On January 31st, 2003, Krystal Voss and her partner and babysitter Patrick Ramirez rushed her child Kyran to the hospital claiming that he had fallen off of Ramirez’s shoulders and landed on his head.  Kyran would later die with major brain injuries and bruises on his body that immediately made physicians feel this was as a result of abuse from Voss and Shaken Baby Syndrome, the term given when babies and young toddlers are shaken enough to cause major brain damage and possible death.

 

An investigation was launched and Ramirez and Voss both initially told the exact same story but this was countered by medical professionals who did not feel the fall could have caused these injuries.  Ramirez was interrogated with a video; Voss was not.  This led to hearsay from the interview with Sgt. Alejo that would cause questions down the line but Voss did indeed sign a confession to having shaken the baby and shoved him against the bed the night before which was thought to have been the cause of his death.

 

Ramirez, likely scared of consequences to him, recanted his statement about dropping the baby and instead testified that Voss had admitted to shaking the child the night before which would have caused the injuries.

Dr. Wells was a medical professional who claimed and testified in court that the injuries sustained by Kyran could not have been as a result of the fall and instead a series of abuse and shaking of the baby.  This testimony was not challenged by the defense which would later prove to be a mistake.

 

With the defense instead trying to prove it was Ramirez who did the damage, Voss would be convicted of child abuse leading to death and sentenced to 20 years in prison.  

 

As the case would continue to be reviewed over time and with medical advancements showing that there were other ways the injuries could have happened, Voss was granted a retrial.  A large number of medical professionals testified that Wells was completely wrong and there was no way she could have determined that the child was killed by SBS.  In fact, they went as far as to say the testimony that Voss was convicted on from the shaking and pushing the night before would not have been enough to cause the injuries that Kyran sustained.

Voss was finally exonerated in 2017 after this case of forensic science mishap and perjury from Ramirez.

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