Trial underway for Visalia woman accused of allowing her child to be beaten to death

Testimony continued Thursday in Nicole Lee's trial. She is the mother of 3-year old Natalynn Miller, who authorities say was beaten to death at the hands of Lee's boyfriend, Ryan Jones. Jones was convicted and sentenced to the girl's 2009 murder late last year.

Prosecutors are charging Lee with felony child endangerment because they believe she knew about the abuse all along and didn't do enough to protect her child. "Based on the information we received in reports and the evidence that's been presented, we anticipate that we can establish that not only was she aware of the abuse but she allowed it to continue," said Tim Ward, Tulare County District Attorney.

During Thursday's testimony, Dr. Burr Hartmann reviewed pictures from Natalynn's autopsy. While on the witness stand, he said she had numerous bruises to her head, face, neck and stomach. 

Nicole Lee's attorney questioned the medical examiner about whether some of the 3-year old's injuries could have been from something else, such as a fall or a seashell that Natalynn reportedly got stuck in her nose a few days before she died. "No sir but I don't believe it's contributory to her death so it would not change my opinion that this girl died of multiple blunt force trauma," said Dr. Hartmann.

Along with the felony charge, Lee is also facing drug charges. "There's some other charges as well, possession of various substances that were found in the house but the primary charges are count 1 in the allegation," said Ward.

If convicted of the felony child abuse charge, Nicole Lee faces 10 years in prison. The trial is expected to last two weeks.