PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Opening statements wrapped up in the high-profile murder trial against a former Phoenix police officer and his wife, who are accused of killing their 7-year-old daughter.
Germayne and Lisa Cunningham are facing charges of ten counts of child abuse and murder for the death of Sanaa Cunningham.
In opening statements on Wednesday, the state claimed text messages sent between the Cunninghams revealed the abuse toward Sanaa. But on Thursday, Lisa’s defense team stated that the messages pointed to a different story, indicating a fear for the safety of the couple’s other five children.
Between Oct. 2016 and Feb. 2017, both the prosecution and defense agreed that Sanaa’s health was declining, citing videos and pictures documented by the former Phoenix police officer and his wife. Prosecutors claimed the couple would zip tie Sanaa and lock her in the laundry room and garage.
However, defense teams argued that Sanaa would harm herself and her siblings. Lawyers also mentioned that Sanaa reportedly threw a rock at one person.
Prosecutors argued that the Cunninghams waited too long to take Sanaa to the emergency room after she wasn’t breathing correctly. Not long after, Sanaa died of complications from sepsis.
Lisa Cunningham’s attorney took jurors through hours of Sanaa’s complicated medical and behavioral history during Thursday’s court hearing, showing many of the texts in question.
Defense teams argued that the couple was trying to navigate Sanaa’s issues after their other children expressed feelings that she was a danger to the family.
“These are parents that are struggling, and yet they don’t want to institutionalize her. They are struggling, they’re hanging on, trying to do everything they can as parents, as loving parents who care about this child more than anything else in their life,” said Dan Raynak, attorney for Lisa Cunningham.
“It has become the center of their world, their universe of what they are trying to do to help this child, this poor child. Who, through no fault of her own, is just afflicted with multiple, multiple mental illnesses,” Raynak added.
The defense added that Lisa quit her job to care for the children, including Sanaa. The trial is expected to run through March 2026.
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