Using autopsy photographs as a guide, a forensic pathologist described to a jury the appalling injuries 5-year-old Jermasha Decuir suffered before she died, including burns caused by her buttocks being placed on an electric stove and her fingers being dipped into a hot liquid or chemical.

Dr. Susan Garcia was the first witness to testify Friday in the first-degree murder trial of Marilyn Lively of New Iberia, the caretaker accused of killing Decuir.

Paramedics responding to a call of a child in distress found Decuir dead at Lively's mother's home on Jan. 30, 2003.

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Garcia testified Friday that Decuir died of suffocation by asphyxia, meaning her breathing passages had been blocked for at least three minutes. She said Decuir also had a cut inside of her mouth consistent with her face being pressed against an object so hard it caused her to lose a front tooth.

Garcia said Decuir weighed only 27 pounds at the time of her death, well below the fifth percentile for children her age. She said the child had no food and very little water in her stomach, indicating that she had nothing to eat or drink for at least eight hours prior to her death.

Garcia said Decuir had "multiple injuries in various stages of healing," including several scars that appeared to be more than a month old. She said Decuir also had recent bruises and cuts on her forehead consistent with her being struck by a blunt object.

Garcia said Decuir also had recent burn marks on both of her buttocks matching the grill pattern of an electric stove. One of the photographs showed Garcia holding the grill next to one of the wounds.

"It was obvious to me on visual examination that this grill fit that pattern," Garcia said.

Garcia also described injuries to both of Decuir's hands, characteristic of her fingers being forcefully dunked into a hot liquid. She said the wounds did not follow a "splash pattern," saying someone would have instinctively removed their hands from such a liquid if burned accidentally.

"Someone had to hold it there," Garcia said.

Prosecutor Bo Duhe said in his opening statement that Lively began caring for Decuir in 2000 after she was abandoned by her biological mother.

The mother, Netravon Sam, was later convicted for pocketing food stamps and other benefits for the child while she was in Lively's care.

Duhe began his opening statement by repeating Lively's words to detectives investigating Decuir's death - that Decuir was "a handful" and was "hell to me." Duhe said Lively would later blame her boyfriend for the child's death, and her daughter and Decuir's brother, of whom she also had custody, for her other injuries.

Defense lawyer Craig Colwart noted in his opening statement that Lively never confessed to the killing during hours of interviews with investigators. He said there was no direct evidence that Lively was responsible.

"You will see direct evidence of the end result, but no evidence of what actually happened," he said. "You will hear no evidence of who actually did this."

The trial is expected to continue through the weekend. Lively, 45, faces a possible death penalty if convicted.