## Facts

- Jeffrey T. Oxendine, Sr. lived with his six-year-old son, Jeffrey Jr., and Oxendine’s girlfriend, Leotha Tyree.
- On January 18, 1984, Tyree pushed the child into a bathtub, causing intestinal tears that led to peritonitis.
- That evening, the child complained of stomach pain; Oxendine observed bruises and knew Tyree had beaten the child earlier.
- The next morning, a neighbor heard Oxendine yelling, repeated sounds of blows, and the child crying, “Please stop, Daddy, it hurts,” followed by a loud thump.
- Later that day, the child’s abdomen was swollen and painful; although Tyree urged medical care, Oxendine did not take the child to the hospital.
- Tyree attempted to take the child to the hospital; the child stopped breathing en route and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
- The State’s medical examiners testified the child had two abdominal injuries; the first injury was identified as the underlying cause of death, and each expert could say only that the second injury might have contributed, without stating it accelerated death.
- After the State rested, a defense expert called by Tyree testified hypothetically that a second blunt abdominal trauma would accelerate death.
- The jury convicted Oxendine and Tyree of manslaughter; Oxendine was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.

## Issues

1. Whether the State presented sufficient evidence that Oxendine’s beating was a factual cause of death by hastening or accelerating the child’s death, as required to sustain a manslaughter conviction.
2. Whether, if causation for homicide was not proven, the appellate court could direct entry of judgment for the lesser-included offense of second-degree assault.

## Decision

- The court held the State’s evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Oxendine’s conduct accelerated the child’s death.
- The court reversed Oxendine’s manslaughter conviction.
- The court directed entry of judgment against Oxendine for the lesser-included offense of assault in the second degree.
- The case was remanded for entry of judgment and resentencing on second-degree assault.

## Legal Principles

- Homicide causation requires proof that the defendant’s conduct was an actual cause of death; when the victim has already sustained a fatal injury, a later non-lethal injury supports homicide liability only if it accelerates death.
- Expert testimony offered to establish medical causation must be stated with reasonable medical certainty; testimony framed as mere possibility is insufficient to meet the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard.
- In assessing the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal made at the close of the State’s case, sufficiency may be evaluated on the State’s case-in-chief rather than later evidence introduced by a co-defendant.
- A conviction for second-degree assault is supported where the evidence permits a finding that the defendant intentionally caused serious physical injury, even if homicide causation is not proven.

## Conclusion

The court ruled that the State failed to prove the child died sooner because of Oxendine’s beating, requiring reversal of manslaughter, but the evidence supported second-degree assault based on the intentional infliction of serious physical injury, warranting entry of judgment and resentencing on the lesser offense.


Oxendine v. State, 528 A.2d 870 (Del. 1987)