MAYS LANDING, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Jurors in the child abuse trial of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small heard from the lead detective on the case during the third day on Wednesday, as well as a nurse practitioner who examined Small’s daughter at the hospital for an apparent head injury.
Small and his wife La'Quetta are charged with physically and emotionally abusing their then-15-year-old daughter on multiple occasions between late 2023 and early 2024. He is also accused of telling his daughter to lie about the abuse.
The mayor brought his daughter to AtlantiCare for evaluation in Jan. 2024, three days after his daughter said he hit her with a broom. Nurse practitioner Nadine Westrol says she was informed the girl lost consciousness from a fall.
Westrol did tests and a physical evaluation and ultimately determined there were no abnormal findings on her skin and no signs of trauma or abuse on her body. She prescribed Tylenol for the girl's headaches.
She noted that the daughter was complaining of pain on the back left of her head. The daughter testified on Tuesday that the injuries she suffered from the alleged broom attack was the front right of her face.
Lead investigator detective Hannah Piatt testified about how her office received audio clips from the boyfriend of Small’s daughter. These were secretly recorded phone calls and FaceTime videos of the Small family arguing. Piatt then spoke about the first meeting she had with the daughter at school in Jan. 2024 and discussed the recordings.
She also instructed school staff to keep the meeting discreet but Small showed up moments later and told investigators they couldn’t speak with his daughter. They told him they didn’t need parental notification if she wasn't charged with a crime and the meeting continued without him.
It took the daughter about an hour to get to the meeting room at school. During cross examination, the defense wanted to know if investigators knew why there was a delay and if it was because the daughter was not in the classroom where she was supposed to be. They also asked if detectives knew about the complaint Small filed against the boyfriend, and they said they didn’t know about it at that time.
Prosecutors played some of the audio recordings on Tuesday, including fights between the girl and other family members, including her parents, grandmother and brother.
The Smalls have called this a personal family issue that comes with the challenges of raising a teenager, and that their home remains loving and intact. Both he and La’Quetta, who is the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, have pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled to take place in the new year.
Despite the charges, Small won re-election in November with more than 60% of the vote. If convicted, he would be barred from serving out his term and could spend more than 20 years behind bars.
More witnesses for the prosecution are scheduled for Thursday. The defense should begin calling witnesses on Friday.