‘She lost it’
Charges held for Lake Lynn couple accused of causing 2-year-old’s death
On Aug. 16 at 11:39 a.m., Brianna Bloyer did a Google search for “how to make someone come to,” according to testimony at her Friday preliminary hearing.
Fifteen minutes later, a 911 call was placed to help 2-year-old Bentlee Myers.
Three days later, the toddler was dead.
Bloyer, 30, and Myers’ father, Brett Bissett, 25, are charged with criminal homicide in the child’s death. Bloyer is accused of causing the boy’s death by continued physical abuse; Bissett is accused of knowing what his fiancee was doing, but allowing the abuse to continue.
Both were held for court following a preliminary hearing Friday before District Judge Jason Cox.
Head Start teacher Amy Downing, who called 911, had come to the couple’s home on Old Lake Lynn Road in Springhill Township for an appointment with another child in the house. When she knocked on the door, Bloyer answered in a panic and asked if she could help, Downing testified.
“She told me he had hit his head on a coffee table,” Downing said.
When emergency responders arrived, they found Myers in bed with his feet propped up. His face was blue, and he did not appear to be breathing, according to testimony.
The child was taken to WVU Medicine Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where he was declared brain dead, according to court paperwork.
State police Trooper Wyatt Tidholm testified doctors reported Myers had a brain bleed, ruptured blood vessels behind both his pupils, significant bruising throughout his head including trauma to his nose and ear as well as a suspected fracture of his left foot. A coroner ruled Myers’ death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, according to Tidholm, who provided the majority of the testimony at Friday’s hearing.
When state police interviewed Bloyer, she admitted to throwing Myers “from the kitchen to the living room” and hearing the child’s head make a loud thud when his head hit the floor, Tidholm testified.
“She gave a statement that she had gotten angry, the child was following behind her and – for lack of a better word, she lost it – at which point she turned around and picked up the child and threw (him) from the kitchen area to the living room,” he said.
On Aug. 8, a little more than a week before Dowling called 911, Bloyer searched “Carpet imprint in face. How long does it take to go away,” and “what better to make bruises fade overnight,” Tidholm testified.
During an interview with police, Bissett said he had to stop Bloyer from abusing the toddler and admitted he noticed suspicious bruising on the child when he got home from work, according to testimony.
“He had concerns and felt responsible that he was putting the child in danger by leaving him in (Bloyer’s) care,” Tidholm said.
Bissett’s attorney, Phyllis Ann Jin, argued her client was working during the alleged incident that led to Myers’ death, and contended he should not be charged with homicide.
Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele contended Bissett knew what Bloyer was doing and left his son “in significant danger” because he continued to leave the child in her care.
Bloyer’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Nicholas Clark, argued there was not enough evidence to support a first-degree murder charge. He contended prosecutors were unable to show Bloyer specifically intended to kill Myers.
“The strongest evidence they have is that this happened during a time where the defendant ‘just lost it,’ and that does not meet the criteria for first-degree murder,” Clark said.
In addition to holding criminal homicide charges lodged against Bloyer and Bissett for court, District Judge Jason Cox also held a charge of disclosing an intercept communication lodged against Bissett.
Police said he agreed to record Bloyer talking about Myers’ death, but messaged her on Snapchat to warn her what he was doing.
Bloyer and Bissett will next face a formal arraignment in Fayette County Common Pleas Court.