Columbus babysitter convicted in baby girl's 2002 death freed after charges dismissed

A Columbus woman who has served 18 years in prison after a jury convicted her of shaking a 9-month-old girl to death in 2002 was freed Thursday after the pathologist who conducted the autopsy recanted his testimony.

The case the prosecution built against Kim Hoover-Moore in the Dec. 1, 2002 death of Samaisha Benson relied heavily on the testimony of medical experts who said the child died from injuries sustained while in the care of then-39-year-old Hoover-Moore.

However, court records show that in 2018, Dr. Patrick Fardal, a Dublin pathologist who formerly worked for the Franklin County Coroner's office, stated he found new evidence that the baby's skull fracture was from a previous head injury and was in fact healing before it bled again days before her death.

Fardal, who performed Samaisha's autopsy and testified against Hoover-Moore, stated he came to that conclusion partly because of advances in technology that were not available during the 2003 trial.

Those findings were supported by Dr. Janice Ophoven, a  pediatric forensic pathologist in Minnesota, court documents show.

In 2020, Fardal, Ophoven and Massachusetts radiologist Dr. Gregory Shoukimas obtained and reviewed the child's records from Nationwide Children's Hospital, where she died, and the Franklin County Coroner's Office, which determined the child died of shaken-baby syndrome. The three provided written reports earlier this year when Fardal officially recanted his testimony.

"I cannot conclude at the present time pathologically that the injuries suffered by Samaisha definitely occurred within the time window that Ms. Hoover-Moore was in charge of her care," Fardal wrote in a Feb. 18 affidavit. "The acute changes all occurred within a 4-5 day window before her death."

The Dispatch could not reach Fardall for comment.

In light of the new evidence, Hoover-Moore made a motion in June for a new trial, which the Franklin County Prosecutor's office did not oppose after it conducted its own internal investigation. In fact, that investigation, which included consulting an additional expert and reviewing the evidence presented at the trial, led the prosecutor's office to dismiss the indictment altogether on Thursday.

Two other key witnesses who testified at the trial have either passed away or were otherwise unavailable, according to the prosecutor's office.

Recent coverage of the case: Case revisited: Baby sitter gains support in fight for freedom

Court documents indicate that Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Carl Aveni vacated Hoover-More's conviction, granted the new trial request and ordered her released from prison based on a joint motion introduced by the prosecutor's office and Hoover-Moore's defense attorney Kort Gatterdam.

Franklin County Prosecutor G. Gary Tyack, who once represented Hoover-Moore in her direct appeal to the Tenth District Court of Appeals, recused himself from the process.

The decision to dismiss the indictment "was not made lightly, and was made only after careful deliberation," according to a written statement from Tyack's office. "It is important to emphasize —  and the defense has agreed — that the original evidence was strong enough to warrant prosecution and that there was no misconduct by either law enforcement or the (Franklin County) Prosecutor’s office."

On the night of Nov. 29, 2002, Hoover-Moore called Columbus Fire paramedics to her North Side apartment, stating she noticed something wrong with one of the children she was babysitting. Paramedics took Samaisha to Nationwide Children's Hospital with severe head injuries, where she died two days later on Dec. 1.

Hospital officials told The Dispatch at the time that the child arrived with a fractured skull and a swelling brain, having been shaken so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes had burst. The girl had also been slammed against a hard surface, The Dispatch previously reported.

Hoover-Moore was charged that December with murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and endangering children. After a weeklong trial in November 2003, it took a jury two hours to come to a guilty verdict and Hoover-Moore was sentenced to 15 years-to life in prison.

Hoover-Moore has maintained her innocence, however, and in 2017 her fight to prove her claim gained the support of Ohio Public Defender's Wrongful Conviction Project.

During the trial, Hoover-Moore's attorney argued that Samaisha's father could have shaken her earlier in the day. His marriage to Samaisha's mother was reportedly falling apart, The Dispatch reported at the time, and her mother once told police that he'd assaulted her.

Before her arrest, Hoover-Moore told The Dispatch that when Samaisha and her 2-year-old sister were dropped off by their parents that night, Samaisha's head was covered and she appeared to be asleep. Hoover-Moore had said she called 911 an hour later, when she tried to wake the child and place her in a high chair.

But the prosecution was able to convince the jury of her guilt because medical and child abuse experts — including two Nationwide Children's doctors —testified  that medical evidence at the time indicated the extent of the injuries would have occurred while the girl was in Hoover-Moore's care.

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, breaking news and social justice issues. Reach him at elagatta@dispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLagatta