the state.

1:47:06 Asked for one more. Any exceptions to the form of the verdict by the defense? Our jury has been excused. We'll proceed immediately to sentencing. Is there anything that the state would like to say before I impose sentence on the defendant? No, Your Honor. The jury has spoken. Ms. Moss, if you'd stand up for me, please, ma'am. Is there anything that you'd like to say before I impose sentence, ma'am? Ma'am, with respect to count one, the jury has found you guilty of murder and other counts contained in the indictment against you, they have considered the circumstances surrounding that murder and found that aggravating circumstances exist.

1:47:47 With respect to count one, ma'am, I impose a sentence of death. Counts two and three are vacated by operation of law. Their felony murder charges, counts four and five, the cruelty charges, of course, merge. With respect to count six, I impose a 20-year sentence to be served in confinement, ma'am. With respect to things that you should also be considering, ma'am. You should understand that the law requires that the date of execution be scheduled by the court at this time. The CGA section 171034 requires that the court set the date of execution not less than 20 days or more than 60 days from today's date, and there's a seven-day window within which the execution is to take place.

1:48:28 I fix the date of your execution, ma'am, as the seven-day interval between noon on June 7th, 2019 and noon on June 14th, 2019. Ma'am, do you understand the sentence that I've imposed in this case? All right, ma'am. That concludes our proceedings. You may go with the deputies.

1:48:48 Thank you. That concludes our proceedings.

1:49:08 you