Witnesses testify woman charged in tot’s death loved him

AUBURN – The woman charged in the death of her 21-month-old adopted son wept as she listened to friends and relatives describe her as a loving mother who took good care of her only child.

Seven witnesses were called by the defense Wednesday in an attempt to convince the jury that Sarah Allen is not the type of person who would shake her son to death and lie to detectives.

Jennifer Valdivia, a Navy journalist who met Allen and her sailor husband in 1999 when they were stationed in Italy, said Allen loved her son.

“It was so nice to see her with Nathaniel,” she testified in Androscoggin County Superior Court. “You just knew she loved him so much.”

Allen, 30, of Lisbon Falls is on trial for manslaughter, accused by prosecutors of shaking her son so violently that he died from head injuries.

The couple adopted Nathaniel Allen from Guatemala through a private adoption agency and talked about becoming foster parents.

Dreams of bringing a second child into the home came to an end when Nathaniel was rushed to the hospital. He died on Feb. 15, 2003.

Sarah Allen told investigators that Nathaniel fell several times in the hours before she called 911. She also has mentioned that her son seemed to be developing more slowly than other children his age.

Her lawyer hopes to convince jurors that the falls, coupled with a possible developmental problem, could have caused Nathaniel’s death.

On Wednesday, defense lawyer Verne Paradie asked Allen’s relatives and friends if they observed any problems with Nathaniel’s development.

Several described the boy as wobbly or abnormally quiet. The boy’s pediatrician, however, said Sarah Allen never expressed concerns to him.

A retired hematologist from Pennsylvania who was hired by Paradie to review the case also testified Wednesday. Dr. Arthur Weiss testified that he would have expected to see bruises on Nathaniel’s arms, chests or shoulders if he had been shaken to death.

Most of state’s medical witnesses who treated Nathaniel have testified that they noted a bruise on the boy’s left wrist, his buttocks and the back of his thighs, but not on his chest or shoulders.

The state’s medical examiner, however, testified that he did see a faint bruise on the boy’s right shoulder at the time of the autopsy.

Allen’s trial was expected to continue Thursday with testimony from more defense witnesses and one last state witness.