NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Hatfield man will spend the rest of his life in prison, as he has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter.
It took a Montgomery County jury about 10 hours to find Marquis Thomas guilty of first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, Kailee Bunrout, in 2016.
Prosecutors told the jury Thomas almost got away with it, as the medical examiner who did the initial autopsy found cause and manner of death inconclusive, saying internal injuries were likely the result of CPR.
But investigators re-examined the girl’s death two years after Kailee died, when her 8-year-old brother ended up in the hospital with similar injuries.
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The brother later told investigators that when his mom wasn’t around, Thomas would choke him and his sister and press their faces into couch cushions so no one could hear them scream.
Prosecutors said they also found out, on the day Kailee died, Thomas googled CPR on a child 20 minutes before he called her mother to tell her the girl was unresponsive. The mother left work and came home to find Thomas still had not called 911.
The defense argued the injuries were from Thomas trying to resuscitate the girl when he found her unresponsive.
Thomas was found guilty of other charges, including the abuse of Kailee’s brother. First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
