5 years after murder conviction overturned, former daycare worker awarded thousands
Five years after her second-degree murder conviction was overturned, a former Douglas County daycare employee was awarded nearly $369,000 and a “certificate of innocence” in Douglas County court Monday.
Douglas County District Court Judge James McCabria expunged Carrody Buchhorn’s criminal record Monday, awarding the former daycare provider nearly $369,000 for the days she served in prison after she was convicted of second-degree murder in 2018 in the death of 9-month-old Oliver Ortiz.
Buchhorn’s conviction was overturned in 2021, after the Court of Appeals of Kansas found Buchhorn’s defense did not sufficiently question Erik Mitchell of Frontier Forensics Midwest, an independent contractor who performed Oliver’s autopsy.
The Douglas County Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision to the Kansas Supreme Court, which was unable to reach a conclusion regarding the case. The case went back to Douglas County, where district attorney Suzanne Valdez later declined to pursue a retrial, citing a forensic pathologist report that said child abuse likely did not cause Oliver’s death.
In a 34-page memorandum released Monday, McCabria said Bucchorn “met her burden of proof on showing actual innocence,” and awarded Bucchorn a “certificate of innocence,” exonerating her name.
In its conclusion, the report said forensic evidence did not prove Oliver died from inflicted trauma.
“The only credible forensic explanation of O.O.’s death is that he died of natural disease and pathophysiologic processes unrelated to child abuse,” the document said.
Medical personnel found Oliver unresponsive on Sept. 29, 2016, at Kids Group Daycare in Eudora. He was later pronounced dead at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting.
