'Skinny with bruises': first responders testify about finding girls at Goforth trial

“Small, skinny with bruises”, that is how two police officers describe the girls in the Goforth case.

The first responders are testifying to what they saw when they first came across the two girls who were in the care of Tammy and Kevin Goforth in 2012.

The Regina couple is on trial for killing a four-year-old and injuring a two-year-old.

Sgt. Derek Lamer first saw the four-year-old at the Regina General Hospital on the night of Aug. 1, 2012.

He testified to her being “small, petite, not conscious, skinny, with bruises all over her body, and hooked up to machines”.

He ordered police units to the Goforth home. When officers arrived, they saw a blue Ford Ranger driving away. A search on that car led them to another home where the two-year-old girl was located.

Sgt. Shelly Sulymka was the first to arrive with the mobile crisis unit at that address on the same night.

Sulymka testified she found the two-year-old in bed; “she appeared slight, with bruising”.

She says the girl was lying on her back in a bed in a sleeveless nightgown, covered from the lower chest down. She also had bandages and gauze on her left leg.

When the girl was carried to the kitchen, Sulymka said, “she sat on the floor, she was – what I would call, non-responsive. She didn’t blink, she didn’t acknowledge anyone around her and she didn’t move”

“She sat on the floor, she was – what I would call, non-responsive, she didn’t blink, she didn’t acknowledge anyone around her and she didn’t move” – Sgt. Sulymka

The officer testified she had “slightly wet hair as if she had been bathed earlier in the day”.

Under cross-examination, Lamer admitted that when he saw the Goforths at the hospital, they were “curled up on the sofa together, crying”.

At that point in the testimony, someone from the public gallery muttered, “phony”.

Const. Brittany Dunford was the last to appear on the witness stand on Thursday. She testified to what she saw at the Goforth home when she arrived.

“I wouldn’t call it complete disarray, but blankets were made into a make-shift bed on the living room floor.” – Const. Brittany Dunford.

“I wouldn’t call it complete disarray, but blankets were made into a make-shift bed on the living room floor,” she told the court.

Tension remains high in and out of the courtroom as family members for both the accused and victims enter and exit each day.

Follow along with News Talk Radio’s continuing coverage of the trial.

Goforth Trial Day 1: Tensions run high in courtroom for murder trial of Tammy and Kevin Goforth.

Goforht Trial Day 2: Forensic officers testify about condition of home.

Goforth Trial Day 3: Child protection worker, foster moms testify about health of girls before they were in the care of the Goforths.