A forensic pathologist testified Thursday, Dec. 4, that the infant who died in the care of Vincent Miceli last month had a skull injury that required significant force and compared it to injuries resulting from a fall of at least three stories.

Miceli, 32, of Butler, sat silently beside defense attorney Michael Sherman during the preliminary hearing before District Judge Kevin O’Donnell while listening to testimony from the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy and arresting officers from state police and Butler Township police.

O’Donnell moved the charges of criminal homicide and one felony count each of aggravated assault and child endangerment forward to Butler County Common Pleas Court.

“It was definitely a rush to judgment,” Sherman said after the hearing. “I mean, there wasn’t any evidence tying Vincent to the crime, and that’s why I can’t wait to see what this evidence supposedly is.”

Forensic pathologist Todd Luckasevic testified the 2-month-old infant died from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen and said the death was a homicide.

He said the baby had a complex skull fracture to the right side of his head, stretching across four bones of the skull, and hemorrhaging and bruising to the left side of the head. He also recorded a circular contusion to the upper left abdomen.

Luckasevic said the injuries are consistent with the infant’s head being slammed into a surface or being struck with a blunt heavy object. He said the skull injury could not have happened from a small fall.

Luckasevic said he could tell from the size of the fracture it was the cause of death and could not have been developing over time. Significant force was used to create trauma that would immediately incapacitate the baby, he said.

Earlier in the hearing, Butler Township police Sgt. Jonathan Schaffner said he responded at 2:48 p.m. Nov. 8 to 100A Spooner Drive for reports of a 2-month-old not breathing following a call from the child’s mother, who was at work and alerted to the situation by Miceli.

Schaffner said when he arrived at the home, he stood at the front door for so long that he called dispatch to confirm he had the correct address.

Schaffner said Miceli answered the door in a towel, and when asked about the 2-month-old, Miceli gestured into a different room and said “he’s dead.”

Schaffner found the baby in the living room of the home lying on a boppy pillow on a love seat. He said he observed bruising on the left side of the forehead and stomach.

Butler Township police would then turn the investigation over to the state police.

Trooper Codi Walker responded to the scene and took the now-clothed Miceli, to the Butler barracks for an interview.

Walker recalled that Miceli said he drove the infant’s mother to work around 11 a.m. taking the baby along. He and the infant arrived home at 11:30 a.m., and he laid the baby down for a nap around noon, according to the interview.

Walker said Miceli then gave three different accounts of the events that followed.

In one account, Walker said Miceli said he had gone into the kitchen with his dog to get the baby a bottle when he awoke. When he returned, Miceli said the baby was dead.

When asked again, he said the baby was shaking.

And when asked yet again, he said the baby was turning blue and then began shaking, Walker said.

Walker added Miceli also said he had noticed the bruise on the baby’s head when taking the mother to work earlier and again when the baby awoke from its nap. He said the bruising on the abdomen was from giving the baby a raspberry.

Police ruled out that the dog could have injured the baby since Miceli said he was with the dog the entire day. Miceli also told police the baby did not fall at any point, Walker said.

Walker said she also interviewed the baby’s mother, who did not raise any alarms about how Miceli cares for the baby. She said the parents split the child’s care between the night and daytime with Miceli taking the daytime.

Sherman said he understands the injuries and allegations against Miceli are serious, but he argued that nothing tied his client to the crime besides being in the same place, and noted that the mother vouched for his care of the baby.

Assistant district attorney Mark Lope argued the forensic pathologist’s testimony and Miceli being alone with the baby was enough evidence for a preliminary hearing.

Miceli’s formal arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 20 in Butler County Common Pleas Court. He’s being held in Butler County Prison and was denied bail.