Graphic photos shown to jury in Fresno child endangerment trial

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was a stunning scene as Joy Frances Collins stepped out of a Fresno courtroom Wednesday while the trial against her continued.

The Fresno mother is charged with child abuse and endangerment for an incident that left one of her children dead, but she is not in custody.

The incident happened at the rail crossing on North Diana Street and Belmont Avenue in 2018 when Collins said she was in a rush.

Prosecutors say the mother urged her 9-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter to crawl underneath an idle train.

"She didn't want to miss the bus," Fresno Police Department Detective Paul Hill told the jury. "She also stated she felt it was safe to cross."

Collins' son made it through, but the train started to move when her daughter was underneath.

"The police officer was covering someone with his jacket, and I asked him to lift it up," paramedic and ICU nurse Jason Wilson said. "I noticed it was a little girl who had some severe injuries. She was nonresponsive."

On Wednesday, the jury saw photos from the scene. Many of them are too disturbing for Action News to show, and they were so graphic that Collins had to briefly excuse herself as the district attorney made his case against her.

Jurors saw photos of the railcar that ran over and dragged little Joyanna Harris for nearly a hundred yards.

According to testimony, the approximately mile-long cargo train was passing through Fresno on its way to Barstow.

Fresno Police Department crime scene technician Vincent Garza also detailed what he saw.

"The impact of where it was was the second train car," he said. "On that train car, there was blood on there."

In one of the photos, inches from where the little girl was hit, jurors could see a sobering message: "No Trespassing."

For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.