Evidence concerns mount in Arizona child murder case

PHOENIX - Concerns remain over the future of a child murder trial in the Phoenix area after evidence tracking issues with Goodyear Police came to light.

Meanwhile, the couple accused of a 7-year-old girl's death is no longer in custody, and on March 26, a hearing for the case was held.

What we know:

An evidentiary hearing has yet to be scheduled in Germayne and Lisa Cunningham's case. Lawyers for the defense says they need to interview four identified witnesses, including the police chief for Goodyear. Meanwhile, the chance for a mistrial still exists.

The backstory:

Germayne and Lisa Cunningham are accused of killing Germayne's 7-year-old daughter, Sanaa, back in 2017. Sanaa died at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, and her autopsy showed injuries consistent with abuse.

The case, meanwhile, is now in limbo as the state responds to requests for evidence from the defense.

"The first request goes back nine years, so we are still working on getting those emails out, but we are disclosing those as we go," prosecutors said.

The requests come after Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Patricia Starr called for a recess in the trial of Germayne and Lisa Cunningham due to evidence tracking issues within the Goodyear Police Department.

Dig deeper:

The Goodyear Police Department's lead detective on the case reportedly identified and shared concerns regarding property and evidence back in January. Court documents indicate the detective referred to the inconsistencies as an issue that "may be a massive s***storm."

The discovery led to new witness requests, including for Goodyear Police Chief Brian Issitt.

"He was somebody who we had originally taken off our list, we put him back on in light of some of the email disclosures we received yesterday," the defense said.

The defense claims multiple people within the police department were aware of fraudulent entries created by the digital evidence log system.

This case was discussed at Wednesday's press conference with Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

"We're litigating this. Obviously, we're very concerned about this case in particular right now because we have an impaneled jury," Mitchell said.

That jury is now faced with potential conflicts due to the delay in proceedings.

"I think it becomes less and less feasible that we're gonna finish with this jury, which is very unfortunate, but it is what it is," Judge Starr said.

What's next:

Judge Starr says the earliest the jury will return is April 13. During the hearing on March 26, the state made it clear they will not dismiss and refile the case to avoid an evidentiary hearing.