A dentist on trial for killing a three-year-old girl broke down in tears on the stand when prosecutors asked her how often she thinks about the toddler.
Lilly Geyer is in court facing manslaughter charges following the death of Finley Boyle at her Honolulu practice in 2013.
She told the court her daughter, who is only a month older than Finley, has reminded her of the child every day since she died during what should have been a routine root canal.
The youngster passed away after the procedure where Geyer’s receptionist administered the drugs.
On Thursday during her trial in Hawaii, Geyer told the court that she did everything she could to try and save Finley, and insisted she didn’t know she had an underlying medical problem.
She said that it wasn’t until 2016, three years after the fatal procedure, that she discovered the child was diagnosed with a respiratory infection just weeks before.
It meant Finley was at greater risk during what should have been a routine procedure.
Lilly Geyer is being tried for manslaughter in the death of three-year-old Finley Boyle
Boyle’s mother brought the girl to Geyer’s office in 2013 for four root canals and the toddler died soon after
‘I read hundreds of pages of medical records and when I came to that, I just knew that was the cause,’ Geyer said, according to KHON2.
Tommy Otake, Geyer’s lawyer, asked her if she would have gone through with the procedure if she’d known about the diagnosis beforehand.
‘Absolutely not,’ Geyer said.
Once Otake asked the lawyer how often she thought about the little girl, the dentist broke down in tears.
On Thursday, Geyer shared that she learned in 2016 that the girl was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection in the weeks before the procedure. She said had she known of the diagnosis, she would have never allowed for the medicine to be administered to the girl
Geyer broke down in tears when asked by her defense lawyer if she still thought of the little girl
Geyer closed her practice soon after the incident, shook about what took place
She said: ‘I think about her every day, because my daughter was only a month older than her, and every time I see my daughter I think of Finley. Finley would be eight and a half years old now. She’d be alive.’
Geyer closed her practice soon after the incident, shook about what took place.
‘There would be no way for any of us to be there or to practice. It was the most tragic, devastating event I’ve ever been through. It was heartbreaking,’ Geyer added.
Geyer’s receptionist, Kathleen Cacal, testified that she did administer the three drugs to the child but added that the dentist wasn’t around
The dentist argued that she and her office had done everything in their power to save the young girl. Defense also asked Geyer about her receptionist, Kathleen Cacal, and why she was the one who administered the drugs that eventually killed Boyle.
Geyer told the court that she trusted Cacal because she had over 25 years as a dental assistant.
Cacal testified last week that she gave the girl three medications and that Geyer was not around when any of them were administered.