Trial begins in foster child's death

Associated Press WriterLINN, Mo. (AP) -- According to his foster mother, Dominic James was "a really sweet boy" who liked to run, play with cars and especially to splash in a blowup swimming pool outside. But within two months of arriving at her house, Dominic became ill, frequently vomiting before ultimately losing consciousness and dying.

Jennifer Dilley was the lead prosecution witness Tuesday in the murder trial of her husband, John Wesley Dilley, who is accused of shaking Dominic so severely while his wife was at work that he blinded the 2-year-old boy and damaged his brain.

Dilley, 36, of Willard, has pleaded innocent to second-degree murder, second-degree assault and child abuse resulting in death -- charges that could result in life in prison if he's convicted.

Jennifer Dilley said Dominic came into their foster care on June 18, 2002, and was just four months younger than their own son. The two boys loved to play together, and slept in the same bedroom, she said.

Dominic was "pretty calm. He liked to run and loved to play in the water outside in the little blowup pool. He liked to play with cars," Dilley said with a smile as she recalled the boy.

But as Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Todd Myers led Dilley through the next two months of events, her smile gradually was replaced by a somber look and tears.

Dilley described how Dominic had to be taken to the hospital on Aug. 10, 2002, and again on Aug. 18, 2002, the second time after he collapsed while she dressed him. Dilley was home alone with Dominic and the Dilleys' own son both days Dominic was taken to the hospital.

The second time Dominic was taken to the hospital, he had vomited, then been given a bath by John Dilley, whom prosecutors contend twisted his head vigorously while drying his hair.

Jennifer Dilley, who had been called home from work by her husband, was dressing the boy when "his legs gave out from under him," she said. "His eyes were open, but you could tell he wasn't conscious. His feet went straight out and his hands went up. That's when we took him to the hospital."

When Myers showed the jury a picture of Dominic on life support at the Springfield hospital, Jennifer Dilley dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and Dominic's biological father, Sidney James, buried his head in his hands while quietly crying.

Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Cynthia Rushefsky said during opening arguments Monday that a medical examiner will testify that the shaking occurred "with a force basically equivalent to a car accident, where the child is being whipped around and the child's brain is crashing against the skull."

Dilley's attorney, Jason Coatney of Springfield, urged jurors to be objective, curious and skeptical and suggested there is plenty of evidence suggesting the boy had other medical problems that could have been responsible for his death.

Dominic was removed from his mother's Springfield home June 18, 2002, when police responded to a domestic dispute involving his mom, Stephanie Ford, and his homeless father, Sidney James.

John Dilley's trial was moved to Osage County, about 20 minutes east of Jefferson City, because of the media coverage in the Springfield area.

But Dominic's death also attracted a lot of attention in the Capitol, prompting three government reviews of the state's child abuse and neglect system. Gov. Bob Holden also ordered a restructuring of the Department of Social Services, and the Legislature passed a sweeping foster care reform bill that Holden vetoed as too aggressive.

Greene County Circuit Judge Calvin Holden, who is presiding over the trial, is the brother of the governor.