Sherrie Cusick is being held without bond in the Kosciusko County Jail on a new charge of murder after surrendering to authorities Monday evening.

Cusick, 33, of 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, Cromwell, is charged in the death of her 4-year-old stepdaughter, Kaelie Cusick, after an investigation which included experts from two other states.

When Kaelie died Aug. 12, 1996, allegedly after a fall down the stairs at the home of her father and stepmother, Richard and Sherrie Cusick, authorities originally ruled her death as accidental. The child was reportedly playing dress-up and became entangled in a sheet before tumbling down a flight of stairs and breaking her neck.

But two forensic experts have reviewed X-rays and other documentation from Kaelie's death investigation and it was determined that the child did not suffer a broken neck. The doctors, a forensic pathologist from Minnesota and a forensic radiologist from Alabama, concurred that the child died from a blunt force trauma to the back of the head, officials said.

"I think it's a very interesting case," said Kosciusko County Sheriff Al Rovenstine. He said information on the active warrant against Cusick was relayed to her attorney, Mike Reed, who arranged for her to turn herself in.

Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe filed the charges against Cusick after reviewing a probable cause affidavit submitted to him by Detective Sgt. Tom Brindle Friday. The warrant was issued Monday.

A Feb. 3 grand jury called to review the deaths of both Kaelie and her brother, Anthony, did not return an indictment against Cusick in Kaelie's death. Cusick was charged with murder at that time in the Nov. 23, 1996, death of 7-year-old Anthony Cusick, who died in a fire in the Cusick home. Anthony was allegedly playing with matches in a closet and died from smoke inhalation.

Evidence from Anthony's death suggests foul play, authorities said, because no matches were found in the closet in which Anthony's body was found and the burn pattern in the closet is said to be consistent with an unconscious child. Also, the closet door was not locked, obstructed or otherwise barricaded to prevent his exit, according to court documents.

One of the experts who reviewed the material from both children's deaths, Janice Ophoven, M.D., of Woodbury, Minn., wrote in a report: "I strongly recommend re-opening the death investigation of (Anthony's) sister Kaelie. Until further evaluation proves otherwise, I assume foul play in the death of both children."

Court documents indicate Ophoven told police she believes Kaelie's death resulted from a "homicidal assault." Ophoven noted she observed no broken neck in Kaelie's X-rays and that "strangulation was a more plausible explanation since there was medical evidence of blunt force trauma to the head not coinciding with a fall down a flight of stair ... (Kaelie) was assaulted by being grabbed by the neck and multiple blows delivered to the back of her head."

Neither information from Ophoven nor Dr. B.G. Brogdon, a forensic radiologist from the University of South Alabama, was available at the time of the grand jury testimony.

A pending civil lawsuit by the children's mother, Lisa Teders, suggests that the youngsters are dead because of negligence on the part of both Richard and Sherrie Cusick. That lawsuit also indicates that Teders "specifically requested" of Richard Cusick that Anthony not be left alone with Sherrie Cusick after Kaelie's death. But Anthony was solely in Sherrie Cusick's care at the time of his death, according to court documents.

Sherrie Cusick was scheduled to go on trial this month to face the murder charge brought against her in Anthony's death. However, her attorney, Mike Reed, requested a continuance until sometime after Jan. 1. That request was granted by Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed with no new trial date set at this time. [[In-content Ad]]