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The exhumation of the body of Kaelie Cusick planned for Friday has been postponed because of a scheduling conflict among the three doctors who will take part in the autopsy.
Deputy Coroner John Sadler, who was Kosciusko County coroner at the time of Kaelie's death, said the exhumation is tentatively rescheduled for March 5, with the autopsy tentatively set for March 8.
The exhumation is part of the ongoing investigation into Kaelie Cusick's death. The 4-year-old died Aug. 12, 1996, in a fall down a flight of stairs at the home of her father and stepmother, Richard and Sherrie Cusick, 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, Cromwell.
Sherrie Cusick, 33, is being held without bond in the Kosciusko County Jail, charged with murdering both Kaelie and her 7-year-old brother, Anthony Cusick. Anthony died Nov. 23, 1996, in a fire in the Cusick home. He was allegedly playing with matches in a closet and died from smoke inhalation.
A Feb. 3 grand jury called to review the deaths of both Kaelie and Anthony did not return an indictment against Cusick in Kaelie's death. Cusick was charged with murder at that time for Anthony's death, and charges were filed against Sherrie Cusick in November in connection with Kaelie's death.
The investigation remained open in Kaelie's death even after the grand jury made its decision. The death was originally called accidental - the child died after she 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 reviewed X-rays and other documentation from Kaelie's death investigation and determined she 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.
The exhumation and autopsy of Kaelie's body is part of the prosecution's pretrial investigation and should bring a conclusive cause of death, according to officials. A press conference will be held within days of the autopsy regardless of the results, Sadler said.
