Little Cassidy Young’s unusual behavior took center stage Monday in the third week of the Jason Young murder trial.
Three of Cassidy’s daycare teachers took the stand to testify to the two-year-old’s behavior following the brutal murder of her pregnant mother, Michelle Young, in November of 2006.
“She had what she referred to as the Mommy doll,” describes daycare worker Ashley Palmatier. “She began hitting the doll repeatedly.”
Palmatier went on to describe to the jury how Cassidy then put the “Mommy” doll into a dollhouse, laying the doll face down onto the bed.
“While she was hitting the doll she said ‘Mommy’s getting a spanking for biting’,” Palmatier said. “When she laid the doll down is when she said ‘Mommy has boo boos all over, Mommy has red stuff all over.”
Read more: Jason Young's mistresses take the stand
Cassidy Young was home when her mother was brutally beaten to death. Her footprints were found at the crime scene, scattered throughout the house in blood. She could also be heard on the 911 call made by her aunt, Meredith Fisher, who discovered Michelle’s body. In the background, Cassidy can be heard saying “Mommy has boo boos all over.”
“We know that she witnessed a trauma,” Psychotherapist Jenn Berman tells HLN’s Mike Brooks. “Clearly she’s acting out a trauma, that’s what children do, especially at such a young age. And to see that change in her, to see her withdrawal, to see her play with the dolls like that is indicative of a child who has witnesses a trauma.”
Jason Young faces first-degree murder charges for the death of his 29-year-old wife. This is his second trial for Michelle Young’s murder after his first trial last year ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. If convicted, Young faces life in prison.
Computer forensic investigators also took the stand Monday to discuss the findings on Jason Young’s computer. In addition to emails he sent to his mistress and former fiancée declaring his love for them, there were also several heated email exchanges between Jason and Michelle.
Read more: Did Jason Young leave hotel room undetected?
But the most fascinating piece of computer forensic evidence came from search engine results on the Young family computer.
“One of the searches I found … was ‘anatomy of a knockout,’” says computer forensic expert Beth Whitney. “Another … search that I found was ‘head, trauma, blackout.’”
Whitney also described further searches for the terms “knockout” and “blackout” but says she couldn’t determine when these searches were conducted on the Young computer.
Join the conversation...