Anjali Lyons' voice was barely above a whisper as prosecutors asked her whether she heard 2-year-old Bianca Jones crying the night before she was reported missing by her father, D'Andre Lane.
Lyons, 22, testified Friday in 36th District Court that she is Lane's current girlfriend. She reluctantly answered prosecutors' questions about Lane allegedly reprimanding Bianca for wetting the bed the night before he told police he was carjacked at gunpoint.
"Did you hear if Bianca was being hit with anything?" asked Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb.
"Yes. It was the paddle," Lyons answered after pausing for a minute.Goldfarb went on to ask Lyons whether she thought Lane was hitting Bianca on her bare skin.
"Yes. It sounded like bare skin," Lyons quietly replied.
Lane, 32, who was charged last month with first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with Bianca's disappearance, appeared in 36th District Court for his preliminary examination Friday before Judge Ruth Carter. Lane faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the murder charge. Friday was the second day of the hearing.
Although prosecutors contend Bianca was subjected to abuse from Lane before she disappeared and have presumed her dead, Lane repeatedly has denied involvement in the toddler's disappearance.
Lane sat quietly as Goldfarb continued to ask Lyons questions.
"Was it true the voice sounded angry?" Goldfarb asked Lyons in regards to Lane asking Bianca whether she is "supposed to pee pee on herself."
"I don't think that's the word I should've used," Lyons said.
"Did you say he sounded frustrated?" Goldfarb asked.
"Yes," Lyons said.
"Did you say he sounded irritated?"
"Yes," Lyons said after letting out a sigh.
Banika Jones, Bianca's mother, testified Friday that she had no reason to suspect Lane would be incapable of taking care of the toddler and that she expected Bianca to stay with her father most of December until Christmas.
"I told him she was pretty good, but still had accidents," Jones said about potty training Bianca. "He said he would work with her."
Jones said she also spanked Bianca at times to potty train her. Jones added that while she packed up clothes for Bianca's visit with Lane, she did not pack diapers.
"She was very excited about her new panties and didn't want to wear diapers," Jones said.
Testimony continues May 8 in 36th District Court in Detroit.
Contact Melanie D. Scott: 313-222-6159 or mdscott@freepress.com
http://www.freep.com/article/20120428/NEWS02/204280409/Girlfriend-testifies-she-heard-father-s-reprimands-night-before-Bianca-Jones-vanished?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
