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Murder retrial underway for former Waco daycare owner accused of killing baby with Benadryl in 2013

Marian Fraser, 59, is accused of killing baby Clara Felton with a toxic amount of Benadryl at her daycare, Spoiled Rotten, back on March 4, 2013

WACO, Texas — Testimony began Wednesday in the murder retrial of a former Waco daycare owner accused of killing a 4-month-old with Benadryl.

Marian Fraser, 59, is accused of killing baby Clara Felton at her daycare, Spoiled Rotten, back on March 4, 2013. She was found guilty in Felton's death in 2015, but her conviction was overturned and she was allowed a retrial.

Witness testimony began Wednesday at the McLennan County Courthouse at 9 a.m., days after six men and six women were selected as the jury.

Tara Avant, one of the prosecutors of the case, called up the witnesses, including Jeffrey Venable who was a paramedic who responded to the call that day at 3:12 p.m. about a child who wasn't breathing. He arrived on the scene just six minutes later.

When he first arrived, he said he was led into an area of the house. He immediately saw vomit on the floor, he said. Firefighters were also in the works of clearing Felton's airway. They ended up rushing her to the hospital after performing CPR, he said. 

Venable said he typed out a report of the incident. In it, he said he described Felton as cool and dry to the touch. He also wrote Felton's airway was completely obstructed. 

The next witness was Keith Vaughan, Sergeant of the City of Waco Police Department, who's been in local law enforcement for 36 years. 

Vaughan said 157 photos were taken inside of Fraser's home, as well as Felton inside of the emergency room. They were shown to the courtroom and included the kitchen layout, baby bottles, the playpen and more.

Pictures of Felton's playpen and throw up were shown to the jury. The courtroom also saw pictures of the daycare records on the kitchen table, which contained the times the babies were fed and when they took naps. Felton's records show she was fed 6 oz at 11:15 a.m. on March 4, 2013, and an hour later, she was set down for a nap.

The labeling of the bottles were also in question. Vaughan says no bottles were collected that day because they had been washed and had no labels on them. 

Fraser's defense attorney, Christy Jack raised questions as to why the bottles, specifically Felton's bottle, were not collected from the daycare.

The defense then asked about all of the evidence collected back from the scene in 2013, including Felton's blanket, swabs of vomit, pacifiers and baby formula mix, which Vaughan looked through for the first time in 10 years.

All of the evidence was completely sealed and untouched since it was gathered. Jack's concern was that since the evidence bags were not opened, how could it have been tested? The answer is it never was tested, Jack stressed.

However, Vaughan quickly responded to Jack and said that not every piece of evidence is worth testing. The lead detectives decide what should be tested, he said.

Testimony will continue on Thursday. We will keep you updated as the story develops and when the jury reaches a verdict.

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