Former Naperville father's trial opens in baby's death

Four years ago, Laura Gonzalez came home from work in Naperville to find her 7-month-old baby unresponsive.

Despite a desperate effort to save Ariana, the 14-pound baby died that night at Edward Hospital. The long-awaited trial into her Sept. 4, 2004, death opened Tuesday morning in DuPage County.

The girl's father, Locksley O. Creary, 30, is facing first-degree murder charges.

He has pleaded not guilty and opted to have DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis decide his fate, rather than a jury.

Gonzalez described her daughter, though born small and with acid reflux, as happy and healthy.

"God bless her," she said, later choking back tears while identifying photos. "She was very happy; always smiling. She was a very good baby."

Her live-in boyfriend, Creary, was watching Ariana alone on the city's far northwest side after picking her up at 7 p.m. from her maternal grandparents' house in Oswego. Gonzalez returned home to the 700 block of Inland Circle about 9:45 p.m.

Gonzalez later told police she found Ariana unresponsive and not breathing in her crib. The panicked mother called 911 while Creary attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Creary repeatedly has denied inflicting the fatal injuries on his daughter. Police questioned his truthfulness, but they needed medical science to prove their suspicions.

More than two years later, on Feb. 22, 2007, police arrested Creary after relying on the medical opinions of two experts from Cook County and Dade County, Fla.

But not everyone agrees Ariana died of foul play. The pathologist who performed the autopsy has said she doesn't believe there is enough medical evidence to support the claim.

Dr. Shaku Teas determined evidence was inconclusive on whether the baby's liver injuries were the result of the father's botched CPR efforts or something else. Teas has said publicly an expert from Suffolk County, N.Y., whom she consulted, agrees with her.

"What happened was a tragic occurrence but the state will not be able to show in court beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a particular incident that caused the death of little Ariana," defense attorney Jack Donahue said in his opening statement.

The case is expected to come to a battle of the experts. Prosecutor Joseph Ruggiero said Teas is unreliable and that Ariana's injuries were too severe to have been caused by CPR. Ruggiero noted several inconsistent statements the defendant made to police that night.

"Ariana was fine when the defendant picked her up from her grandparents' house and brought her home," the prosecutor said in his opening statement. "Nobody else was in that apartment but him. The defendant lied and tried to change his story to distort what was actually happening in that apartment during a three-hour window."

Besides a lacerated liver, Ariana also had bruises and cuts on her right thigh similar to fingernail marks. Her crib mobile also was broken, prosecutors said, indicating some sort of a struggle.

Creary, who moved to Bolingbrook after his daughter's death, was set free May 10, 2007, after posting $50,000 cash as bail.