Anke Doehm Returns to Court 7 Years Later

The sensational case of thirteen-year-old Fay Lin Cannon who died under questionable circumstances in the care of an American couple living in San Pedro made headlines in 2017.  Sixty-three-year-old Anke Doehm was jointly charged along with her husband David Doehm in the wake of the child’s death.  Her husband took his own life a few years later and today, Anke Doehm appeared before newly-appointed High Court Judge Derrick Sylvester and a jury of nine persons.  The allegations against her is that she willfully neglected Cannon in a manner that was likely to cause injury to her health.  Both sides presented oral submissions before the bench, beginning with the Director of Public Prosecutions who addressed the jurors by first showing them three gruesome images showing Cannon’s severely bruised body.  The D.P.P. also presented an image that showed an emaciated thirteen-year-old girl who Doehm claims was never neglected.  The D.P.P. concluded that Fay Lin Cannon’s death was not an accident.  On the other hand, Doehm’s attorney, Adolph Lucas Senior, urged the jury not to believe the allegations made by the D.P.P. and asked jurors to acquit his client because the Crown failed to prove the charge of cruelty to a child.  The case against Anke Doehm will be summed up on March fourth.