News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Edmund Donoghue, professor of pathology at Western Michigan Homer Stryker School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, speaks to the jury on Monday about his autopsy findings.

HARRISVILLE — The forensic pathologist responsible for handling the autopsy of Jayde McDonnell, Edmund Donoghue, shared his findings with the jury on Monday during the Aaron Trout trial.

Trout faces murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of two-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout’s then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.

Donoghue is a physician, forensic pathologist, and professor of pathology at Western Michigan Homer Stryker School of Medicine in Kalamazoo.

Donoghue performed the autopsy of McDonnell on July 23, 2022.

In addition to performing the autopsy, Donoghue also wrote a report detailing his observations of McDonnell’s body that he shared with the jury. Donoghue’s retelling of his report was accompanied by photos of McDonnell’s body.

During his testimony, Donoghue explained to the jury the types of injuries that are consistent with the idea of child abuse.

“The types of injuries you see in children in child abuse cases are usually blunt trauma,” said Donoghue, “meaning either a blunt instrument struck the child or they were impacted against a blunt surface. You don’t see gunshot wounds, you don’t see stab wounds. Blunt trauma consists primarily of bruises, which are leaning beneath the skin abrasions, which is the scraping away of the top layer of the skin, and lacerations which is a tearing of the skin.”

Donoghue also concluded in his report that McDonnell’s death was the result of cerebral injuries caused by blunt force trauma and that her death was a homicide.

“The cause of death was cerebral injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma,” said Donoghue. “The manner of death was homicide.”

In addition to Donoghue’s testimony, the prosecution also brought out several forensic scientists with Michigan State Police who discussed the findings of their investigations.

Prior to the start of Monday’s trial, a contempt of court hearing was scheduled involving the two court spectators who spoke to one of the jurors, however, Frawley informed the court that after some conversations with the spectators in question, it was made clear to her and the attorneys that they knew the gravity of their mistake and would never let it happen again, Alcona County prosecutor Thomas Weichel rescinded his request to find them in contempt of court and the hearing was canceled.

In addition to the forensic experts, the jury also heard a testimony from Chelsea Fultz, Pavelka’s sister, and Amanda Tolen, a unit tech at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, who was among the first people to interact with Pavelka when she came to the hospital with McDonnell on July 22, 2022.

Despite testifying earlier in December, Tolen was called back to the stand again where she retold her experiences and interactions with Pavelka from that day.