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Left to right: Brandon Copeland, Elizabeth R. Ucman, and Delilah Ucman (KNSD).
In a tragic case unfolding in California, new insights have emerged regarding a young couple accused of the starvation death of their infant daughter in late 2021. The mother, aged 26, and the father, aged 25, are facing serious charges as the trial progresses.
Prosecutors have laid bare the harrowing conditions surrounding the demise of 3-month-old Delilah Ucman. The trial of her parents, Brandon Copeland and Elizabeth Reneedawn Ucman, has seen them both charged with first-degree murder, as revealed last week.
During the opening statements on Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Francesca Ballerio detailed the heartbreaking deterioration of baby Delilah’s health. Initially born in good health, she suffered fatal neglect and starvation at the hands of her parents, according to the San Diego NBC affiliate, KNSD. The prosecutor painted a grim picture, stating that Delilah’s weight had plummeted to less than half of her birth weight, with her abdominal organs visible due to severe malnutrition.
Ballerio stressed to the jury that Delilah’s death was not a sudden event but the result of prolonged neglect. At the time of her passing, she weighed a mere 3.65 pounds, as reported by the San Diego Tribune. This chilling detail underscores the severity of the alleged neglect and suffering endured by the infant.
Ballerio told the court that the baby’s death “didn’t happen overnight,” emphasizing that Delilah weighed only 3.65 pounds when she died, the San Diego Tribune reported.
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the San Diego Police Department at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2021, responded to an emergency call about an unresponsive infant in a residence located in the 3300 block of Maple Street in Colina del Sol.
Upon arriving on the scene, first responders found the child was not breathing and performed CPR. Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived soon after and continued performing lifesaving procedures as they rushed the baby to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
When Delilah was born, social services determined that the parents and their filthy apartment were not fit for a newborn and gave emergency custody to Ucman’s aunt. However, Delilah was returned to the couple’s care after about a month, despite warnings from multiple family members that the parents were unfit due to substance abuse and mental health issues.
Prosecutors on Wednesday showed jurors a transcript of a post-arrest conversation between Ucman and Copeland, who were reportedly left alone in a room and discussed what happened to their daughter and how they were responsible.
“We’re guilty as s—. We neglected her,” Copeland reportedly said to Ucman. “I mean, technically, what we did was murder.”
Later in the conversation, Ucman allegedly said, “I’m scared, babe.” Copeland allegedly responded by saying, “Oh well, how do you think Delilah felt?”
Defense attorneys reportedly argued that the mother and father had both been severely abused as children and suffered from a variety of mental health issues that left them incapable of properly caring for themselves, let alone a child.
“These two young people were completely overwhelmed,” Copeland’s attorney, Courtney Cutter, reportedly told the court. “They were functioning at the level of children themselves.”
“There might be some criminality, but you need to look at the whole picture,” Cutter said, per KNSD. “The government only wants you to see the outcome and see it as malicious. Nobody wanted her to die. Everybody failed her.”
Ucman’s defense attorney, Anthony Parker, reportedly argued that Ucman loved her daughter, but suffered from postpartum depression that left her unable to care for anyone, including herself.
Ucman and Copeland have both remained in custody since their November 2021 arrests.