REMEMBERING BRENLEE

Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert was only 11 weeks old when she died.

She was born on March 5, 2013, in Independence, Missouri, to Stephanie Ann Hicklin and Alex Anthony Gilbert.

In the short time her family was given with her, Brenlee had already begun showing them pieces of her personality.

Her family remembered her big blue eyes and an infectious smile.

She was loved by a large extended family and had two brothers, Bentlee and Bryson, and a sister, Baylee.

Brenlee was still at an age when nearly everything was new.

She should have had years for her family to discover who she would become.

Instead, the memories they were able to make with her fit into only 11 weeks.

BRENLEE’S STORY

In May 2013, Brenlee lived with her mother in Bates City, Missouri.

During the days before she was hospitalized, Brenlee was left alone with her father, Alex Gilbert.

After one of those periods, Stephanie noticed changes in her baby.

Brenlee slept through the night without waking for her usual feeding.

The following day, she drank very little formula.

Stephanie later told investigators that Alex had complained about having to care for Brenlee and made a disturbing comment about throwing the baby against a wall.

On May 17, Brenlee’s condition became critical.

She began gasping for air.

Emergency responders were called.

Police found the infant unresponsive and turning blue.

Brenlee was rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs before being transferred to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Doctors discovered devastating injuries.

Brenlee had suffered severe trauma to her head and brain.

She also had numerous broken bones.

Some of the fractures were recent.

Others were already healing.

The injuries showed that what happened to Brenlee had not been limited to a single moment.

Her tiny body had been injured repeatedly.

Brenlee was placed on life support.

For three days, doctors attempted to save her.

They could not.

Brenlee died at Children’s Mercy Hospital on May 20, 2013.

The medical examiner determined that her cause of death was abusive head trauma caused by shaking and blunt force trauma.

She was 11 weeks old.

WARNING SIGNS

The investigation into Brenlee’s death revealed injuries in different stages of healing.

Her autopsy documented both recent and healing fractures.

That meant Brenlee had been injured before the final assault that caused her fatal brain trauma.

There were also signs of violence involving her mother.

A detective who spoke with Stephanie at the hospital documented that she had two black eyes and a bruise on her forehead.

Those circumstances provide important context surrounding the violence within the family.

However, I have not included a SYSTEM FAILURES section because the available record does not establish that child protection authorities, police or medical professionals had received and mishandled reports concerning abuse of Brenlee before her fatal hospitalization.

The strongest warning signs became clear during the investigation after she was already critically injured.

Brenlee was only weeks old.

She could not tell anyone that she had been hurt before.

She could not identify the person hurting her.

She could not leave.

The healing injuries discovered after her death became the voice she had never been old enough to use.

JUSTICE FOR BRENLEE

Alex Anthony Gilbert was arrested and initially charged with second degree murder in connection with his daughter’s death.

The medical evidence showed extensive trauma, including multiple fractures and catastrophic injuries to Brenlee’s brain.

The criminal case ultimately ended with a plea agreement.

In March 2014, Alex pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

In May 2014, a Lafayette County judge sentenced him to 15 years in Missouri state prison.

Alex Anthony Gilbert

Relationship to Brenlee: Father

Conviction: Voluntary manslaughter

Sentence: 15 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Eleven weeks is barely enough time to begin getting to know a baby.

It is enough time to recognize her eyes.

To learn the expressions on her face.

To know the sound of her cry.

To notice the beginnings of a smile.

For Brenlee’s family, it was enough time to fall completely in love with her.

Her obituary did not describe her through the injuries that eventually filled police reports and court records.

It remembered her big blue eyes.

It remembered her infectious smile.

It said simply that Brenlee was loved by many.

After Brenlee died, her mother made the decision to donate what could be donated from her daughter's tiny body.

Brenlee’s kidneys were given to a 51 year old recipient, while other tissue and organs were donated for medical research.

Her mother hoped that something from Brenlee might save another life and spare another family from experiencing the grief hers was facing.

Even after Brenlee could no longer be saved, pieces of her life were used to help someone else.

But Brenlee should never have needed a legacy at 11 weeks old.

Her family should have watched those big blue eyes follow the world around her.

Her infectious smile should have become laughter.

She should have learned to sit up.

To crawl.

To walk.

Her brothers and sister should have watched their baby sister grow beside them.

There should have been a first birthday.

Then another.

And another.

Instead, the people who loved Brenlee were left with eleven weeks of memories and an entire lifetime of wondering who she would have become.

Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert was here.

She was loved.

Her short life mattered.

Abuse Angels remembers Brenlee MaKenna Gilbert.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.