The trial of a Shreveport woman accused began in earnest Wednesday morning with an explosive opening statement from the prosecution. Tatianna Burns, 43, appeared before Judge Donald Hathaway in Caddo Parish court charged with second-degree murder for the death of Angel Wong, an infant placed in Burns' care. Wong died on June 10, 2020, as result of what doctors described as "abusive head trauma," according to investigation documents made part of the case's public record.
Burns waived her right to a trial by jury, so Hathaway will decide the case. Prosecutor Christopher Bowman made the stakes of the case clear in his opening statement when he described the short life of Angel Wong. "The state will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, dare I say beyond all doubt, that that child never had a chance," Bowman said.
"The evidence will show that she was placed in the hands of a monster." Doctors who treated the infant before her death told investigators that her symptoms were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, a severe head injury infants can receive when they're violently shaken and their brain bounces against their skull. "What the doctors found would make King Solomon wince," Bowman said.
"Her poor, little skull was literally, literally your honor, bursting at the seams." Bowman said that doctors on the witness list were prepared to testify that Wong's fatal injuries were caused by Burns' alleged abuse of the child. There are approximately 1,300 cases of shaken baby syndrome in the.
