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Case of man accused in child abuse in jury hands

UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A Union County jury began deliberations Wednesday in the case of a man accused of felony child abuse. The jurors will continue deliberating Thursday morning.

Joshua Houser took the stand in his own defense to describe to jurors what he remembered the day Kilah Davenport was
 
All along he's said he didn't hurt Kilah and that any damage he did was to a wall was a result of him punching it out of frustration with a 911 operator.
 
His attorney had him show in court how he hit that wall.
 
But in closing arguments Wednesday, the prosecution told the jury the hole in the wall was made by Kilah's head and that hair matching DNA was found in the sheetrock.
 
They said Houser shoved her against the wall in a rage.
 
The District Attorney's Office also talked about the injuries the neurosurgeon found that he described as traumatic and urgent.
 
When the defense gave its argument, Houser's attorney said the state didn't meet its burden of proof.
 
He said the case was built on assumptions like how and when Kilah's hair ended up in the wall.
 
The defense said the case left many questions unanswered like why sheet rock wasn't found in Kilah's hair.
 
At one point, Houser's attorney pulled out a ladder.
 
He climbed on it to show it wouldn't take a great height for a fall to seriously hurt Kilah suggesting it may have even been a fall from a couch that caused her injuries.
 
Things got heated when the prosecution had a chance to speak one last time.
 
The District Attorney's Office called the defense's theories outlandish and said to the jury, "You're not fools."
 
One of the prosecutor's voice cracked when she told the jury Kilah deserved to live a normal life and she didn't deserve to be hurt.

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