DODGE CITY – A Dodge City man has been found not guilty in the death of a 3-year-old girl.
After 10 days of testimony, a Ford County jury on Monday night found Brock Cunningham not guilty of child abuse and first-degree murder. He was charged in 2013 in the death of Natalie Pickle, who died in 2008 while in Cunningham’s care. At the time, Cunningham was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.
Cunningham said the girl was jumping on a bed and hit her head when she fell off. She was flown to a Wichita hospital, where she died. An autopsy found the girl died of blunt force trauma and her death was classified as a homicide.
“We are deeply grateful for the commitment and wisdom of the jury who delivered Brock’s not-guilty verdict, and to everyone in the community who has supported Brock during this difficult time,” Dan Monnat, a Wichita attorney who defended Cunningham, said in a statement Tuesday.
Cunningham had previously taken and passed two lie detector tests, according to a news release from Monnat’s office.
“The only thing I have to say is what I have said all along, I am innocent,” Cunningham said after the verdict. “I’m very grateful to the jurors for recognizing that and I thank my attorneys, Dan Monnat and Trevor Riddle, and the people of Dodge City who have supported me all these years.”
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