GUILTY: Dad found guilty of causing death of 17-month-old girl

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. --It was a case that dragged on through the courts for years.

Last June, Michael Allen, 35, left the courtroom most probably cautiously hopeful when a jury couldn’t decide if he delivered a severe blow to his 17-month-old daughter, Kaivonni on Feb. 24, 2021. It was a hung jury.

Michael Allen, Jr.

This time around, at a second trial, hope turned to disappointment. Thursday, a jury found Allen guilty on two counts: child neglect resulting in death and aggravated battery. Both are Level 1 felonies meaning considerable prison time. On each count, he could be sentenced between 20 to 40 years.

Kaivonni with her mother, Kayla Vachon

Forensic pathologist Dr. Scott Wagner testified in court Wednesday that the toddler died of a torn mesentery, which doesn’t say much until it’s described. The mesentery is the “lifeblood” that links the bowels to the aorta and blood vessels.

A terrible blow and a victim can only survive up to two hours. Wagner described her mesentery as "shredded."

Deputy prosecutors Rebecca Grove (r), Rachel Gschwend and New Haven detective Kurtis Jeffers

Other bruises found on Kaivonni’s body revealed deeper injuries during the autopsy, a result of a child’s skin masking the real damage. Wagner and a pediatric child abuse specialist hinted that the real picture was much darker.

Allen was his daughter’s caretaker while his partner and Kaivonni’s mother, Kayla Vachon, worked two jobs to keep the small family afloat.

At first, Vachon believed Allen’s story that the little girl had been vomiting quite a lot and had to be suffering from some unknown malady.

Defense team Nicholas Podlaski (l) and Greg Miller

If Vachon contradicted some of her facts in the case, it was because she wasn’t sleeping much, deputy prosecutor Rebecca Grove said during closing arguments Thursday.

She had other words for Allen.

“She was a baby. She probably couldn’t even talk yet. He took it too far that night and she died,” Grove said.

She asked the jury to “hold him accountable for what he did.” Deputy Prosecutor Rachel Gschwend and New Haven detective Kurtis Jeffers were on the prosecutorial team.

Nicholas Podlaski, who served as defense co-counsel with Greg Miller, held to the claim that it was impossible to say who fatally injured the child and maintained that it wasn’t outside the possibility that overly forceful CPR administered by the medics at Fire Station 11, during the ambulance transport and staff at Lutheran Hospital might be to blame.

He stressed that Allen was a good father and cleaned up his child before he put her in the car to get her help, not to hide anything criminal.

Allen’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11.