CLEARFIELD – An Allport woman, who was recently arrested for the death of a two-year-old toddler girl in 2013, waived all charges to court at her preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Clearfield County Jail.
Jennifer Ann Medzie, 21, of Allport has been charged by state police at Clearfield with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Medzie was living with the toddler girl’s father in Bradford Township. She would care for her on a daily basis while her boyfriend who was the girl’s father was at work.
On the night of Nov. 14, 2013, the girl went to sleep in her pack-n-play in her bedroom. At approximately 5 a.m. the next morning, her father checked on her before leaving for work. She was still asleep and fine.
Medzie said at approximately 7:30 a.m., she went back into the girl’s room and found her awake. She picked her up and took her to the living room where she began to change and dress her. Medzie said while she was putting a shirt on the girl, she went limp and passed out in her arms.
According to the affidavit, Medzie called the girl’s step-grandmother, indicating the girl had passed out or gone back to sleep. Medzie was told the girl had been sick recently, and it was normal for a child to sleep like that when they are sick.
At approximately 7:43 a.m., Medzie said she called a friend and asked her to come over because something was wrong with the girl. When she got there, her friend called the girl’s step-grandmother, telling her to “get over there right away because the girl wasn’t breathing normal.” At approximately 8:44 a.m., her friend called 911.
Upon arrival of emergency personnel, the girl was taken to the Clearfield Penn Highlands Hospital emergency room. She was then flown to the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, where she was admitted for treatment; she was later pronounced dead Nov. 17, 2013 at the children’s hospital.
On Nov. 15, 2013, state police interviewed the girl’s step-grandmother. She said Medzie had taken over caring for the girl during the day. During the four to six weeks prior to the incident, she’d noticed the girl didn’t seem to be herself. The girl would develop dark circles around her eyes and lost clumps of hair, she told state police.
According to the step-grandmother, the girl’s father took her to the doctor for an examination and tests in Clearfield. While the dark circles around her eyes did clear up within days, hair loss continued to be an issue. The girl’s father was referred to a specialist in Pittsburgh, but she didn’t believe he had a chance to set up an appointment.
The girl would cry often when she had to go with Medzie, the step-grandmother noted during her interview.
On Nov. 14, 2013, she picked the girl up and had her for about an hour. She said the girl was fine but while she was with her husband she became sick. When they returned to her home, she called the girl’s father and advised that the girl needed to been seen by a hospital. He and Medzie then picked the girl up, and they took her to the hospital in DuBois for an examination.
On Nov. 17, 2013, state police interviewed Medzie. She said she’d moved in with the girl’s father in September of 2013 and had been the primary caretaker. During the week of Nov. 10, she said the victim showed signs of being sick, and they took her to the hospital Nov. 14, 2013.
She initially told state police that she neither did anything to shake the girl nor to cause any injury.
But in a follow-up interview, Medzie admitted to state police that beginning in October she was becoming upset with the girl because she wouldn’t stop crying. She also allegedly admitted to shaking her one time. When asked how many times, she said, “not that many” and that it happened at the girl’s residence.
However, she denied shaking the girl “that morning or that week or the week before that.” She then changed her story, allegedly admitting that it happened twice in October but never in November. Medzie told state police she had started beating herself up and asking why she would do that to a little kid.
On Nov 16, 2013, a doctor at the children’s hospital in Pittsburgh was called in for a medical consultation and report on the girl. He found the girl was “the victim of abusive head trauma” or “shaken baby syndrome.” He also indicated in his report that there aren’t any “accidental ways that the victim could sustain bilateral subdural hematomas”
After an autopsy Nov. 20, 2013, another doctor concluded the girl died from blunt force trauma of the head. He also reported a list of areas about the girl’s head and trunk that exhibited trauma.
Additionally, the doctor who reviewed the medical and autopsy reports concluded: that the girl’s injuries “indicate she was symptomatic in terms of intense head pain within multiple minutes after sustaining the injuries.”
On Jan. 20, 2015, state police spoke with a friend of Medzie by phone. She told state police she had received several e-mails from her prior to the girl’s death. In the e-mails, Medzie wrote about being tired of watching the girl and she was going to hurt the girl or herself.