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Uniontown woman’s attorney requests medical discovery in upcoming child homicide trial

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read
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The attorney for a Uniontown woman charged with killing her 23-month-old daughter by neglect is requesting additional discovery for the upcoming homicide trial.

Dianne Zerega, the attorney for Andrea Dusha, 27, requested last week additional discovery in the case of the death of Dusha’s daughter, Lydia Wright.

Dusha and Michael Lynn Wright Jr., 43, allegedly left Lydia Wright strapped in and unable to move in a car seat for more than 12 hours on Feb. 24, 2016. The child was determined to have died hours before Dusha brought her to Uniontown Hospital.

Dusha told police the girl was a healthy baby, but was sick for several days before she died as she was feeding the child a mixture of Gatorade, Pedialyte and water in a sippy cup when the baby’s eyes rolled back and foam began to emit from her nose and mouth and she stopped breathing, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht determined the cause of death was malnutrition and dehydration.

In her motion, Zerega is requesting the complete autopsy reports including medical examiner investigative reports, preliminary and final autopsy recuts of microscopic slides from original tissue blocks, complete autopsy photographs, toxicology, cultures, ophthalmic pathology report and the neuropathology report.

Zerega is also requesting all laboratory reports including critical care labs, blood gases, oxygen saturations, chemistries, metabolic studies, hematology tests, coagulation studies, urinalysis, toxicology tests and microbiology tests including viral cultures.

“If no written or recorded reports exist, a complete description of the opinions and subject matters to which each such expert is expected to testify,” Zerega writes in her motion.

Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower is seeking the death penalty against Dusha and Wright, who was the father of Lydia Wright.

Dusha is lodged in the Greene County Prison without bail, and Wright is lodged in the Fayette County Prison without bail.

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