The JAYDE Project
Junction for Abused, Young, Defenseless Eyes
11/16/2023
'This project is my whole heart': Duffle bags of comfort items given to children in need.
MONROE — Nicki Eyler’s JAYDE Project aims to bring change and hope from a tragic death.
Eyler, secretary and past director of the Child Advocacy Network Council of Monroe County, recently unveiled the project to a capacity crowd at the United Way of Monroe and Lenawee counties.
JAYDE is an acronym for Junction for Abused, Young, Defenseless Eyes, but Jayde also was a child. Jayde was just a toddler in Alcona County when she died in 2022 as a result of severe abuse and neglect.
Eyler’s friends became foster parents to Jayde’s two sisters, who now live in Monroe County. Jayde’s sisters were the first beneficiaries of the JAYDE Project.
Eyler has been working on the project since the summer of 2022. It has two goals: Provide a duffel bag of comfort items to children who are removed from unsafe homes and educate adults about abuse and neglect.
“This project is my whole heart,” said Eyler, a mom of three and the marketing and outreach specialist for Monroe County Opportunity Program and The Opportunity Center at the Arthur Lesow Community Center. “It was put together with all of the love and thought that every child deserves. I am so proud of this.”
A duffel bag is key to the JAYDE Project.
“Most children who are being removed from a home are given a garbage bag to put their things in,” Eyler said.
Inside the bag are several comfort items, including a stuffed animal.
“Each animal has a sentimental message on its shirt. They are soft, weighted and smell like lavender. They can be warmed up in the microwave as well,” Eyler said.
There’s also a book in the bag.
“This book 'Do You Have a Secret?' talks about the importance of when to tell secrets to a trusted adult,” Eyler said.
A flow ring is for calming.
“This devise is used to roll up and down the arm in a smooth flowing motion. It actually feels quite nice on the skin and can also be a nice distraction for children,” Eyler said.
Eyler is packing the bags herself and giving them to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“My contact at DHHS will let me know when they are getting low on supplies and I will replenish,” Eyler said.
The second goal of the JAYDE Project is education for adults.
“The goal is to remove the stigma of making a CPS phone call," Eyler said. "So many calls are not made because folks are afraid that if they're wrong, the kids will be taken from their families. We need to get the message across that a thorough investigation has to be done before a removal can happen. It is never the first course of action. It is always better to report and be wrong, than not report and be right."
Training adults is part of the JAYDE Project. Adults will learn, for example, how to make anonymous reports of suspected abuse.
"We will also train on the importance of body safety education and mandated reporter training, depending on who the audience is. There will also be some amazing resources from The Mama Bear Effect about body safety and how to talk to your children about it,” Eyler said. "I will also educate on available resources in the community, such as Gabby's Grief Center, DHHS, the Ennis Center, Community Mental Health, etc."
November is National Adoption Month and Child Safety & Protection Month. Eyler chose Nov. 10, Forget-Me-Not-Day, to unveil the JAYDE Project.
"The day is very significant to me personally," Eyler said. "My grandmother, Betty Hale, passed away on this day in 2018. She was an advocate for children, she was adopted herself and she fostered many children over the years that I was growing up. So, I am honoring her as well."
Donations to the JAYDE Project can be dropped off or mailed to the United Way of Monroe and Lenawee Counties, 216 N. Monroe St., 48162. Checks should be made payable to the Child Advocacy Network of Monroe County with JAYDE in the memo line. Cash donations also will be accepted.
“All donations will be used to continue purchasing supplies for the project,” Eyler said.
To report suspected abuse, call 855-444-3911.
Do You Have A Secret?
Publisher’s Synopsis: Every child has secrets, and many secrets are fun to keep–for instance, a surprise birthday gift for Mom, or a secret handshake with a young friend. But sometimes, children have secrets that make them feel bad, and these secrets are best shared with their parents, or with some trusted older person. A child who is bullied might be inclined to keep it secret, but it’s always best to tell parents about it. Or children who are touched intimately and improperly by an older person will soon feel better if they reveal the secret to parents.
This book helps kids distinguish between good and bad secrets. Even very young children have concerns and anxieties, and Tell Somebody Books are written and illustrated especially for them. Parents are advised to read these books aloud while their preschooler listens and looks at illustrations of the boys and girls in each story. Many children in early grades will be able to read the stories for themselves. Tell Somebody Books encourage children to explore their feelings, and then to speak openly about things that trouble them.
My Body Is Special And Private
Recommended for children ages 2 and up, this book was created to help parents and caregivers introduce or reinforce the concepts of privacy and body safety to children learning for the first time and for those not quite ready to handle a longer book and/or more complex concepts like secrets, tricks, and intuition. In ten short pages children are taught: 1. Their bodies belong just to them 2. Some parts are private 3. Private is a word that means its not meant for sharing 4. Proper terminology for genitalia 5. It is a rule that privates are not for looking, touching or playing games 6. All adults know the rules about private parts and if a rule is broken, it is always right to tell and that it's an adult's just to keep children safe. We hope you will use this book as a launching point for talking about body safety, it is printed in a sturdy board book format so that even the youngest of readers can hold and turn pages on their own. Proceeds from the sale of this book will support nonprofit organization, The Mama Bear Effect in our mission to raise awareness and educate for the prevention of child sexual abuse. The book can be previewed in full on our organizational website. TheMamaBearEffect.org
My Voice Is My Super Power!
Helping children to know Body Safety Rules, and to speak up if someone makes them feel unsafe can be a challenging, and uncomfortable task for parents, caregivers, counselors and educators. Written from a child’s voice and perspective, My Voice Is My Super Power will help make the job a lot easier. Buddy is a young boy who teaches body safety, and helps his cousin cope with a real-life experience after she disclosed her abuse at their sleepover. With kid-friendly illustrations, and language, children can read this book alone, or with an adult, to know the concept that their bodies are their own, their voice is their "Super Power", and they have the ability to use it to speak up, if they feel unsafe. This book will help educate, and empower, adults to teach children the concepts of: .Body safety .Unsafe touching .The dangers of keeping secrets .The importance of knowing the correct names of private parts .How to establish safe boundaries for children .How to create a safety circle and .It’s ok to use your voice to tell if you don’t feel safe .1 in 4 girls, and 1 in 6 boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. All adults want to keep their children safe from abuse. Prevention is possible through education. This book can be used as an empowering teaching tool to keep our children safe, help prevent, and assist with ending Childhood Sexual Abuse.
Shop on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/My-Voice-Super-Power/dp/1075946433/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=my+voice+is+my+superpower&qid=1595520022&sr=8-1
Flow Ring
They are known to be beneficial to those suffering from anxiety & stress, while also, increasing focus.
ThermaPals
Studies suggest that applying pressure in the form of a weighted blanket or stuffed animal can help reduce the body's release of cortisol, the stress hormone. It can help calm the fight-or-flight response in the body and calm the nervous system, which is needed to usher in sleep.
The warmth that is provided after microwaving your ThermaPal is to soothe tension and has been known to help with aches and cramps.
Lavender has proven aromatherapy benefits that include reducing depression and anxiety and improving sleep.
7/28/2022
UPDATED: Second murder charge in child death
ALPENA — A second person has been charged with murder in the death of a 2-year-old Alcona County child.
Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel Wednesday charged Adrienne Renee Pavelka in the death of her daughter, brought to MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena deceased on Friday.
A Glennie man, Aaron Trout, was arraigned on a murder charge related to the child’s death on Monday.
Police believe Pavelka aided Trout in killing the child.
Trout’s felony murder charge specifies that Trout allegedly killed the child in the commission or attempted commission of child abuse.
Pavelka’s charge is the same as that of Trout, according to Weichel, although he would not specify whether police believe Pavelka also actively abused the child.
Trout is not the child’s father, Weichel said.
Weichel would not share details about police allegations related to the child’s death. Initial police statements gave adequate cause for him to authorize the charges, but he has yet to view complete police reports providing further details and evidence, he said.
On Monday, Weichel said police believe the child may have been abused, leading to her death, several days before Trout dropped off the child and a woman at the hospital on Friday.
Weichel could not confirm that the woman driven to the hospital was Pavelka.
Police have not asked him to charge anyone else related to the child’s death, he said.
The Alpena hospital went into lockdown for several hours on Friday “for the safety of patients and staff,” a MyMichigan Health spokeswoman said on Friday.
She would not say whether police had advised the lockdown.
Police said no active shooter ever entered the hospital, despite rumors to the contrary.
Alpena Community College closed its campus after administrators heard rumors of the hospital lockdown and were told by police that a suspect related to an incident at the hospital had not been apprehended but was not considered a danger to the community.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Pavelka had been arrested out of the area and was en route to the Iosco County Jail, Weichel said.
A date for her arraignment had not yet been set, he said.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2022/07/second-murder-charge-in-child-death/
7/26/2022
UPDATED: Alcona County man charged with murder in death of child
HARRISVILLE — Police say a Glennie man killed a child through abusive actions he knew would seriously harm the child.
Aaron Joseph Trout, 31, was arraigned in the 81st District Court in Harrisville Monday, charged with murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl who was brought to MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena deceased on Friday.
Judge Laura Frawley entered a not guilty plea on Trout’s behalf on one count of first degree murder committed in the perpetration of, or during an attempt to perpetrate, first-degree child abuse.
The first-degree child abuse designation requires that a defendant “knowingly or intentionally” cause serious physical or mental harm to a child, according to Michigan law.
Police on Friday said they had arrested a suspect — whom they on Monday confirmed to be Trout — related to the 2-year-old’s death.
Police believe Trout dropped off the child and a woman at the hospital on Friday, according to Alcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel.
According to information given to law enforcement, the child may have died from injuries sustained several days earlier, although an autopsy will have to confirm the exact cause of death, Weichel said.
Weichel was uncertain of the woman’s relationship to Trout but said the girl was not Trout’s daughter.
The Alpena hospital went into lockdown — with only patients with standing appointments and staff displaying ID allowed to enter — at about 10 a.m. Friday.
Police said no active shooter ever entered the hospital, despite rumors to the contrary. Police did not otherwise specify the cause of the lockdown or whether they had advised hospital administrators to take safety precautions.
A collaboration between multiple police agencies led to Trout’s capture in Alcona County, where the child lived, on Friday.
Police did not specify a time of arrest, but the hospital lifted its lockdown at about 1:30 p.m. Friday, saying administrators believed there was no longer a threat to the public.
Alpena Community College administrators closed the school’s campus around 12:30 p.m. Friday after they learned of the hospital lockdown and contacted police, who said that a suspect in an incident related to the hospital had not been arrested but was not a threat to the Alpena area.
At Monday’s hearing, Trout, who appeared from the Iosco County Jail via videoconference, repeatedly told Frawley he needed to get out of jail because he had just secured a job and was supposed to start work on Wednesday.
Frawley denied Trout’s request for a bond.
Citing the seriousness of the alleged crime as adequate reason to keep Trout incarcerated as his case proceeds through court, Frawley also noted that Trout has an assaultive criminal history and a history of substance abuse, resisting and assaulting police, and not showing up for court appearances.
Trout’s previous assault-related charges did not take place in Alcona County, according to Alcona County District Court employees. Trout does not appear in public Alpena County district or circuit court records.
Trout returns to court next week.
Frawley specified that Trout may have no contact with family members of his alleged victim or access to social media or internet while in jail and may only make phone calls if he requests and is granted permission by the court.
A person convicted of first-degree murder “shall be punished by imprisonment for life without eligibility for parole,” according to Michigan law.
8/9/2022
Small town residents resilient in wake of tragedy, violence
GLENNIE — In a small-town shop with a bigfoot statue in front and a miniature golf course out back, the neighbor of a man accused of murder said big news can be tough on a small town.
Recent reports of the alleged killing of a 2-year-old girl by a local rattled the town of Glennie, home of about 1,200 residents in the heart of the Huron National Forest in Alcona County, said Janae Kierzek, dishing up ice cream for visitors on Wednesday.
When news outlets last month shared a mugshot of Alcona County man Aaron Trout, arrested for allegedly abusing toddler Jayde McDonnell and causing her death, Kierzek recognized him as her neighbor, a man she called a “wannabe gangster.”
Though violent crimes hit hard in small communities, where everyone knows everyone and neighbors trust neighbors, they don’t define the people who live there, Kierzek said.
The death follows a string of serious crimes in the community in recent months, including assaults, a liquor store break-in, and the death of a man hit by a drunk driver.
Several Glennie residents speculate that such violence stems from newcomers who move north believing small towns to be a place where they don’t have to follow rules.
“There’s the stereotype of, ‘There’s a bunch of crazy hillbilly rednecks there,'” she said. “No, we’re actually all a pretty good community. We like each other. Except for the few people we don’t like.”
MURDER INVESTIGATION
Trout’s July 22 arrest marked the first Alcona County murder investigation since 2010, according to Michigan State Police statistics.
Police arrested Trout, 31, after he allegedly left the girl, who was already deceased, and her mother at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena’s emergency room.
Police arrested the child’s mother, Adrienne Pavelka, several days later, accusing her of helping Trout in the alleged murder.
Trout returns to court next month for a hearing at which witnesses will tell a judge what they know about Jayde McDonnell’s death.
Police have not said where they believe the child was killed but identified Trout as a Glennie resident.
‘THERE IS A PAST’
In Glennie last week, employees at the Glennie Party Store said Trout was a regular customer who shopped at the store several times during the week before he was arrested.
“People in this town don’t really like him,” said Kristyn Apsey, manning the register at the store on Wednesday.
“We don’t know his past,” added fellow employee Amber Simpson, who said she doesn’t know details of Trout’s background. “We just know that there is a past.”
According to Trout’s criminal history information record, obtained from the Criminal Justice Information Center, Trout pleaded guilty to several marijuana possession charges in Livonia in 2011 and 2012 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail for a misdemeanor assault charge in 2011.
In 2019, he was sentenced to a year’s incarceration for resisting or assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop in Washtenaw County.
Criminal records from the Michigan State Police do not include juvenile records or some adult offenses.
Trout’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
Pavelka’s criminal record includes only the charge of felony murder related to her daughter’s death.
‘DIFFERENT WORRIES UP HERE’
Agreeing with other residents, Simpson said she thinks Trout lived in the former home of his grandparents, long-time and respected Glennie residents.
In Glennie, Simpson’s child can safely play outside in summer and wait alone at the bus stop, despite the recent murder and other crimes in town, Simpson said.
In big cities downstate, residents worry about shootings and trafficking, she said.
“Here, not so much,” the small-town resident said. “We have different worries up here.”
The store was robbed a few years ago, she said.
Police recently performed a drug bust at a nearby vacant school building, confirmed Alcona County Undersheriff Keith Myers.
He hasn’t noticed an increase in crime in Curtis Township, in which Glennie is located, in recent years, Myers said.
‘LAWLESS’
At the Glennie Tavern — where an employee said Trout wasn’t allowed to enter because of some trouble he’d caused at a business up the street — several locals picking up food discussed other recent acts of violence in the town.
In July, a jury found Aaron Warren Jr. guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm during an altercation outside the Glennie Party Store in 2021, a charge that can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
On July 9, Glennie resident Evan Whitford was struck by a vehicle and later died from his injuries, according to police, who arrested Jared Staley on a drunk driving charge.
At the tavern on Wednesday, Shelly Wojkiewicz said she moved to Glennie from downstate because it is a peaceful, loving town where the sound of a police siren is rare.
Other newcomers, however, think rural towns are “lawless” and that they can get away with violent behavior, she said.
‘ROCKS OUR WORLD’
Those who love the town won’t put up with that, and they refuse to be beaten down by the recent violent incidents, said Candace Ford, Wojkiewicz’s niece, sitting on “Evan’s chair” at the tavern on Wednesday.
The extended family dedicated their annual golf outing to Whitford and are trying to support his family, including wearing rubber bracelets commemorating their friend’s life.
That’s just what small towns do, Ford said.
At the local Ace Hardware store, employee Tina Morey corrected herself when she said that the “horrific” news of the little girl killed in their midst had beaten the town’s residents down.
In small towns, most people know most people, and residents and businesses look out for each other. When bad things happen “it rocks our world,” she conceded.
But, she said, even the very bad won’t crush small-town folk.
“When devastation arises, it affects many people,” she said. “Fortunately, we are strong enough to support each other. Even in our time of greatest need.”
8/12/2022
Suspects in child murder face CPS cases
HARRISVILLE — A man accused of killing a toddler in Alcona County last month was on Children’s Protective Services’ radar before the child’s death.
In an Alcona County courtroom on Thursday, Judge Laura Frawley said attorneys could request termination of parental rights in a child welfare case against Aaron Trout, charged with felony murder in the death of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell.
Trout’s criminal charges specify that police believe he killed McDonnell in the commission of child abuse.
A CPS case against Trout, filed more than a year before McDonnell’s death, alleges Trout neglected his three children, according to Justin Wilson, a court-appointed attorney representing Trout’s children. Trout is not McDonnell’s father.
The CPS petition does not accuse Trout of abusing the children, who previously lived in foster care and now are in the care of their mother, Wilson said.
Because Trout has been charged with murder, Frawley said attorneys could amend the CPS case to ask that Trout be stripped of his parental rights.
CPS also requested termination of parental rights for Adrienne Pavelka, McDonnell’s mother and Trout’s girlfriend, also accused of murder in her daughter’s death.
Pavelka’s other children, a 4-year-old daughter and an infant daughter, are in the care of an aunt, Wilson, who also represents Pavelka’s daughters, told the court.
The girls were not at the same location as McDonnell when she was killed, Wilson told The News.
Police have not said where they believe the girl was killed on or shortly before July 22. Trout is a Glennie resident.
The News could not verify whether CPS has filed any other petitions against Trout or Pavelka, including any cases related to the child who was killed.
Bob Wheaton, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the department cannot legally release specifics about CPS investigations.
DHHS “is deeply saddened by this child’s death,” Wheaton said. “We express our condolences to family and community. MDHHS is strongly committed to protecting the safety and well-being of all children.”
Frawley agreed to suspend court efforts to reunify Trout and his three children, pending the outcome of his criminal court case.
Frawley also suspended Trout’s parenting time, though his children cannot contact him, anyway, while he remains incarcerated on the murder charge, she said.
Trout and Pavelka are currently held at the Iosco County Jail without bond. They appeared at their respective Thursday hearings via videoconference.
Both return to court next month in their CPS cases.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2022/08/suspects-in-child-murder-face-cps-cases/
10/13/2022
Witnesses: Abused toddler suffered for days before death
HARRISVILLE — Police detectives say a child suffered for days before she died from injuries sustained when Aaron Trout, of Glennie, attacked her violently because the child made a mistake during toilet training.
Adrienne Pavelka told police and a hospital worker that Trout swung her daughter’s head into a wall four days before Pavelka carried the child, deceased, into MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena on July 22, according to testimony in Alcona County’s 81st District Court on Wednesday.
Pavelka and Trout allegedly kept the fatally injured child in Trout’s home in Glennie, neither seeking medical help, until the child died.
Both defendants appeared in court on Wednesday.
Frawley bound Pavelka over on two counts of first-degree child abuse — for failing to protect a child from known harm and failing to seek medical attention — and one count of felony murder.
Judge Laura Frawley said the prosecution had presented enough evidence to continue Trout toward trial on one count of first-degree child abuse and one count of felony murder.
“This child was basically tortured. This was brutal,” said Frawley, listing the numerous serious injuries visible in photographs admitted as evidence. “It is hard to comprehend how anyone could do that to a 2-year-old child. It’s just almost impossible to understand.”
Before the joint hearing, the court erected temporary walls to separate the defendants, and Frawley issued a stern warning that she would respond swiftly and harshly with any outbursts.
Detective Sgt. Anthony Utt, of the MSP Alpena Post, said Pavelka in police interviews described a week of violence and horror that led to the child’s death.
According to Utt, Pavelka said Trout had been abusing 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell for weeks, punishing her for toilet training mishaps by punching her, duct taping her to the toilet training seat, and making her sleep on the porch with her hands tied behind her back.
An autopsy report and photographs, admitted as evidence but not shown in court, revealed ligature marks and evidence of long-term restraint in addition to the evidence of the blunt force trauma ruled as the girl’s cause of death, Alcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel said.
Pavelka and Trout had been dating for several months, and Pavelka and her three daughters had moved into Trout’s home earlier in the summer.
The couple took the other girls, an infant and a 4-year-old, to stay with people they knew downstate, but Pavelka said Trout wouldn’t let Jayde leave because he had given her a black eye he didn’t want discovered, Utt said.
Trout’s alleged abuse turned more violent on the evening of Tuesday, July 18, when police say he swung the child by her ankles into a wall and then threw the child into the air, the resulting impacts leaving the child unconscious and bleeding from the rectum.
At first, the couple thought the child had died, Pavelka told police.
When the child showed signs of life, the mother suggested medical intervention but ultimately did nothing when Trout allegedly refused to seek treatment for the child over the next several days, police said.
The day after the alleged incident, as the child lay on a couch, her mother went to work but told nobody about the child’s injuries.
The following day, Pavelka used a syringe to feed broth to the child, who occasionally went rigid and shook but could not move or speak, Pavelka told police.
When the child stopped moaning and appeared dead the next morning, Trout drove Pavelka, who does not have a driver’s license, to the hospital, allegedly threatening to kill her other daughters and mother if she did not lie about the child’s death.
Amanda Tolen, unit technician at the Alpena hospital’s emergency department, saw Pavelka enter the hospital, carrying something wrapped in a blue blanket, she testified on Wednesday.
“I said, ‘That’s a kid. Oh my god, that’s a kid,'” she said in court on Wednesday. “Because I saw the little arm.”
Fighting back emotion, Tolen described nurses racing past her, carrying the child, then herself hugging the mother, not knowing what had happened.
Tolen spoke extensively to the mother, gathering details to report to police, including about Trout’s vehicle and the direction he was heading because he had threatened further violence.
The hospital went into lockdown mode for several hours that day, with only employees and those with pre-established appointments allowed inside.
Alpena Community College, learning from police that a man considered dangerous may have been in the area, closed its campus as a precaution.
Police did not notify the public about the incident until after they had arrested Trout at his home in Glennie.
Pavelka told police that Trout had held a gun to her head sometime after the Tuesday incident, threatening to hurt her if she called a doctor and saying he was not going back to jail.
“She was sitting there, and she turned her head and looked at me, and she said, ‘He wouldn’t hurt me,'” Tolen testified. “‘I have to go to work, and people would see the bruises. So he hurt Jayde, instead.'”
According to Tolen, Pavelka described Trout snapping the child like a blanket and beating her head against a wall repeatedly.
He only agreed to take the child to the Alpena hospital — not to the nearer Tawas City hospital, where people knew him — after the child finally died, “because they couldn’t have a body in the house,” Tolen said.
Police arrested Trout at his home just after 1 p.m. on July 22.
At the home, they found duct tape adhesive on the training toilet, rope, and bodily fluids Utt described as blood mixed with mucus on the wall where Pavelka said the child’s head had struck, Utt said.
In the ensuing days, Trout offered police multiple explanations for the child’s death, at first claiming ignorance and then saying the death was a complication from the couple administering acetaminophen after the girl fell off of a deck, according to Detective Sgt. James Lively, third to testify on Wednesday.
Defense attorneys Bill Pfeifer, for Trout, and Matt Wojda, for Pavelka, navigated the complications of a dual-defendant hearing, objecting to testimony allowable for one defendant but not the other.
Over the arguments of Wojda, Frawley agreed with Weichel, who said Pavelka committed child abuse by leaving the girl with someone she knew posed a danger. Frawley bound Pavelka over for that failure and for contributing to the child’s death by not seeking medical help.
Despite Trout’s threats, Pavelka had multiple opportunities to ask for help, including when she went to her work place, within walking distance of a police station, Weichel said.
“She had the ability to protect the child and did not,” Weichel said. “There was opportunity all over the place.”
Pfeifer said witnesses testifying about what Pavelka had said without Trout being able to confront Pavelka, who did not take the stand, put his client at an unfair advantage, but Frawley disagreed.
She sent Trout toward trial on charges of first-degree child abuse and felony murder.
Pavelka and Trout will next appear in court at the end of the month for arraignment in the 23rd Circuit Court.
11/19/2022
Documents detail police action surrounding toddler death
ALPENA — The day Jayde McDonnell died, a police net slowly fell over the man suspected of the violence that killed her.
Documents obtained by The News in a Freedom of Information Act request detail the events of July 22, the day the 2-year-old succumbed to abuse allegedly at the hands of her mother, Adrienne Pavelka, and her mother’s boyfriend, Aaron Trout, in Alcona County.
Police believe Trout had abused the child for some time — duct taping her to a toilet training seat and forcing her to sleep on the porch with her hands tied — before the violent incident they say led to the child’s death.
On July 19, police say, an enraged Trout threw the girl and picked her up by her ankles, swinging her against a hallway wall.
Though the child was seriously injured and mostly unresponsive, neither Trout nor Pavelka called in medical help until, on July 22, Trout drove Pavelka and the girl, who had died, to MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, according to police.
Trout and Pavelka both face charges of first-degree murder and child abuse.
Pavelka acted “in fear for her life and the lives of people she cared about,” said Matt Wojda, Pavelka’s attorney.
Bill Pfeifer, representing Trout, could not be reached for comment.
The following narrative, describing police actions surrounding Jayde McDonnell’s death, is drawn from reports submitted by police officers and medical workers and submitted to The News by the Michigan State Police.
***
Sgt. Mark Bluck, Alpena Police Department officer, was only moments away from the hospital when a dispatcher said a woman had just arrived at the emergency room with an unresponsive child shortly after 9 a.m. on July 22.
When Bluck arrived at the hospital, a doctor ran up to him and told him the child was dead.
The girl lay on a gurney in a trauma room, covered to her neck with a sheet. A nurse sat outside the room, visibly shaken.
In another room, Bluck met with Pavelka, who cried as she told him Trout killed the child.
According to Pavelka, Trout became violent when the toddler “went poop in the toilet and didn’t tell us.”
Trout disconnected the home phone so she could not call for help and held a gun to her head, ordering her not to tell anyone, Pavelka told Detective Anthony Utt, of the MSP Alpena Post.
“I did nothing, because I was too scared,” Pavelka told Utt.
The following day, Pavelka went to work and pretended nothing was wrong while Trout was at home alone with the child, she told hospital workers.
According to Pavelka, Trout gave her about 20 “small white pills” that day and the next, saying the pills would “help her forget.”
When Trout finally agreed to take Pavelka and the child to the Alpena hospital on the 22nd, he threatened to kill Pavelka’s mother and other children, then living downstate, if Pavelka did not lie about the girl’s injuries, Pavelka told Bluck at the hospital.
Around the same time, police received word that a man fitting Trout’s description was at the hospital. Officers confirmed the man was not Trout, but the hospital, as a precaution, went on lockdown, and workers moved Pavelka to a room further inside the building.
In the trauma room, the county medical examiner said the child “has been put through hell,” Bluck said.
***
Meanwhile, police hunted for the black 2014 Ford Taurus in which Trout had sped off, threatening further violence.
Shortly before 10 a.m., a “be on the lookout” alert for Trout’s vehicle reached Iosco County, where a cell phone ping placed Trout. The driver was to be considered armed and dangerous.
Approaching the location shown by the ping from multiple directions, police scoured the area for the Taurus, with no success.
When a new ping placed Trout at his home on Camp Ten Trail, southwest of Glennie, officers took up positions on roads leading to the home. The numerous unmarked trails and back roads in the heavily wooded area around Trout’s home offered means of escape if Trout knew police were moving in on him, so officers had to form a tight but hidden ring around their subject.
With officers arriving from at least nine police agencies, including the MSP Seventh District Fugitive Team and the U.S. Forest Service Law Division, incident commanders established a staging area at the Glennie Fire Department for officers not assigned a position on the perimeter around Trout’s home.
A rural mail carrier in the area tipped police that he had just seen Traut’s Taurus while delivering mail.
At 1:03 p.m., a plainclothed trooper from the Michigan State Police Seventh District Emergency Support Team turned onto a road about half a mile from Trout’s home in an unmarked pickup truck, telling fellow officers he planned to drive past the home to see if the Taurus was there.
Five minutes later, a call on the police radio said the trooper had Trout in custody.
When uniformed officers arrived, they heard yelling coming from behind the home. Running to the back yard, they saw the trooper fighting with Trout, both of them on the ground.
Trout, pinned to the ground by the trooper, flailed his arms and legs, apparently trying to get away. The uniformed officers pulled Trout’s arms behind his back and handcuffed him.
Repeating “I didn’t do anything” and “I don’t even know what’s going on” during his arrest, Trout told police, “I did what was right,” and “I took her to the hospital immediately,” police reported.
After the arrest, health care workers at a nearby hospital, not in Alpena, scanned Trout’s shoulder, spine, and brain for damage he said had been inflicted by police, finding nothing of concern, according to medical records included with police reports.
Drug tests taken at that visit indicated the presence of cannabinoids but were negative for several other drugs.
***
The same evening, an MSP crime scene response team out of Grayling arrived, entering the home through a sliding glass door leading from a back porch into the living room.
To their left lay a kitchen and small entry room. To their right, a hallway led to two bedrooms, including the room where Trout allegedly initially grabbed the child.
Lab technicians tested multiple spots in the home for blood, including stains on several items in the home and several parts of the hallway wall, with negative results.
On a third spot in the hallway, the response team’s test indicated the possible presence of blood.
The response team collected swabs of “certain areas of interest,” all from the northwest wall of the hallway, for further examination and gathered the bedding for more testing.
In a bathroom, they found a toilet training chair with a piece of duct tape and apparent hair stuck to it. Large areas of mesh-imprinted adhesive residue were evident on the chair.
Outside, they found and collected rope with what looked like hair intertwined in it. A search of a backyard fire pit turned up bandage tape, which the team collected, along with a stained blanket on the back porch.
Police also seized a plastic tub — like the one Pavelka said the couple used as part of the child’s toilet training — and weapons with ammunition, including multiple semi-automatic rifles and pistols.
After about three hours of investigation, including photographing and making sketches of the scene, the crime scene response team left with their evidence, leaving the crime scene secured in the custody of local police.
At an interview with Utt two days later, Trout denied ever hurting the child.
Police arrested Pavelka several days later, shortly after she attended her daughter’s funeral service.
12/16/2022
Prosecutor: Parental inaction is abuse
HARRISVILLE — A parent who fails to act when a child is abused commits child abuse themselves, a prosecutor argued on Wednesday.
Adrienne Pavelka, accused in the violent death of her daughter, 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, faces charges of murder and child abuse.
In October, Judge Laura Frawley OK’d Pavelka to move toward trial on those charges, but Pavelka’s attorney, Matt Wojda, last week said Frawley erred in that decision.
On Wednesday, Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court said Pavelka knew for weeks before the girl’s death that her boyfriend, Aaron Trout, was abusing the child in his Glennie home, where Pavelka and the child were living.
The child’s death was the “natural and probable consequence” of Trout’s alleged escalating abuse and torture and Pavelka, in failing to intervene, committed abuse of her own, Weichel said.
Judge Richard Vollbach, chief judge for the 23rd Circuit Court, said on Wednesday that Frawley ruled according to the law by continuing Pavelka toward trial as charged. Vollbach presided over the hearing because Frawley, who usually handles circuit cases in Harrisville, had to recuse herself from a motion challenging her decision.
Police say Trout violently attacked the child in mid-July, causing her death, and that Pavelka did not seek medical help until the child died, several days after the incident.
Pavelka couldn’t have known Trout would use deadly force against the child and couldn’t get medical help afterward because Trout held her hostage, Wojda said in his motion contesting Frawley’s decision to continue Pavelka toward trial.
At least 86 separate injuries in various stages of healing on the body of the child mean her mother knew that the child was in grave danger, Weichel said in his response to Wojda’s motion.
At a previous hearing, police testified that Pavelka told them Trout hit the child, taped her to a toilet training chair, locked her on a porch, and otherwise abused her during the three to four weeks before the girl’s death, with the alleged abuse increasing in severity over that time.
Pavelka told police she convinced Trout to let her two other children stay with a relative for their safety, but that Trout would not let the 2-year-old leave because he wanted to hide her black eye, police testified.
If Pavelka knew the children were in danger, and, if, as she told police, she was with Trout as he abused the toddler, she was complicit in that abuse, Weichel argued.
“The defendant did nothing to protect her daughter from a very clear and known danger,” Weichel said, defending Pavelka’s charges of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree child abuse.
With Vollbach’s go-ahead, Pavelka continues toward a trial currently scheduled for May.
She and Trout next appear in court on Dec. 27 for a status conference.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2022/12/judge-murder-charge-not-inappropriate/
12/28-2022
Trout, Pavelka headed toward spring trials in child murder
HARRISVILLE — Murder trials in the death of a toddler in Alcona County could begin as soon as mid-April, an Alcona County judge confirmed on Tuesday.
The court has scheduled a three-week jury trial for Aaron Trout, accused in the July 22 death of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell.
Scheduled to begin April 17, the trial would include police testimony about Trout’s alleged ongoing abuse of the child, culminating in violence that led to the toddler’s death several days later.
Trout has pleaded not guilty. He is currently held in the Iosco County Jail on charges of murder and child abuse.
At a Tuesday hearing in the 23rd Circuit Court, Judge Laura Frawley confirmed the April trial date for Trout, unless something arises to delay it.
A separate three-week trial for Adrienne Pavelka, the child’s mother, is scheduled to begin May 15.
lcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel charged Pavelka with murder and child abuse in the child’s death. The charges indicate Pavelka failed to keep the girl away from a known threat and failed to seek medical help while the toddler suffered for days with traumatic brain injuries before her death.
Also held in the Iosco County Jail, Pavelka has claimed via her attorney that Trout prevented her from seeking help and that she could not have known his alleged abuse of the girl would escalate to the use of deadly force.
Weichel and Matt Wojda, attorney for Pavelka, confirmed they have had conversations about a potential plea agreement for Pavelka.
Weichel has not offered Trout a plea deal.
Weichel said he is pushing the Michigan State Police crime lab to complete DNA and other analyses of evidence related to the child’s death as quickly as possible.
Frawley, at Tuesday’s hearing, told attorneys she would be disinclined to agree to allow Trout and Pavelka’s cases to be joined to go to trial together.
At a joint hearing in October, at which witnesses presented testimony related to the child’s death, attorneys objected numerous times to testimony concerning one defendant that could inappropriately harm the other.
While the murder charges for each defendant stem from the same incident, a joint trial could prove confusing to a jury, Frawley cautioned.
“I’d like to keep this as clean and straightforward as we can,” she said.
Weichel said he has not yet decided whether to request the cases be joined.
Trout and Pavelka return to court for a status conference on Feb. 21.
12/31/2022
Looking back: Death, marijuana, election drew reader interest in 2022
DEATH OF A CHILD - The Alpena hospital went into lockdown and police raced to catch a killer when a mother walked into the MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena emergency room on July 22 carrying her dead child.
Aaron Trout, of Glennie, faces accusations he physically attacked 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, inflicting massive damage that led to her death from head trauma several days later.
The alleged attack followed weeks of torture, witnesses said later, as Trout and the girl’s mother, Adrienne Pavelka, attempted to toilet train the toddler.
Police say Pavelka neglected to get help for days after the child sustained critical injuries. She finally carried her child, then deceased, into the Alpena hospital on the morning of July 22.
When she told hospital staff Trout had dropped her off, threatening further violence, administrators closed the hospital to incoming visitors. Meanwhile, police surrounded Trout’s Alcona County home, believing him the killer.
Trout was soon charged with murder, and charges against Pavelka followed.
Trout and Pavelka have both pleaded not guilty.
According to Pavelka, as related by witnesses, Trout taped the girl to a toilet training seat, locked her on a porch with her hands bound, and inflicted other abuse for several weeks before on July 19 picking the child up in a rage, causing her head to strike against a wall and floor in his home.
Pavelka told police Trout would not let her call a doctor or go to the hospital after the incident, but police said she was out of Trout’s control and could have sought help while at work and at other times before the child died.
According to an autopsy, the child showed evidence of more than 80 bruises, wounds, and other marks in various stages of healing. She died of blunt force trauma to the brain, the autopsy showed.
Trials for Trout and Pavelka are scheduled to begin in April and May, respectively.
6/14/2023
Pavelka pleads guilty to child abuse
HARRISVILLE — A woman charged with murder and child abuse in the July 2022 death of her 2-year-old daughter pleaded guilty last week to one count of child abuse.
Adrienne Pavelka pleaded guilty last Tuesday to child abuse in the first degree in a case involving the death of her daughter, Jayde McDonnell.
Pavelka was originally charged by Alcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel with one count of homicide-felony murder and two counts of child abuse in the first degree. The other two counts are set to be dismissed, according to a representative of 23rd Circuit Court in Harrisville.
Weichel’s office alleged Pavelka failed to protect her daughter from a known threat in Aaron Trout, Pavelka’s boyfriend at the time, and for failing to get medical help for McDonnell while the toddler suffered for several days with traumatic brain injuries before she died.
According to testimony from police officers during a joint hearing of Pavelka and Trout in October 2022, Pavelka and Trout had been dating for several months and Pavelka, along with her three daughters, moved in with Trout. Two of Pavelka’s daughters were eventually taken to live with people that they knew downstate.
Detective Sgt. Anthony Utt, of the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, testified that Pavelka said Trout wouldn’t let McDonnell leave because he had given her a black eye he didn’t want discovered.
Trout allegedly abused McDonnell for weeks, culminating on July 18, 2022, with Trout swinging the child by her ankles into a wall and then throwing the child in the air, leaving the child unconscious and bleeding from her rectum.
Several days went by after the incident in which McDonnell received no medical attention. On July 22, 2022, once it had appeared the child was dead, Trout drove Pavelka to MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, where he allegedly threatened to kill her other daughters and mother if she did not lie about McDonnell’s death.
Pavelka entered the hospital with McDonnell’s body wrapped in a blanket and told the nursing staff what allegedly happened.
Trout was also charged with murder and child abuse and his trial is set to take place in November, according to a court representative.
Pavelka is currently set to testify during Trout’s trial.
6/23/2023
Public can’t access file for child welfare case involving Trout
HARRISVILLE — The public can’t access the file for a child welfare case involving Aaron Trout, a man currently scheduled to go on trial for the alleged murder of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell — the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
According to a chart on the availability of court records to different parties, which is on the state’s website, cases that fall under the juvenile code are not to be made available to the public.
According to the chart, cases that fall under the juvenile code include juvenile delinquency and Children’s Protective Services cases, such as one of two cases against Trout.
A CPS case was filed against Trout more than a year before he was accused of killing McDonnell which alleged that Trout neglected his three children, according to court-appointed attorney Justin Wilson, who represents the three children.
The CPS petition did not claim that Trout ever abused his three kids, however, after Trout’s murder charge, Alcona County Judge Laura Frawley, during an August 2022 hearing, allowed a request for termination of Trout’s parental rights to be included in his CPS case.
At the time of the petition, Trout’s children lived with their mother but they had previously spent some time in foster care, according to Wilson.
According to testimony from police officers during a October 2022 murder hearing, Trout had Pavelka and her three daughters move in with him after dating Pavelka for several months. Two of those three children would eventually be taken to live elsewhere.
The child that remained was 2-year-old McDonnell. According to testimony by Detective Sgt. Anthony Utt, of the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, Pavelka alleges McDonnell was prevented from leaving by Trout so that a black eye he had given the child wouldn’t be discovered.
This pattern of abuse by Trout against McDonnell allegedly continued for weeks until Trout allegedly swung the child by her ankle into a wall and then threw her in the air on July 18, 2022, leaving the child unconscious and bleeding.
Several days passed, during which McDonnell received no medical attention. Trout eventually drove Pavelka to MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena on July 22, once it appeared the child was dead, according to court testimony.
During a CPS hearing held a few weeks after the murder hearing, Trout, appearing virtually from the Iosco County Jail, asked Frawley if he could visit with his three children via videoconference. Frawley denied that request, at least until attorneys could discuss it further at a future hearing.
According to court representatives, Trout is set for a trial date in November that will see him face charges for murder as well as child abuse.
Pavelka was initially also charged with child abuse and murder, but has since pleaded guilty to a first degree child abuse charge. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a second child abuse charge and a homicide-felony murder charge.
According to court representatives, a date for Pavelka’s sentencing has not yet been set, but it is expected to be after Trout’s trial is over.
Pavelka is currently set to testify in Trout’s trial.
11/28/2023
Jury selection begins in Trout murder trial
HARRISVILLE — A jury has yet to be selected as day one of Aaron Trout’s murder trial came to an end on Monday.
Trout is facing murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
Day one of the expected three-week trial took place in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Monday and is being presided over by Judge Laura Frawley.
The trial started with the prosecution — consisting of Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tyler — and the defense — consisting of Trout’s attorney, Bill Pfeifer — going over a plea deal that Trout was offered to have on record that he wants to proceed to trial.
After that, the potential jurors were allowed to enter the courtroom and the jury selection began. As a part of the selection process, jurors were asked if any of them had health issues or other circumstances that would make coming to trial — set to go from through Dec. 15 — detrimental to them.
Then, the remaining jurors were asked a series of questions meant to determine whether they would be biased in evaluating the evidence. Some of those questions were about relationships between the potential jurors and the witnesses that may be called to testify during the trial. If the potential juror made it clear that he or she could not unbiasedly evaluate the evidence, then he or she was dismissed and allowed to leave.
After that, 14 of the potential jurors selected were brought to the jury box of the courtroom, where they were asked additional questions by Frawley, Weichel, or Pfiefer. If any of them expressed issues with being able to unbiasedly judge the case, they would leave the room to be asked additional questions in private. Those the attorneys believed could not be impartial were also dismissed and allowed to leave.
According to Pfiefer, that approach was taken because of the more public nature of this case, to ensure that potential jurors with outside knowledge wouldn’t influence other jurors.
“This case is different due to its pretrial publicity,” said Pfiefer. “Both sides want to make sure jurors aren’t being influenced by outside knowledge.”
Jury selection will pick up again today.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2023/11/jury-selection-begins-in-trout-murder-trial/
11/29/2023
Jury selected in Trout murder trial
HARRISVILLE — A jury has been selected and sworn in for Aaron Trout’s murder trial as day two of the trial came to a close.
Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
After several potential jurors were excused Monday, Tuesday’s remaining potential jurors entered the courtroom to resume jury selection. Eventually, 14 jurors were selected and approved by both Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel and Trout’s attorney, Bill Pfeifer. Afterward, the remaining potential jurors were allowed to leave and the selected jury was sworn in.
Judge Laura Frawley then provided the jury with some instructions on how they should conduct themselves during the trial, both inside and outside of the courtroom. One instruction involved explaining to the jury what they need to be looking for when trying to determine if Trout is guilty of either of the charges he faces.
The jury was also instructed to not partake in any conversations or consume any media about the case and to not have any interactions with either the defense, witnesses, or anyone involved with the case.
After Frawley provided instructions, the jurors were dismissed for the day.
The trial was set to officially begin this morning.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2023/11/jury-selected-in-trout-murder-trial/
11/30/2023
Witnesses testify in Trout trial
HARRISVILLE — Adrienne Pavelka, the mother of a toddler police say was killed by Aaron Trout, and several other witnesses called by the prosecution spoke before the jury as day three of Trout’s murder trial came to an end on Wednesday.
Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Pavelka.
The trial started with Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel giving his opening statements to the jury, during which he broadly walked them through what they can expect to see and hear from evidence and witnesses. He also acknowledged the graphic nature of that information and reaffirmed the claim that it is Aarn Trout who is responsible.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to you for what you’re about to see and hear,” Weichel said to the jury. “Nobody should have to see and hear what this defendant did to 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell. Two-year-old Jayde Lynn McDonnell was tortured, brutally beaten, savagely and mercilessly beaten and tortured until she could hold out no more.”
After providing his opening statement, Weichel called Anthony Utt, a detective sergeant at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, as his first witness. Utt was a central figure in the investigation into McDonnell’s death and had extensive interviews with both Trout and Pavelka.
During his testimony, Utt explained to the jury the chronology of his involvement with the investigation as well as the evidence that police secured.
After Utt concluded, Amanda Tolen, a unit tech at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, was called in as the next witness. During her testimony, Tolen tearfully recalled seeing Pavelka rush into the hospital with McDonnell’s dead body wrapped in a blue towel on July 22, 2022, and Pavelka’s story of the cause of McDonnell’s death at the hands of Trout.
The next witness to be called by the prosecutor was Nicholas Harrison, the operations supervisor for emergency medical services at MyMichigan Health and the medical legal death investigator for Alpena County. Harrison was responsible for taking the photos of McDonnell’s corpse.
During his testimony, Harrison’s photos of McDonnell were put on a projector in front of the jury. He then identified the numerous injuries present all over McDonnell’s body as well as other notable elements present in the picture, such as bandages or medical equipment.
Following Harrison, the next witness to be called was Shelby Martin, a friend of Pavelka’s family. During her testimony, Martin recounted the day that she picked up Pavelka’s two other children to take them to Pavelka’s mother’s house.
The final witness called on Wednesday was Pavelka.
During her testimony, Pavelka explained her history leading up to her relationship with Trout, as well as the details of his alleged abuse and assault on McDonnell, leading up to an incident on July 19, 2022, in which Trout allegedly committed the assault that would lead to McDonnell’s death.
After Pavelka’s questioning by Weichel, Judge Laura Frawley ended the trial for the day, leaving Pavelka’s cross-examination by defense attorney Bill Pfeifer to begin today.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2023/11/witnesses-testify-in-trout-trial/
12/1/2023
Defense presses Pavelka
HARRISVILLE — Additional witnesses were called by the prosecution as day four of Aaron Trout’s murder trial came to an end.
Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
Thursday’s proceedings started with Trout’s attorney, Bill Pfeifer, cross-examining Pavelka’s testimony. During the cross examination, Pfeifer challenged numerous elements of Pavelka’s testimony, such as days she was at work and things she said to police about Trout’s abuse of McDonnell and herself.
Once cross-examination was finished, Pfeifer requested that Pavelka be placed on reserve so that she could be called to answer additional questions should the need arise. Judge Laura Frawley granted the request.
Next, Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel called his next witness, Casey Taylor, the Michigan State Police trooper responsible for apprehending Trout on July 22, 2022.
During his testimony, Taylor explained to the jury the events that led to his confrontation and eventual arrest of Trout, which included being notified of the crime and the description and location of the suspect while off duty, surveying Trout’s residence and seeing him running toward his trailer with a bag, and confronting and eventually physically subduing Trout until backup arrived with handcuffs.
As a part of his testimony, the prosecution showed the jury a video he took which briefly showed Trout running toward his trailer.
The next witness called by the prosecution was Oscoda Township police officer Greg Alexander, one of the officers who ultimately handcuffed and arrested Trout on July 22, 2022.
Similar to Taylor, Alexander testified on the events that led to him arresting Trout, which included being called in from Oscoda Township, meeting up with Taylor prior to his confrontation with Trout, and handcuffing Trout.
The final witness the prosecution called was Jim Lively, a detective at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post. Lively had several interviews with Trout throughout the day on July 22, 2022.
As part of Lively’s testimony, the prosecution played some of the interviews to the jury in their totality while Lively provided context in between each interview.
Frawley ended the day’s trial before all the interviews could be watched by the jury, leaving the rest of Lively’s testimony to be resumed today.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2023/12/defense-presses-pavelka/
12/2/2023
Trout, in video, blames Pavelka for abuse
HARRISVILLE — For more than three hours, the jury in Aaron Trout’s murder trial watched a video of detectives trying to coax Trout to explain what caused the death of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell in the summer of 2022.
Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
The trial is in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court in Harrisville with Judge Laura Frawley on the bench.
Throughout the questioning seen in the video played for the jury, five Michigan State Police detectives urged Trout to come clean about the alleged abuse and torture that led to the child’s death. The defendant, however, stuck to his guns for the entirety of the video and placed the blame on Pavelka, who he said was abusing the young girl while the girl was struggling with potty training.
Trout told police during the interrogation that Pavelka tied her daughter to the toilet to keep her there until she went to the bathroom and duct taped the girl to the toilet for hours, including taping her mouth shut.
Police asked Trout why he had never noticed the severe bruising on the girl and the bad rope burn from being tied up and reported it to police.
Trout said Pavelka also struck the child numerous times and also kicked her in many parts of her body.
Trout told investigators that, in the days leading up to rushing the girl to the hospital, she allegedly fell down the stairs and struck her head, which caused bruises and cuts. He said the child was given Tylenol and he believed the head trauma and drug may have killed her.
Police weren’t buying it and let it be known they had evidence that he was involved in the abuse and death.
“You are a man, and, if you wanted to take that baby to the hospital, you would have,” a detective could be seen saying in the video. “You sitting here and telling us you didn’t do anything isn’t going to help you, because nobody believes you.”
Michigan Children’s Protective Services investigator Ryan Edelinen said she questioned Trout while he was in jail and that he basically stuck to the same story he told detectives. She also told the court some of the issues Pavelka has had over the years personally and with her children.
Pavelka was originally charged by Alcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel with one count of homicide-felony murder and two counts of child abuse in the first degree.
She pleaded guilty in June to child abuse in the first degree and took the stand to testify against Trout earlier this week.
Police say that, on July 22, 2022, Trout dropped off the child and at the MyMichigan Medical Centre Alpena, where the girl was pronounced dead, and authorities were notified about the abuse they suspected from the wounds.
The Alpena hospital went into lockdown — with only patients with standing appointments and staff displaying ID allowed to enter — until Trout was arrested. Alpena Community College also closed the school’s campus.
Trout is being held without bond at the Iosco County Jail and could receive life in prison.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Monday.
https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2023/12/trout-in-video-blames-pavelka-for-abuse/
12/6/2023
Trial on pause due to illnesses
HARRISVILLE — Aaron Trout’s trial is adjourned early due to two of the jurors testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Trout is facing murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
While the jury was out of the courtroom for a recess period after a witness testimony, Judge Laura Frawley informed the courtroom that two of the jurors had tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, Frawley received a doctor’s note from another juror who was unable to appear for trial. That juror was officially excused, bringing the total number of jurors down to thirteen.
Frawley said after a lengthy discussion with Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel and Trout’s attorney, Bill Pfeifer, she had decided the best course of action would be to adjourn the trial.
Since the entire jury pool was exposed to the two jurors who tested positive, Frawley informed the courtroom that a COVID-19 test would be provided to any jurors who requested them.
Frawley then told the court that the trial is set to resume on Thursday unless they receive word of additional reports of a positive test in which the trial will be postponed until Monday.
After the courtroom was informed, the jury was called back in and received that same information.
Before the adjournment, the prosecution was able to receive some testimony from two witnesses, Aaron Trout’s father Alexander Trout, and the detective in charge of the search warrant executed at Trout’s residence, Matt Wilt.
Alexander Trout’s testimony consisted mainly of him answering questions regarding Aaron Trout’s character and his familiarity with McDonnell.
Wilt, a detective sergeant with the seventh district in Gaylord, answered questions about the search into Trout’s residence and some of the evidence collected during said search.
During Wilt’s testimony, the prosecution showed photos taken by the investigation team during the search to accompany Wilt’s explanation of the investigation. In addition to the photos some of the evidence was physically presented in the courtroom such as numerous firearms found in his residence
Wilt’s testimony was cut short by the sudden adjournment and will be resumed whenever the trial restarts.
1/5/24
Aaron Trout’s trial resumes
HARRISVILLE — Additional witnesses were called by the prosecution as day four of Aaron Trout’s murder trial came to an end.
Trout is facing murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
Thursday’s trial saw the prosecution call a large number of witnesses up to testify. Several witnesses that were called to the stand were employees at Tawas Bay Beach Resort, the business Pavelka was employed at the time of Jayde’s death. These employees provided additional insight and information on Pavelka’s work schedule.
The rest of the witnesses called up were people who, in some shape or form, work with the Michigan State Police and were either in Trout’s arrest or the various investigations that began as a result of Jayde’s death.
One notable officer who spoke was Matt Wilt, a detective sergeant at the Michigan State Police with the seventh district in Gaylord, who was able to finish the testimony that began on Dec. 4.
News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Jacob Strong, a state trooper at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post-Lincoln detachment, during his testimony before the jury in Alcona County’s 81st Circuit Court on Thursday, goes over his interactions with Aaron Trout in a video taken from his dash camera and body camera the day of Trout's arrest on July 22, 2022.
The prosecution continued to show various photos taken by the investigation team during their search of Trout’s residence while Wilt provided the context to the jury on what was found. In addition to the photos some of the evidence was physically presented in the courtroom such as numerous firearms found in Trout’s residence.
Another noteworthy witness was Michigan State Police-Alpena Post-Lincoln detachment officer, Jacob Strong.
Strong was another officer who had significant interactions with Trout on the day of his arrest on July 22, 2022, being the one who detained Trout while he had his injuries treated by paramedics and transported Trout from his home in Alcona County to the MSP Alpena Post for interrogation.
As a part of Strong’s testimony, the prosecution showed video from both his dash camera and body camera of his actions on July 22, 2022, and his interactions with Trout.
The trial was adjourned before Strong’s testimony could be completed and was scheduled to resume
1/9/24
Trial discusses autopsy results
HARRISVILLE — The forensic pathologist responsible for handling the autopsy of Jayde McDonnell, Edmund Donoghue, shared his findings with the jury on Monday during the Aaron Trout trial.
Trout faces murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of two-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout’s then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
Donoghue is a physician, forensic pathologist, and professor of pathology at Western Michigan Homer Stryker School of Medicine in Kalamazoo.
Donoghue performed the autopsy of McDonnell on July 23, 2022.
In addition to performing the autopsy, Donoghue also wrote a report detailing his observations of McDonnell’s body that he shared with the jury. Donoghue’s retelling of his report was accompanied by photos of McDonnell’s body.
During his testimony, Donoghue explained to the jury the types of injuries that are consistent with the idea of child abuse.
“The types of injuries you see in children in child abuse cases are usually blunt trauma,” said Donoghue, “meaning either a blunt instrument struck the child or they were impacted against a blunt surface. You don’t see gunshot wounds, you don’t see stab wounds. Blunt trauma consists primarily of bruises, which are leaning beneath the skin abrasions, which is the scraping away of the top layer of the skin, and lacerations which is a tearing of the skin.”
Donoghue also concluded in his report that McDonnell’s death was the result of cerebral injuries caused by blunt force trauma and that her death was a homicide.
“The cause of death was cerebral injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma,” said Donoghue. “The manner of death was homicide.”
In addition to Donoghue’s testimony, the prosecution also brought out several forensic scientists with Michigan State Police who discussed the findings of their investigations.
Prior to the start of Monday’s trial, a contempt of court hearing was scheduled involving the two court spectators who spoke to one of the jurors, however, Frawley informed the court that after some conversations with the spectators in question, it was made clear to her and the attorneys that they knew the gravity of their mistake and would never let it happen again, Alcona County prosecutor Thomas Weichel rescinded his request to find them in contempt of court and the hearing was canceled.
In addition to the forensic experts, the jury also heard a testimony from Chelsea Fultz, Pavelka’s sister, and Amanda Tolen, a unit tech at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, who was among the first people to interact with Pavelka when she came to the hospital with McDonnell on July 22, 2022.
Despite testifying earlier in December, Tolen was called back to the stand again where she retold her experiences and interactions with Pavelka from that day.
1/18/24
Trout found guilty
HARRISVILLE — Aaron Trout was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse as the Trout trial finally concludes.
Trout was facing murder and child abuse charges after being accused of the murder of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout’s then-girlfriend Adrienne Pavelka and Gannon McDonnell.
The jury came to its decision after over two hours of deliberation that saw them overview the evidence and testimony presented throughout the trial.
Prior to the verdict, the defense concluded their proof process with the completion of Gannon McDonnell’s testimony and the testimony of Zackeriy Ellsworth, an inmate at the Iosco County jail who shared a cell with Trout and exchanged communications with Pavelka when she was at Iosco county jail.
Once the defense was finished, both Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel and Trout’s attorney Bill Pfeifer gave their closing arguments to the jury.
For the prosecution’s closing argument, Weichel played a video that compiled numerous statements and comments from Trout from various interviews and interrogations that illustrated how his story of what had happened to Jayde McDonnell, as well as his awareness and involvement of it, kept changing over time.
While speaking to the jury, Weichel assured them that Pavelka’s version of events should be believed because it is being corroborated by evidence collected by experts, like Neuropathologist Amanda Fisher-Hubbard and Pathology Professor Edmund Donoghue, whose testimony supports Pavelka’s claim that Jayde McDonnell was beaten to death.
“Her testimony is corroborated by the medical evidence,” Weichel said to the jury.
Weichel makes it clear to the jury that Pavelka is also culpable in McDonnell’s death but that her testimony is both necessary and sufficient to prove that Trout is the one who ultimately carried out the act.
“Two-year-old Jayde McDonnell died a brutal death,” said Weichel. “There were two people in that house, Aaron Trout and Adrienne Pavelka, both of them are responsible…..sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil’s girlfriend to get to the devil.”
For the defense’s closing arguments, Pfeifer reminded the jury that it was on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trout was guilty and that the facts of the case also point to the idea that it was in fact Pavelka who was responsible for Mcdonnell’s death.
“This isn’t a balancing test,” said Pfeifer. “We don’t have to prove anything to you…. Sometimes the devil’s girlfriend is the devil, sometimes you make a deal with the wrong person.”
After closing arguments ended, the jury was given their instructions by Judge Laura Frawley and opted to begin deliberation immediately.
Trout will be sentenced on Feb. 7.
1/20/24
Trout trial delays posed challenges, caused issues, attorneys say
HARRISVILLE — Numerous delays during Aaron Trout’s murder trial posed real challenges to the attorneys trying to work the case, those attorneys said Friday.
The trial was originally scheduled to last three weeks but a series of delays extended that timeframe to more than a month. Delays were caused by several COVID-19 infections among jurors, the holidays, and recent winter storms.
“The trial was certainly odd in the sense that we had things happen that haven’t occurred in all the trials that I’ve been involved with,” defense attorney Bill Pfeifer said. “Sometimes, we might occasionally skip a day or something, but starting and stopping and starting and stopping as many times as we did made it pretty difficult to prepare, not only mentally but emotionally, as well.”
The consistent delays in the trial led to a host of issues.
Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel said the delays interfered with the scheduling of witnesses and experts who needed to testify for both the prosecution and defense.
News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel gives closing arguments to the jury during Aaron Trout’s murder trial on Wednesday.
“With obstacles like COVID running through and the different delays and adjournments that turned a three-week trial into a two-month trial, we had a scheduling issue,” said Weichel. “Individuals, like the current county IT director, John Hartley, whose help in being able to pull all of that digital evidence together, was incredible.”
On Wednesday, a jury found Trout guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in the killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout’s then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
Trout faces up to life in prison.
Pavelka pleaded guilty earlier to first-degree child abuse.
Weichel said he hopes the most important takeaway from Trout’s trial is the necessity of protecting children from abuse.
“What is the most concerning thing to me is knowing that this can happen in a small county,” said Weichel. “When you take a child and treat that child as this child was treated … it’s horrendous, and I — I think we as a society need to really take a hard look at that.”
“My client is obviously disappointed in the outcome,” Pfeifer said. “However, I respect the jury’s verdict. I know they had a tough decision to make, and I’m thankful that the jurors seemed to be attentive and invested in the outcome, themselves. I understand that it must have been extremely difficult for them to put their lives on hold for as long as they did. So I have a lot of respect for those folks, and I certainly have respect for the verdict.”
Pfeifer said he hasn’t discussed the idea of an appeal with Trout, but he fully expects one to be filed.
“It would be extremely rare for defendants not to file an appeal on a conviction for murder,” Pfeifer said, “so I’m sure an appeal would be filed, but on what grounds that it would be filed, that would be hard to say. At this point, however, appellate counsel would be involved in that. I would not be involved in the appeal as a lawyer.”
Trout is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 7.
2/8/24
Aaron Trout receives sentence of up to 90 years
HARRISVILLE — Aaron Trout is looking at over half a century in prison following his sentencing for the violent abuse and murder of a young girl.
Trout was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout’s then-girlfriend Adrienne Pavelka and Gannon McDonnell.
Before receiving his sentence Trout was given an opportunity to speak before Judge Laura Frawley and the court.
In his speech, Trout continued to insist that he was innocent of Jayde McDonnell’s murder and, despite his conviction, he knows he is a good person.
“I know that my kids love me, I know that I’m a good man,” said Trout. “I guess bad things happen to good people.”
Despite his continued claims of innocence, Trout did apologize for what had happened to Jayde McDonnell and asked the judge to give him a more lenient sentence.
“I really am sorry with all my heart,” said Trout tout to Judge Frawley. “I hope you find it in your heart to give me a sentence that is not so harsh.”
Despite his request for leniency, Judge Frawley sentenced Trout to 55 to 90 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge and 30 to 60 years for the first-degree child abuse charge.
Judge Frawely’s sentence not only exceeded the initial Cobbs recommendations of 37 to 75 years but even went beyond the prosecution’s request of 50 to 80 years.
Judge Frawley explained that her ruling came from her not believing that the guidelines used to determine Trout’s original recommendation were inadequate in addressing the horror that McDonnel had at Trout’s hand.
“I, like everyone else here today, have been thinking about this case,” Frawley said. “I believe the guidelines are inadequate…The facts of this case demonstrate a cold calculated depravity on the part of the defendant.”
Judge Frawley would go on to express Trout’s actions against McDonnell as well as his lack of remorse in those actions demonstrate a truly unique level of evil that despite her many years of experience is beyond her comprehension.
“You are pure evil,” said Judge Frawley to Trout. “You don’t have even a scintilla of human compassion in you… I’ve seen a lot of things in 38 years and this is beyond my ability to comprehend.”
Trout will be serving his sentences concurrently, and has received 565 days of credit for his sentence.
2/14/24
Adrienne Pavelka sentenced to up to 40 years in prison
HARRISVILLE — The mother of a toddler, who was killed from child abuse, is going to prison for a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 40 years.
Adrienne Pavelka was originally charged by Alcona County Prosecutor Tom Weichel with one count of homicide-felony murder and two counts of child abuse in the first degree for acts against her two-year-old Jayde McDonnell.
She reached a plea deal in June that reduced her charges and she took the stand to testify against her former boyfriend Aaron Trout earlier this year.
Pavelka pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child abuse of her two-year-old daughter Jayde McDonnell, who was murdered by Trout.
Trout, who was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse on Jan. 17, faces 55 to 90 years for the murder charge and 30 to 60 years for the child abuse charge, which are to be served concurrently.
Before receiving her sentence, Pavelka gave a plea to the judge before the court and 23th Circuit Court Judge Laura Frawley.
During her plea to the judge, Pavelka apologizes to friends, family, and her daughter, Jayde McDonnell.
“Want to start by saying that I am sorry,” Pavelka said. “Although it feels pointless because no matter how many apologies I issue out it will never bring Jayde back. I wish that there was more I could say to accurately convey how I feel but I can say it a million times, a million ways, it’ll still never be good enough.”
Frawely sentenced Pavelka to 15 to 40 years with credit for 565 days which was consistent with the recommendation of the prosecution.
Frawley stated that while she believes that Pavelka is genuinely remorseful for the role she played in her daughter’s death and that she was in a very difficult situation, it doesn’t change her culpability in what happened to McDonnell.
“I do believe that you’re genuinely remorseful because of the loss of Jayde,” Frawley said. “But, it doesn’t change anything, Jayde McDonnell is still gone.”
Frawley states that she hopes that Pavelka can walk away from her time in prison as a better person and is able to go on to live a good life.
“You will have a life after this,” Frawley said to Pavelka. “I hope you make it a good one.”