HAMILTON - A Fairfield police official testified Monday that Christopher Hatfield told him he grabbed 8-year-old Misti Highfill by the neck, lifted her off the ground, shook her, body-slammed her to the ground and then strangled her.
The 15-year-old boy said that as Misti lay motionless and unconscious on the floor, he lifted her eyelids and saw that the pupils had risen to the top of her eye sockets, Sgt. Ed Roberts said in Butler County Juvenile Court.
''That kind of just told me that she was dead,'' the boy told Sgt. Roberts, according to excerpts from a transcript of his taped interview with the teen that he read in court.
''I said to myself, 'Oh my God, I killed her.'''
Judge David Niehaus ruled at Monday's probable-cause hearing that the youth will be tried on charges of murder and tampering with evidence in connection with Misti's July 19 death.
''I don't know whether he's guilty of murder, but there's probable cause to try him for murder,'' Judge Niehaus said.
The judge will decide Sept. 30 whether the 15-year-old will be tried as an adult.
If convicted of the charges in juvenile court, he could be confined to a juvenile detention facility until he's 21. If convicted of the charges in adult court, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Girl's mother relieved
Misti Highfill's mother, Deanna Nunn, wept in relief after the judge announced his decision.
''I'm glad there's enough evidence to try him,'' she said after the hearing. ''I want him to be tried as an adult.''
The boy's mother, Diana Hatfield, cried at the judge's ruling. After the hearing, she declined to comment.
''There are some real questions about whether they can prove the charges in court (beyond a reasonable doubt),'' said Ron Craft, Christopher Hatfield's attorney. ''Probable cause isn't much of a level of proof.''
Misti's body was discovered by police July 21 in a trash bin about 75 yards from the Fairfield apartment where her family was temporarily living with the Hatfields. She had been missing for two days.
Sgt. Roberts said the boy initially told him Misti died from being hit accidentally by the apartment's front door in the early evening of July 19.
He said that when he tried to open the apartment door, it was stuck, Sgt. Roberts testified Monday. When he pushed it open, the door struck Misti, knocking her unconscious to the floor, he said.
''He said he tried to administer CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation),'' Sgt. Roberts said. ''He got scared and figured no one would believe him.''
So the boy placed Misti's body in two trash bags and carried it to the trash bin, he said.
But 20 minutes after this interview, Sgt. Roberts said, the boy began crying and told him he wanted to tell him the truth.
He offered this account, Sgt. Roberts testified:
He asked Misti to get off the telephone so he could call a friend to confirm a planned trip. She made a face at him and ignored his request.
When she hung up the phone five minutes later, he told her that because she and her family were living in his family's apartment, she had to get off the phone when he told her to.
''She said, 'You're not my mother,' and made a face at him,'' Sgt. Roberts said. ''He said it got him so mad that he grabbed her around the throat with both hands.''
After picking her up and slamming her to the ground, he strangled her for five seconds, he said.
''He said she never struggled at all,'' Sgt. Roberts said.
Under questioning by Mr. Craft, Sgt. Roberts conceded that the boy had said at least two times during the interview that he never meant to kill Misti.
Misti's cause of death was asphyxiation by manual strangulation, testified Butler County Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt and Dr. Charles Hurwitz, who conducted an autopsy.
They said Misti had bruises on her neck and had hemorrhaged in the back of and on top of her head.
Dr. Hurwitz said he could not state with certainty when Misti died.
''It's our opinion that the child was dead when she was put into the Dumpster,'' he said. ''But I can't prove that.''
He said he could not say whether she died before or after the trash bag was placed over her head.
