PORTLAND, Ore. -- More than four years after his baby daughter overdosed on methadone and died, the Portland dad charged with her murder walked into a Multnomah County courtroom for the first day of his trial.
Darian Lee McWoods, 25, sat next to his attorney and listened to opening statements, during which prosecutors showed a photo of the then 1-year-old girl, smiling in a black, white and red dress.
“Her great grandmother… arranged to have these photos taken of her in the anticipation of the excitement of the holidays. She had just gotten her a new winter coat set, as well,” said assistant district attorney Amity Girt. “However, instead of experiencing the holiday magic in the eyes of a toddler, Kamaya Flores died two days later.”
Prosecutors told jurors Kamaya was found dead in her father’s home on Dec. 17, 2013.
The toddler had enough methadone in her system to “slow or stop her breathing."
“She died in her father's care,” said Girt. “She suffered abusive injuries consistent with asphyxia and she had illicit drugs in her system.”
Darian Lee McWoods faces a long list of charges, including murder by abuse, first-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
According to The Oregonian, during a 2017 court proceeding, a prosecutor told a judge McWoods, who has other children with an ex-girlfriend, liked to mix the drug with drinks like Capri Sun.
He also, they said, had a history of abusing his children and of feeding them small doses of drugs or alcohol to put them to sleep.
Defense attorneys argued there were other factors that could have contributed to Kamaya’s death.
They also pointed to a lack of proof in this case surrounding how Kamaya ingested the methadone.
“The evidence will show that [detectives] didn’t take Kamaya’s clothes. They didn’t look at the car seat. They didn’t look in the car,” said attorney Josephine Townsend. “They didn’t look to where this child may have picked up a methadone pill.”
Prosecutors began calling witnesses late Wednesday afternoon. Proceedings are scheduled to continue on Thursday.