Had 18-month-old Jacob Tisdale been found any later, he would have joined his twin sister, Sierra, at the morgue, a pediatric critical care doctor testified Tuesday.
When the baby got to Sunrise Hospital Oct. 1 his heart rate was accelerated, his kidneys were giving out, his genitals had been burned by soiled diapers and he was unresponsive.
"If he'd gone another 24 hours without medical care, he would've died," Dr. Diane C. Lipscomb testified. "When they stuck a needle into his bone (to rehydrate him), he did not move. He did not cry. He did not respond at all."
Lipscomb took the stand Tuesday during the first half of a preliminary hearing that will determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to try Jacob's parents in the death of his sister.
Demone Tisdale, 21, and Sophia Mendoza, 20, were arrested Oct. 1 after Tisdale's mother arrived at the couple's Henderson home to find Sierra dead on the floor and Jacob covered in vomit.
A criminal complaint charges the pair with one count each of second-degree murder and four counts each of child abuse and neglect.
Although autopsy reports are still pending, Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe alleges Sierra died as a result of severe malnutrition and dehydration.
The child abuse and neglect counts allege that not only was Jacob neglected, but so were his siblings, Demone Jr., 3, Shawn, 2, and Laval, 6 months.
Testifying Tuesday were Lipscomb, Tisdale's mother and Detective Gerard Collins. A medical examiner and another detective are expected to testify Nov. 5, at which time Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr will decide if the pair should be bound over to District Court for trial.
Tisdale's mother, Irma McKinney, testified that she went to her son's home around 7:20 p.m. Oct. 1 after receiving a phone call from him. He told her to come alone to his house, that all of his children were sick and he needed her help.
When she arrived, she found a motionless Sierra with blue lips and a blotchy face. Jacob, she said, had dark circles under his eyes.
She immediately called 911.
McKinney said she had received a message from her son about six hours earlier and spoken with Mendoza, but the topic of the children's health was never discussed.
While the paramedics were working on Jacob, McKinney asked Tisdale and Mendoza why they hadn't gotten help for the twins earlier. McKinney said she got no response.
"They were hysterical," McKinney said.
McKinney, who lives within 30 minutes of her son, recalled visiting her grandchildren five times between December 2001 and September. She last saw the twins in July and they appeared fine, although at 16 months, they weren't yet walking, she said.
Lipscomb testified that Jacob weighed 12 pounds when he was brought into the emergency room. Typical toddlers at that age weigh between 20 and 25 pounds.
The doctor said that although babies born prematurely, as Sierra and Jacob were, can be underweight, many catch up by the time they are 18 months.
None of the tests indicated that Jacob suffered from anything that would have caused his malnutrition -- such as internal problems or illness, Lipscomb said.
"He was fed inadequate amounts of food, and it was for an extended period of time," Lipscomb said.
Lipscomb discounted the theory that the twins suddenly got ill and could not take a bottle or food. Tests showed Jacob hadn't had enough protein for two or three weeks.
Moreover, if the boy were merely ill, the parents would still be guilty of neglect for not taking Jacob to the hospital, Lipscomb said. He would have had to have vomited 20 to 30 times over a one- to three-day period to get into the condition he was in, she said.
Following Tuesday's hearing, defense attorneys Phil Kohn and Drew Christensen asked Burr to release their clients on their own recognizance, noting they have not been accused of intentionally killing their daughter.
Monroe objected and asked for $1 million bail each.
"I guess I don't see a distinction between a child who has been beaten to death and one that has been starved to death," Monroe said.
Burr set Mendoza's bail at $250,000, noting her lack of a criminal record. Tisdale's bail was set at $500,000.
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