[A 34-year-old Long Beach man accused of murder and drunk driving in the hit-and-run dragging death of a 1-year-old girl was ordered to stand trial on all felony counts Wednesday.
Disturbing testimony was given in the preliminary hearing for Neely Lejon Dinkins, whose blood alcohol level was measured at .20, or more than double the legal limit at the time of his arrest for the killing of Kaylee Alvarez on Sept. 11, 2009.
Dinkins is charged not only with the death of 1-year-old Kaylee but also the near killing of Kaylee's 2-year-old brother, Oscar, as the children's parents and several other passersby looked on in horror.
The baby and her toddler brother were being pulled across Redondo Avenue at Tenth Street in a little red wagon by their parents at about 8:30 p.m.
Witnesses called to testify Wednesday included Kaylee's mother, who cried at times but was able to testify at length and in detail about the harrowing night.
She and other witnesses recounted for the court how the Dodge Durango, driven by Dinkins, slammed into the red plastic wagon and dragged the two children about a block before Dinkins' was stopped by good Samaritan Ira Cohen.
When the SUV stopped Oscar rolled out from under the vehicle landing at the Cohen's feet, Cohen testified. He snatched Oscar to safety as Dinkins sped off a second time, with little Kaylee still buckled inside the wagon, witnesses testified.
Another good Samaritan followed the SUV as Dinkins wound his way around the neighborhood, dragging the baby for more than a mile before he stopped in the driveway of his girlfriend's home on Wilton Street just off Redondo.
Throughout the incident calls flooded the Long Beach Police Department's 911 center and officers swarmed the area, desperately searching for the SUV.
Dr. Paul Gliniecki, the Los Angeles County Coroner's investigator who conducted the autopsy on Kaylee, testified Wednesday that the girl's cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma caused by being dragged beneath the vehicle.
Extensive wounds were documented on the child's body, from her head to her feet. In several places the skin was worn down to bone and muscle tissue and the child's skull was shattered, the doctor said.
Some of the injuries showed Kaylee's heart was still pumping as she was dragged, suggesting the possibility that she was alive throughout much of the dragging.
"The most significant injury was to the top of the head ... which was torn off," Gliniecki said, adding that part of the child's face, nose and ear and part of one hand were also ground away.
"She was basically dragged across the road until those parts ... were torn away," Gliniecki said.
As witnesses testified to the chilling details Dinkins showed little emotion, though he occasionally looked down.
The single father appeared to have aged significantly since his September arraignment. His once shaved head was covered with closely cropped black hair peppered with gray and silver strands and he looked thinner in his Los Angeles County Jail-issued blue pull-over and pants.
Dinkins is charged with five felony counts, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence causing injury or death to both Kaylee and Oscar and fleeing the scene of the accident.
An allegation of inflicting great bodily injury applies to a number of the counts and the defendant also has one strike on his record, all of factored into his new bail amount, which was raised to $1.49 million by Long Beach Superior Court Judge Judith Meyer.
Dinkins is scheduled to appear in Long Beach Superior Court's Dept. J on March 10 for arraignment.
Disturbing testimony was given in the preliminary hearing for Neely Lejon Dinkins, whose blood alcohol level was measured at .20, or more than double the legal limit at the time of his arrest for the killing of Kaylee Alvarez on Sept. 11, 2009.
Dinkins is charged not only with the death of 1-year-old Kaylee but also the near killing of Kaylee's 2-year-old brother, Oscar, as the children's parents and several other passersby looked on in horror.
The baby and her toddler brother were being pulled across Redondo Avenue at Tenth Street in a little red wagon by their parents at about 8:30 p.m.
Witnesses called to testify Wednesday included Kaylee's mother, who cried at times but was able to testify at length and in detail about the harrowing night.
She and other witnesses recounted for the court how the Dodge Durango, driven by Dinkins, slammed into the red plastic wagon and dragged the two children about a block before Dinkins' was stopped by good Samaritan Ira Cohen.
When the SUV stopped Oscar rolled out from under the vehicle landing at the Cohen's feet, Cohen testified. He snatched Oscar to safety as Dinkins sped off a second time, with little Kaylee still buckled inside the wagon, witnesses testified.
Another good Samaritan followed the SUV as Dinkins wound his way around the neighborhood, dragging the baby for more than a mile before he stopped in the driveway of his girlfriend's home on Wilton Street just off Redondo.
Throughout the incident calls flooded the Long Beach Police Department's 911 center and officers swarmed the area, desperately searching for the SUV.
Dr. Paul Gliniecki, the Los Angeles County Coroner's investigator who conducted the autopsy on Kaylee, testified Wednesday that the girl's cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma caused by being dragged beneath the vehicle.
Extensive wounds were documented on the child's body, from her head to her feet. In several places the skin was worn down to bone and muscle tissue and the child's skull was shattered, the doctor said.
Some of the injuries showed Kaylee's heart was still pumping as she was dragged, suggesting the possibility that she was alive throughout much of the dragging.
"The most significant injury was to the top of the head ... which was torn off," Gliniecki said, adding that part of the child's face, nose and ear and part of one hand were also ground away.
"She was basically dragged across the road until those parts ... were torn away," Gliniecki said.
As witnesses testified to the chilling details Dinkins showed little emotion, though he occasionally looked down.
The single father appeared to have aged significantly since his September arraignment. His once shaved head was covered with closely cropped black hair peppered with gray and silver strands and he looked thinner in his Los Angeles County Jail-issued blue pull-over and pants.
Dinkins is charged with five felony counts, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence causing injury or death to both Kaylee and Oscar and fleeing the scene of the accident.
An allegation of inflicting great bodily injury applies to a number of the counts and the defendant also has one strike on his record, all of factored into his new bail amount, which was raised to $1.49 million by Long Beach Superior Court Judge Judith Meyer.
Dinkins is scheduled to appear in Long Beach Superior Court's Dept. J on March 10 for arraignment.
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