Jayla was born Sept. 19, 2010 in El Dorado. She was a very loving child. Surviving family include: father, Tyler Watters; mother, Alyssa Haag; brothers, Payten Watters and Riley Ayers; grandparents, Marci Beattie (Michael) Torres, Joe (Desiree) Haag, Steve (Marie) Watters and Wendi Britt; great-grandparents, Brian and Sue Beattie, and Butch and Sharon Haag; and great-great-grandparent, Alene Daniel.
Jayla Michelle Haag Watters, the 18-month-old daughter of Tyler Watters and Alyssa Haag, died March 30, 2012 at Wesley Medical Center. The celebration of her life will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the First Christian Church in ElDorado.
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On March 21, 2008, Alyssa Haag called her mother and asked her to drive her 18-month-old daughter, Jayla Watters, from her El Dorado apartment to a hospital. Jayla's maternal grandmother carried her limp body into an El Dorado hospital. Jayla was limp, her eyes rolled back in her head. Jayla's grandmother repeated a story Alyssa had told her about the injuries: she had fallen down a flight of stairs.
Jayla's tiny body bore black and blue bruises in various stages of healing and burn marks across her skin. Six teeth were missing, she was extremely malnourished and suffered a fractured jaw and severe head trauma. Jayla tested positive for crystal meth and suffered swelling in her brain.
Hospital staff said the injuries didn't seem consistent with a fall down a flight of stairs. Her injuries indicated she was an abuse victim. As doctors worked to save Jayla's life, an anonymous call came in from a neighbor. The caller cited possible abuse and said Jayla could possibly have meth in her system. Eight days after baby Jayla was admitted to the hospital, doctors told her family that she would "have no chance for a normal life because of brain damage." They recommended she be taken off life support. Jayla died on March 30, 2012.
Sedgwick County coroner, who conducted the autopsy, testified the finalized the autopsy and was awaiting several reports, including toxicology, odontology consultation and review of photos taken by the Wesley Hospital Care Team. Because of that she was not able to give any conclusions regarding the autopsy as a whole. She said she did observe traumatic injury, including a healing abrasion on the top of Jayla's forehead near her scalp, multiple areas of bruising on portions of her scalp and behind her ear, as well as injuries to her mouth, including the teeth that were traumatically avulsed from her jaw, burns to the inside of her lips and chips around the tooth sockets from the missing teeth. She stated, "A lot of these injuries were healing." Internally in Jayla's head, there were areas of bruising and hemorages and the brain was swollen, as well as damage to one optic nerve sheath. She said the brain injury could be associated with lack of oxygen or blood flow. From the neck down, she observed scattered, healing bruises. she could not date the injuries within an accurate time frame. Although she said she was not an expert in teeth, from the picture the roots were still on the teeth, and she was not aware of any natural means in which teeth with roots attached would fall out.
Jayla's mother, Alyssa Haag, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2013. She was sentenced to 31 months in prison.
Justin Edwards was first charged with first-degree murder in 2012, but those charges were dismissed. They were refiled in August of 2014 after finding Jayla died of complications related to multiple blunt-force injuries to her head. Edwards, facing fist degree murder charges, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of child abuse, aggravated battery, and involuntary manslaughter in 2015. Edwards received the maximum sentencing for the three charges, 128 months in prison.
Jayla's father, Steven Watters, filed a lawsuit against the State of Kansas after her death. Despite reporting his suspicion that his daughter was being abused by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, the state failed to investigate. These reports included calls to a child-abuse hotline. He also alleged that a DCF social worker was aware of the mother's persistent use of illegal drugs. In addition to her injuries, Jayla tested positive for methamphetamine at birth and prior to her death. The State of Kansas did not investigate those claims. Watters was awarded a settlement in the lawsuit.
Jayla was born Sept. 19, 2010 in El Dorado. She was a very loving child. Surviving family include: father, Tyler Watters; mother, Alyssa Haag; brothers, Payten Watters and Riley Ayers; grandparents, Marci Beattie (Michael) Torres, Joe (Desiree) Haag, Steve (Marie) Watters and Wendi Britt; great-grandparents, Brian and Sue Beattie, and Butch and Sharon Haag; and great-great-grandparent, Alene Daniel.
Jayla Michelle Haag Watters, the 18-month-old daughter of Tyler Watters and Alyssa Haag, died March 30, 2012 at Wesley Medical Center. The celebration of her life will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the First Christian Church in ElDorado.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On March 21, 2008, Alyssa Haag called her mother and asked her to drive her 18-month-old daughter, Jayla Watters, from her El Dorado apartment to a hospital. Jayla's maternal grandmother carried her limp body into an El Dorado hospital. Jayla was limp, her eyes rolled back in her head. Jayla's grandmother repeated a story Alyssa had told her about the injuries: she had fallen down a flight of stairs.
Jayla's tiny body bore black and blue bruises in various stages of healing and burn marks across her skin. Six teeth were missing, she was extremely malnourished and suffered a fractured jaw and severe head trauma. Jayla tested positive for crystal meth and suffered swelling in her brain.
Hospital staff said the injuries didn't seem consistent with a fall down a flight of stairs. Her injuries indicated she was an abuse victim. As doctors worked to save Jayla's life, an anonymous call came in from a neighbor. The caller cited possible abuse and said Jayla could possibly have meth in her system. Eight days after baby Jayla was admitted to the hospital, doctors told her family that she would "have no chance for a normal life because of brain damage." They recommended she be taken off life support. Jayla died on March 30, 2012.
Sedgwick County coroner, who conducted the autopsy, testified the finalized the autopsy and was awaiting several reports, including toxicology, odontology consultation and review of photos taken by the Wesley Hospital Care Team. Because of that she was not able to give any conclusions regarding the autopsy as a whole. She said she did observe traumatic injury, including a healing abrasion on the top of Jayla's forehead near her scalp, multiple areas of bruising on portions of her scalp and behind her ear, as well as injuries to her mouth, including the teeth that were traumatically avulsed from her jaw, burns to the inside of her lips and chips around the tooth sockets from the missing teeth. She stated, "A lot of these injuries were healing." Internally in Jayla's head, there were areas of bruising and hemorages and the brain was swollen, as well as damage to one optic nerve sheath. She said the brain injury could be associated with lack of oxygen or blood flow. From the neck down, she observed scattered, healing bruises. she could not date the injuries within an accurate time frame. Although she said she was not an expert in teeth, from the picture the roots were still on the teeth, and she was not aware of any natural means in which teeth with roots attached would fall out.
Jayla's mother, Alyssa Haag, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2013. She was sentenced to 31 months in prison.
Justin Edwards was first charged with first-degree murder in 2012, but those charges were dismissed. They were refiled in August of 2014 after finding Jayla died of complications related to multiple blunt-force injuries to her head. Edwards, facing fist degree murder charges, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of child abuse, aggravated battery, and involuntary manslaughter in 2015. Edwards received the maximum sentencing for the three charges, 128 months in prison.
Jayla's father, Steven Watters, filed a lawsuit against the State of Kansas after her death. Despite reporting his suspicion that his daughter was being abused by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, the state failed to investigate. These reports included calls to a child-abuse hotline. He also alleged that a DCF social worker was aware of the mother's persistent use of illegal drugs. In addition to her injuries, Jayla tested positive for methamphetamine at birth and prior to her death. The State of Kansas did not investigate those claims. Watters was awarded a settlement in the lawsuit.
