A woman showed little emotion on a witness stand in Hamilton County Juvenile Court as she described on Thursday the events leading up to the death of a 3-year-old who was in her care.

The woman’s 14-year-old son is accused of raping and killing the little girl, but Constance Lavoie said the victim seemed fine until she became concerned at her sudden illness and decided to drive to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital on April 21.

Even then, Ms. Lavoie testified, the little girl was talking and swinging her legs in her car seat as they drove toward Chattanooga from the family’s trailer home in Georgetown, Tenn.

“She started rocking her foot,” Ms. Lavoie said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was like, ‘Oh, she feels better.’”

The little girl died three hours later as the result of a substantial tear in her rectum that caused fecal matter and other bacteria to invade her body, according to a medical examiner.

Ms. Lavoie’s son is charged with first-degree murder by aggravated rape of a child and aggravated rape of a child. If transferred to criminal court and convicted as an adult, he could face up to life in prison.

Thursday’s hearing, which will continue Wednesday, is being held to decide if he will be tried as an adult. The hearing showcased graphic evidence of the crime, including autopsy photos of the little girl’s battered body and the internal trauma that caused her death.

Ms. Lavoie left the courtroom at that point, but her son, who has been incarcerated since his arrest April 23, remained. He rarely lifted his head to look at the photos projected on a large screen.

Hamilton County medical examiner Dr. John Metcalfe said the aftermath of the victim’s blunt-force injuries to her head and torso, as well as the internal penetration from her rape, would have been “very” painful.

He also testified the little girl would have “immediately” started experiencing symptoms from her torn rectum and subsequent sepsis, leading authorities to pinpoint the rape as having occurred less than 24 hours before her death.

That’s when prosecutors say the teen defendant was home alone with the victim on April 20, along with his two 2-year-old nephews and a bedridden stepfather who is brain damaged and cannot walk or move on his own. Ms. Lavoie said she left the house to pick up professional family pictures that had been taken the day before.

Hamilton County sheriff’s detective Michael Cox is expected to testify Wednesday about the defendant’s statements to him regarding what happened while the teen was alone with the little girl and allegedly raped her. The victim was not a blood relative, but she had been living in their household because of her biological mother’s inability to care for her.

The defense plans to argue that the teen made the apparently incriminating statements at a vulnerable time when he was mourning the death of the victim and had no idea he was about to be charged with two serious crimes.

There are other explanations for the girl’s death, defense attorney Justin Woodward claimed Thursday, although he did not immediately share those explanations with the court.

WHAT’S NEXT

The hearing to decide whether a 14-year-old accused of raping and killing a 3-year-old will be tried as an adult will continue June 24. If transferred to criminal court and convicted as an adult, he could face up to life in prison.