Kaelie Cusick's body was scheduled for reinterment this morning after another autopsy was completed to pinpoint a cause of death.

The 4-year-old, who died Aug. 12, 1996, is suspected to have died as a result of injuries inflicted upon her by her stepmother, Sherrie Cusick. The 33-year-old Cromwell woman is charged with murder in connection with the child's death. The charges were filed after two experts determined that Kaelie did not suffer a broken neck as originally assumed.

Results could take as long as four to six weeks and a press conference will be called to announce the findings.

A pediatric forensic pathologist and a forensic radiologist both reviewed X-rays and other information compiled by law enforcement officials and the two concurred that Kaelie likely died from blunt force trauma to the head and possibly was strangled.

Kaelie's death was initially ruled accidental, but no mode of death was ever noted on her death certificate.

On the day she died, Kaelie reportedly became entangled in a sheet she had wrapped around her and tumbled down the stairs. She was found by her brother, Anthony.

Cusick also is charged with murder in the death of 7-year-old Anthony Cusick, who died Nov. 23, 1996, after allegedly playing with matches in a closet and succumbing to smoke inhalation. She was indicted by a grand jury in February 1998 for Anthony's death.

Both children were in the sole care of Sherrie Cusick at the time of their deaths. Both deaths occurred in the Cusick residence at 11749 Pied Piper Parkway.

Kaelie Cusick's body was exhumed Friday from her gravesite in St. Mary's Cemetery at Avilla for Monday's autopsy. The complete post-mortem examination took about five hours, according to Kosciusko County Deputy Coroner John Sadler. A "normal" autopsy takes about two to 2-1/2 hours, Sadler said, but Kaelie's took longer because CAT scans, which aren't normally done, were completed.

Sadler said the specific testing planned from the autopsy is time- consuming. "We have to go step by step by step and there are no short cuts," Sadler said. "And if there are (short cuts), we don't want to take them because the results might be skewed."

Biopsies, tissue samples and photographs should allow officials to find the answers to their questions regarding the mode of Kaelie's death, he said. Written reports will be filed by both Janice Ophoven, M.D., a pediatric forensic pathologist of Woodbury, Minn., and Dr. Scott Wagner, a Fort Wayne pathologist.

Representatives for both the prosecution and defense in the cases against Cusick were present at the autopsy. [[In-content Ad]]