'It would take quite a lot of force': Dentist questions toddler's tooth loss at dad's manslaughter trial

A pathologist and dentist who examined Kierra Elektra Starr Williams' teeth after she died testified the toddler was missing five teeth due to a "traumatic injury."

Dr. Carla Penner was called as an expert witness in Day 3 of the trial for Kierra's father, Daniel Williams, who is accused of manslaughter and failing to provide the necessaries of life in connection to the the toddler's 2014 death.

"This was a very unusual pattern of tooth loss," Penner told the court. "A child should not be losing their teeth at 21 months."

Kierra was rushed to hospital from her family's home on Peguis First Nation in July 2014. Court heard she died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen which resulted in internal bleeding. Court heard Kierra suffered prolonged physical abuse at the hands of her mother, Vanessa Bushie, months prior to her death.

• Father of Kierra Elektra Starr Williams 'chose to do nothing' to prevent toddler's death, court told

​The Crown is arguing Kierra's father, Daniel Williams, was witness to at least some of the abuse and his failure to protect  his daughter  — his legal duty as a father — contributed to her death.

Children don't lose teeth that easily. If it's a severe fall it's the top front teeth they're going to knock out.- Dr. Carla Penner

Penner testified at the time of her death Kierra was missing four lower front teeth and one upper tooth. She concluded the teeth were lost at least three months prior to her to death because bone that formed in between the spaces of the teeth indicated it was not recent.

During cross-examination, Williams' lawyer Greg Brodsky asked Penner if it was possible Kierra fell on a toy and knocked them out on her own.

"Children don't lose teeth that easily. If it's a severe fall it's the top front teeth they're going to knock out," Penner said, adding that wasn't the case for Kierra.

Brodsky asked Penner how much force would be necessary to cause the kind of damage in Kierra's case.

"It would take quite a lot of force," Penner said. "Babies don't knock out their teeth very often."

Can't specify how teeth lost

Penner testified it was impossible to tell how Kierra may have lost her teeth but it was ruled they were lost by "traumatic injury," because the teeth she was missing did not meet the patterns for common childhood tooth loss.

On Thursday morning, court also heard audio testimony from a girl who regularly stayed with Kierra's family on Peguis First Nation. The girl cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

When he would raise his voice loud she would stop.- Girl who stayed with family

She told court Kierra endured repeated abuse at the hands of her mother, including being hit, slapped and kicked down while trying to walk along furniture. The girl testified she witnessed Bushie force-feed the toddler to the point she was almost choking. She told police of another time she witnessed Bushie slam Kierra's fingers in a bedroom door inside the family's trailer. Court also heard, when Kierra would cry, Bushie would become angry and carry the toddler by her wrists and ankles to her bedroom where she would leave her alone on the floor for extended periods of time.

During cross-examination the girl was asked whether Kierra's father ever witnessed the abuse she witnessed.

"Yeah," the girl said. "He would yell at [Bushie]."

"Would she stop?" Greg Brodsky asked the girl, in the taped audio recording.

"When he would raise his voice loud she would stop," the girl told him.

Wasn't there when fingers slammed in door

Brodsky then asked where Williams was when Kierra's fingers were slammed in the door and if he was ever told about it.

"He was at work," the girl replied, adding he wasn't told.

"Most of the time [Bushie] was abusive and mean to Kierra was Daniel Williams at work?" Brodsky asked.

"Yeah," the girl replied.

The girl told court she didn't tell anyone about the abuse she witnessed, prior to a police interview in 2015, because she was afraid Bushie would hurt her.

James Williams, Daniel Williams' 23-year-old nephew, also took the stand Thursday and testified he used to babysit Kierra and her siblings two to three days a week over the fall and winter months before her July death.

I just knew that she wasn't doing well. She wasn't eating.- James Williams

James told court Kierra didn't seem to like to be held and was difficult to feed. He said he noticed the toddler had a bruise on her face and a cut on her lip.

When Kierra died, Crown attorney Daniel Chaput said, the toddler was so malnourished she was stunted in height and weight.

On Thursday, he asked James if he had any concerns about the toddler's weight.

"I just knew that she wasn't doing well. She wasn't eating," he said. "She was sick or something."

James said he could not recall the month when he made these observations.

The three-week trial is being presided over by Justice Sadie Bond. The verdict will be delivered by a jury of 12, nine men and three women. 

The trial continues Friday.