ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Witnesses testified Wednesday in the murder trial of 37-year-old Nickolas Shane Stephenson about the emergency response to the June 2022 death of his 12-week-old daughter, Riley Leshae Hannah Stephenson.
Stephenson faces first-degree murder and child abuse charges. The infant’s mother, Diandra Haleigh Fuhr-Farlow, 32, also faces a first-degree murder charge and is expected to testify for the prosecution.
Defense attorney Dustin Dow is representing Stephenson; Assistant District Attorneys Amy Buchanan and Stormy Ellis are prosecuting.
911 records and call response
Buncombe County Fire and EMS Operations Manager Michael Salley was the state’s first witness, testifying as custodian of records for the county’s 911 center.
He explained that he oversees audio recordings of 911 calls and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) reports, which include caller information, the emergency type and response times. Salley said the records cannot be deleted or altered, though notes may be added, and they are stored on secure servers.
In this case, three CAD reports were generated for EMS, fire and law enforcement, all of whom responded to the call on Four Wheel Drive. Salley identified the law enforcement CAD report as State’s Exhibit 1, which documented the June 28, 2022, call involving a child not breathing, coded as cardiac arrest. He also identified the 911 audio recording as State’s Exhibit 2 and confirmed it had not been altered. Both exhibits were admitted into evidence.
Shaina Harris, assistant telecommunicator supervisor at Buncombe County Public Safety Communications, testified that she answered the 911 call from Riley’s mother. The mother reported that the baby was breathing only intermittently and the father was attempting resuscitation. Harris said she provided step-by-step CPR instructions but did not hear the infant crying and believed the resuscitation efforts were not effective.
Harris testified she heard “a lot of movement,” and the mother reported they were moving the baby from inside the home to the driveway and then toward a vehicle while Harris was still giving CPR instructions.
Emergency responders describe scene
Veteran firefighter Mark Parker testified that he responded to the call on Four Wheel Drive and found the infant in cardiac arrest in a vehicle at the end of the road. He said the baby appeared pale, malnourished and sickly, with a skin tear on the head. Parker and other responders began ventilation and transferred the infant to an ambulance, after which law enforcement was called.
Assistant Chief of Operations Jared Gudger, also a longtime firefighter, described the infant as “pale and unusually small” and noted marks on her head that initially raised concern. He said Riley’s mother was visibly upset, while her father appeared detached.
Community Paramedic Jonathan Anderson described the infant as “extremely small, frail and emaciated,” with gray-blue skin, sunken facial features and bruising and burn marks on the head. Anderson said such injuries are abnormal for a non-mobile infant and raised immediate concerns about abuse.
Kevin Miller, a supervisor in the community paramedic program, described placing Riley on a cardiac monitor and noting that she was “asystolic,” or flatlined. He testified that the child appeared severely malnourished, with bruising of different colors and a burn mark on the forehead, which he considered potential signs of abuse.
Paramedic Aaron Adkins, who responded to the call with Buncombe County EMS, said the infant had sagging skin, cigarette burns and a sunken fontanelle, indicative of severe dehydration and malnutrition. Adkins described administering emergency interventions, including intubation, epinephrine and dextrose, while noting the mother’s frantic but “suspicious” behavior.
