Jozlynn's mom: 'why put her in trash?'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The lawyer representing Jeffrey Malmberg in his murder trial told the jury Tuesday he doesn't dispute that his client killed 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez.

But he said Malmberg had "no intentions whatsoever of causing her harm."

"The truth was she threw a fit, he overreacted -- to put it bluntly -- and he admits that. He put a knee on her chest to keep her calm to keep her from hitting him, kicking him. But he did way too much and he's the first to admit that," lawyer Jeffrey Kirchhoff told jurors in his opening statement. "This is a tremendous, terrible accident."

Jozlynn was the daughter of Consuela "Connie" Martinez, Malmberg's girlfriend at the time.

In his opening, prosecutor Chris Becker said he did not intend to prove that Malmberg, 40, intended to kill the 2-year-old girl. But the prosecutor is expected to argue that Malmberg knowingly created a risk of seriously harming Jozlynn.

"There's not going to be any birthday party, any presents because of what this man did back in February," Becker told the jury. "[Jozlynn] was throwing a temper tantrum" and Malmberg put his knee on her chest -- "held it there for 30 to 45 seconds until she stopped breathing. He essentially suffocated her right there."

Becker accused Malmberg of trying to implicate Connie Martinez, saying the defendant suggested at one point that Martinez had disposed of her daughter's body.

Martinez was the first witness called by the prosecution. She talked about her efforts to find her daughter -- and said she doubted Malmberg's original story that Jozlynn died after falling down the stairs. Malmberg told Martinez he threw Jozlynn's body away in the trash.

"Why would he put her in a trash bag when all he had to do is call 911?" Martinez asked on the stand.

Under questioning by Malmberg's attorney, Martinez said she trusted him with her daughter. She said she never saw Malmberg hit or beat Jozlynn.

"In fact I think you said he was a good father to her. Was that correct?" Kirchhoff asked Martinez. "Yeah," she said.

Martinez said she left her daughter with Malmberg somewhat regularly.

"Now Jozzie did have somewhat of a temper also, correct?" Kirchhoff asked.

"Somewhat," Martinez responded, but said she was a normal 2-year-old.

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