Autopsy of Jessica N. Butts
Age: 12
Race: white
Sex: female
Date of death : January 27, 1992
Time of death: found 8:15 am
Pronounced at 715 Walnut - Atlanta, Cass County, Texas
Date of examination: January 28, 1992
Time of examination: 8:15 am

AUTOPSY REPORT

ORGAN WEIGHTS

Brain 1110g
Heart 160g
Liver 840g
R Lung 260g
L Lung 230g
Spleen 100g
R Kidney 70g
L Kidney 80g

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION

This autopsy is performed at the request of Bette Allen, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Cass County, Texas.

The body is identified by tags. Photographs, fingerprints, and palm prints are taken. Paper bags are present on both the hands and the feet when the body is received.

The body is received in a black zippered body bag, lying on a flower print fitted bedsheet and wearing only a white short sleeved tee shirt with the words< "Cheerleader Rock Cafe, Clinic '90". No other clothing or jewelry is present. Also received is a tan colored telephone cord with both straight and coiled portions and with two female plug ends, which has been cut and which is received wrapped multiple times around the decedent's neck.

The body is that of a normally developed white female, which appears approximately 12 years of age. The body measures 57 inches in length (144.8cm), weighs 84 pounds (38.1kg) and appears of average nutritional status. There is good preservation in the absence of embalming. Posterior fixed lividity is present, with partial rigidity. The body is cool to the touch, subsequent to refrigeration.

The head is normally developed and shows long wavy brown hair up to approximately 16 inches long. The body hair is consistent with that of an adolescent female. The ears are each pierced once. The cornea are clear; the irides are green with equally dilated 4mm pupils and no arcus senilis. The teeth are natural and in apparent good condition. The left temple of the face, near the hairline, has an irregular 3/4 x 3/16 inch cluster of small flesh-colored papilary excrescences. The chest shows small pubescent breasts. The abdomen and back are unremarkable. The extremities are symmetrical. The fingernails all appear intact and are short and neatly rounded, with polish present. The genitalia are those of a female.

IDENTIFYING MARKS AND SCARS - None present

EVIDENCE OF TREATMENT - None Present

EVIDENCE OF INJURIES

HEAD TO SHOULDERS:

There are numerous petechiae on the skin of the orbits and temples, as well as on the palpebral conjunctivae. The left ear has a small 1/8 inch abrasion near the center and a 1/4 inch superficial abrasion on the earlobe. The lower lip has approximately three ill-defined 1/8 inch each abrasions.

The neck circumferentially shows multiple slightly indented furrows which are mostly horizontal and some of which show a coiled pattern, corresponding with that of the telephone cord. The furrows measure 3/16 inch in width and have a total aggregate width on the neck of 2 inches vertically. The marks cover most of the front of the neck, centered over the middle of the thyroid cartileage, and rising bilaterally posteriorly, so that the center in the back is 1-1/2 inches higher than that in the front.

There is a 2 inch diameter area of left temporal subscalpular contusion. The underlying skulla nd brain show no evidence of injury. There is subcutaneous hemorrhage in the anterior middle of the neck, bilateral sternocleidomastoid hemorrhage near the inferior ends of the muscle, bilateral sternohyoid muscle hemorrhage, and hemorrhage in the portion of the thymus gland extending up into the neck. There is hemorrhage bilaterally in the trapezius, deltoid, and pectoralis major muscles near the clavicles.

Upon examination of the body, the tongue is between the decedent's teeth, with a 1/2 inch contusion of the tip. There are no fractures of the hyoid bone, larynx or cervical spine.

TRUCK AND EXTREMETIES

There is an irregular, dried, red-brown, 2-1/4 inch horizontal by 3/4 inch vertical abrasion on the left upper chest, just below the clavicle. There is a 1/2 inch abrasion on the top of the left shoulder. There is ill-defined, diffuse faint contusion and petechial hemorrhages of the mid upper chest, around and below the clavicles. There is a 1 inch abrasion of the left upper back overlying the medial edge of the scapula. There is a 1/2 x 3/4 inch abrasion of the back of the right elbow.

The external genitalia show two small, 1/4 inch long, narrow lacerations bilaterally in the fold between the labia minora and labia majora. There is a 1/2 inch long laceration extending posteriorly from the vaginal orifice. A small amount of blood is present externally upon initial examination around the perineal area. No injuries are identified internally within the vagina. The anus shows no evidence of injury.

Both nipples and areolae have mild focal green discoloration with no extension onto the adjacent skin surface, abrasions, or teeth marks present. Internal examination of the breast tissue shows no hemorrhage or other evidence of injury underlying the areolae.

The previous injuries, having already been described, will not be described again.

Material submitted for evidence are handwashings, clothing, tapings of multiple body parts, blood, and a sexual assault kit, including oral, anal, and vaginal swabs and smears, pubic hair pullings and combings, head hair combings and pullings, and fingernail clippings. The telephone cord was separately submitted for fingerprint analysis to an Atlanta Police Department officer.

INTERNAL EXAMINATION

Apart from the features described above, examination of the organs and tissues which comprise the HEAD, CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, NECK, BODY CAVITIES, CARDIOVASCULAR, RESPIRATORY, HEPATOBILIARY, LYMPHORETICULAR, GENITOURINARY, GASTROINTESTINAL, ENDOCRINE and MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEMS reveals all to be within the usual limits of size, character and position for age, sex, and development.

In particular, it is noted that the heart shows patent coronary arteries with no visible atherosclerosis or thrombi. The aorta has no atherosclerosis. The foramen ovale is closed. The upper airway is unobstructed and the pulmonary arteries contain no thromboemboli. The gallbladder contains approximately 2 ml of yellow-green bile with no calculi. The urinary bladder contains less than 1ml of cloudy, straw-colored urine. The uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries are present, and unremarkable, with the uterus showing a thin, tan endometrial lining. The stomach contains approximately 5 ml of brown liquid with no solid food material, pills, or capsules. The appendix is present and unremarkable. The fat of the abdominal wall measures up to 3/4 inch in thickness. No other significant abnormalities are noted.

FINDINGS:

1. Ligature marks on neck.

2. Multiple petechiae of conjunctivae and facial skin.

3. Hemorrhage in the musculature and subcutaneous tissue in the front of the neck and in the thymus gland..

4. Abrasions, contusions, and petechial hemorrhages of skin of upper chest.

5. Hemorrhage in anterior musculature of base of neck and upper chest around clavicles.

6. Contusion of the tip of the tongue.

7. Left temporal subscalpular contusion.

8. Abrasions of lower lip, top of left shoulder, left upper back, and back right elbow, and of left ear.

9. Lacerations of external genitalia


CONCLUSION:

Based upon the autopsy findings and history as available to us, it is our opinion that Jessica N. Butts, an adolescent white female, died as the result of strangulation.

MANNER OF DEATH; HOMICIDE

TOXICOLOGY:
Blood:
Alcohol - negative
A N Screen - negative
Alkaline screen - negative
Narcotics - negative

Vitreous:
Alcohol - negative

Signed by
Medical examiners
Sheila Spotswood, MD
Juan-Luis Zamora, MD
J.M.Guileyardo, MD
Charles B. Odem, MD

Chief Medical examiner - Jeffrey J Barnard, MD