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SALT LAKE CITY -- A father is charged with the murder of his 4-year-old daughter, but his attorney says the charge is a publicity stunt by the state.
Clinton Hart and his girlfriend Marina Navarro both face first-degree murder charges for the death of Hart's daughter, Vanessa.
!["[Hart] was not involved in any way in the infliction of those injuries, and the suggestion that he's somehow responsible for that seems, of all things, cruel," said defense attorney Steven Shapiro.](https://img.ksl.com/slc/2155/215550/21555054.jpg?filter=kslv2/inline_sm)
Vanessa died last week from serious head and internal injuries -- which her father says she received when she fell down the stairs while in the care of his girlfriend. According to the documents filed in court, the abuse goes beyond that.
Prosecutors charged Clinton Hart with first-degree felony murder and two counts of second-degree felony child abuse. But his attorney says he wasn't present at the time of the abuse that led to Vanessa's death, so the charges don't fit the crime.
"They charged murder, not even child abuse homicide," said defense attorney Steven Shapiro. "Their principal charge was murder, and that isn't supported by the facts in this case."
Hart made his first appearance in court Wednesday via closed-circuit TV from the Salt Lake County Jail. Navarro, who faces similar charges, appeared shortly after.
Charging documents filed by the district attorney's office on Monday state Hart took his daughter to the hospital on June 13 after Navarro told him the girl had fallen down the stairs and was injured.
Doctors who treated the girl, however, told prosecutors that the injuries were far too severe to have come from a fall.
The charging documents say Vanessa suffered massive trauma to her head and stomach, and that her abdominal organs had been crushed up against her own backbone. It also says that she likely experienced "excruciating pain" before she died.
Hart's attorney says the injuries came at the hands of Navarro while his client was at work, therefore the charge of first-degree murder should not be brought against him.
"My client went to work in the morning and came back and found his child with injures that ultimately ended up being fatal injuries," Shapiro said. "He was not involved in any way in the infliction of those injuries, and the suggestion that he's somehow responsible for that seems, of all things, cruel."
A Primary Children's Medical Center pediatrician told investigators that Vanessa had some of the worst injuries physicians there had ever seen. The doctor also said the child had other injuries that appeared to have been collected over an extended period of time.
Hart and Navarro will make their next court appearance on Monday. Hart's attorney plans to ask the judge to reduce his client's bail.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
