Girl was suffocated, says former M.E.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) - Testimony continued Monday at District Court in the case of Kimberly Fry, the local mother accused of strangling her daughter -- with a former top doctor maintaining the girl died because she was suffocated, not strangled.

Before the testimony began Monday morning, the judge released juror number 69 from the panel. No reason was given.

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, the former Rhode Island Chief Medical Examiner, took the stand again, offering the defense's potential cause of death: asphyxia due to compression of the neck, torso and mouth-- not strangulation, as a different doctor had previously testified for the prosecution.

The attorney of 38-year-old Kimberly Fry brought Laposata back to court to testify in more detail about the types of asphyxiation a person can suffer. Prosecutors say Fry strangled her daughter, 8-year-old Camden.

But Laposata gave the jury something else to consider: injuries to the 8-year-old are consistent with compression asphyxia, she said.

Timothy Fry, Kimberly's estranged husband, previously testified that she told him she'd sat on top of Camden, and put her hand over her nose and mouth to make her stop screaming.

Also during Monday morning's testimony, Laposata used a mannequin the size of Camden Fry, on the floor of the courtroom, showing the jury where the injuries were on the girl's body, and how they related to what Kimberly Fry claims she did to her daughter.

While Laposata was being cross-examined, a prosecutor asked her whether compression to the neck was the same as strangulation. Laposata insisted there is a difference.

Laposata is also expected to testify further about the stress of restraint. Fry claims her child died after she tried to restrain her during a struggle over a bath.