“You’re talking about a kid in 2020 who turned 18, graduated, had a job, had his own car, maintained it. He had a girlfriend that the family brought him in under the notion that he was trusted. He’s a good kid, he has my heart,” the father said.
“This is a tragic accident,” he said. “There’s no way. He’s not capable. It’s just tragic.”
Pulley III is accused of killing Averi Garbans who died on Aug. 23. The baby died of blunt force trauma to the head, and she suffered a skull fracture, hemorrhages and contusions on her head, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.
Pulley III was dating the baby’s mother and watched the girl at his East Shannon Avenue home while the mother was working, according to court records. On Aug. 19, the mother realized Averi had multiple bruises and swelling on her head after taking the baby home.
“She confronted Pulley III about the injuries, and he convinced her they were caused by a bad car seat,” the affidavit read.
The next day, Pulley III was babysitting the girl again when he called the baby’s mother and said she “was not acting right.”
In a picture he sent to the mother’s phone the baby’s arms were out to her side and her eyes were “fixed to one side,” a West Carrollton detective wrote.
The mother left work and took Averi to the emergency room. She was admitted to Dayton Children’s Hospital’s PICU Ward with life-threatening injuries. Averi died three days later.
During an interview with police, Pulley III said he dropped his cell phone on the baby and that she fell from the couch on the first day he was watching her, according to court records.
“On the second day, he said he accidentally hit [the baby’s] head on a door jamb as he was going from the hallway to the kitchen,” the affidavit read. “(Pulley III) told several stories as to how (the baby) was injured.”
Pulley III is now incarcerated in Montgomery County Jail on $250,000 bond.
His father told the media Friday at the Miamisburg Municipal Courthouse that he wants the facts to come out in the case.
“The perception of what it is, there are other cases that fall into this, but with this kid, it’s just not. He’s just a good kid. No ill intentions, no malice,” he said.
He said over the last six months his family has been mourning the loss of the child. He said his son cared for the baby.
“We were already in mourning over one loss, and now we are going to fight to make sure it’s not two,” the father said. “We understand the loss, but at the end of the day, if you look at the way this is, you’re looking at a young kid that took on a responsibility that it might have been too much for him. It’s no malice behind it, there are no ill intentions. Murder, felonious assault, that’s a bit much. That’s too much.”
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