Couple charged after child’s death appears in court again

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A Lexington couple accused in connection with a child’s death appeared in court Wednesday.

Brianna Johnson, the mother of the child, and Kyle Guindon, her boyfriend, are charged with first-degree criminal abuse. Guindon is also facing a first-degree assault domestic violence charge.

They were arrested on July 6 after police found Johnson’s 1-year-old son, Joshua, unresponsive at their home.

A detective testified that the child had bruises on his face and that he was malnourished.

“His birth weight was 7 pounds 9 ounces, and the weight at death 20 months later was 15 pounds 5 ounces,” said Det. Matthew Collins, Lexington Police Department.

One of those bruises on baby Joshua’s body was a blunt-force injury to the eye. Police say that could’ve caused his death.

When they asked his mother and her boyfriend where it had come from, they claimed it was from him falling on a toy in their home or an accident.

“Mr. Guindon acknowledged that he smacked the child on the mouth and stated that his hand might have slipped and struck his eye. Either from him or the Godzilla toy that he alleged to have fallen on,” said Collins.

Police never found that toy in the home.

Within the arrest citation, police say Brianna ”Intentionally permitted another person to abuse her child.”

Police say Brianna was nine months pregnant at the time of Joshua’s death. She gave birth less than a week later. Kyle had been providing care for the children due to her state. She recounted her opinions of him in an interview with police.

“She believed him to be a good father. She did express that she was fearful of him. She said that he has punched holes in walls. At one point during the interview, she said that she believed that Kyle did, in fact, hurt her son,” said Collins.

Her defense claims that she, too, was a domestic violence victim.

The matter was forwarded to the grand jury.

Detectives also said the couple had another child living with them in the home at the time, a 6-year-old girl. They say they interviewed her and saw no physical injuries overall.