Menallen Township couple accused of killing 2-year-old held for court
The man accused of abusing a 2-year-old and the woman accused of turning a blind eye to it will stand trial in Fayette County Court.
Emmanuel Thomas Dennis, 33, and Celia Nunn, 30, sat about 12 feet apart in matching orange jumpsuits, laughing and smiling on Friday as they waited for the start of their preliminary hearing in the October 2024 death of Nunn’s daughter, 2-year-old Margaret Nunn.
Both are charged with criminal homicide.
One of the first responders called to the couple’s home in the Village of Searights on Oct. 21 testified Margaret was unresponsive when he arrived.
“She was on the floor, adjacent to the bed in a pile of vomit and feces,” said Brent Roberts, one of the first responders from Fayette EMS.
Roberts asked how long the child had been that way, and testified Dennis responded he’d checked on her earlier in the day.
Police have alleged that Dennis abused the child over a number of days, hitting her until she was unresponsive and kicking her across the floor. Nunn, police alleged, knew the abuse was happening and did nothing to help her daughter.
Trooper Daniel Boyd testified while interviewing Nunn, she told them that several days before the toddler’s death, Dennis took Margaret into a room and smacked her multiple times over a period of 5 to 10 minutes.
Boyd said that Dennis admitted to police that he had hit the child about six times over the span of a weekend and kicked the 2-year-old across the floor.
Boyd testified that Nunn told police that Dennis was carrying the child by her wrist and let go of her on Oct. 19. Margaret hit her head on the concrete and later began acting lethargic, Boyd said Nunn related.
According to Boyd’s testimony, Nunn told Dennis she wanted to take Margaret to the hospital, but Dennis would not allow her to because the child was bruised.
Nunn reportedly told police she found the child lying in the middle of the floor in the living room on Oct. 20 and carried the girl to bed. Court paperwork indicated that the girl was not moving, and Nunn did not know if she was breathing.
On Oct. 21, first responders were called to the couple’s home because the child was unresponsive.
Fayette County Coroner Dr. Bob Baker testified that rigor mortis – the stiffening of the body’s joints and muscles after death – had already taken place by the time the girl was brought to the hospital.
“Rigor mortis typically is evident after about nine hours on a body; he observed it approximately 35 minutes after she (was taken from the home),” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said.
During Friday’s hearing before District Judge Jason Cox, defense attorneys Brent Peck and Shane Gannon took issue that an autopsy had not been completed nor had a cause of death been established.
“We don’t know if she passed away from a heart attack or a stroke. We don’t know because that wasn’t presented…It’s all speculation and assumption which you cannot rely on at a preliminary hearing,” said Gannon, who represents Dennis.
Peck, who represents Nunn, contended that neither the evidence nor testimony presented showed the two parents were the cause of the child’s death.
“We’ve heard no evidence in regards to Celia Nunn, and most importantly we’ve heard no testimony for the cause of death. We don’t have a death certificate, and we don’t have an autopsy,” Peck said.
Aubele also said previously he would seek the death penalty against Dennis, and was considering doing so with Nunn.