The aunt of a 10-year-old boy told a Westmoreland County jury Friday that her nephew saw Lauren Maloberti strike her adopted son, Landon Maloberti, in the head with a frying pan.
“He said he saw what happened. They were in the kitchen and that she picked up a pan and that he saw her hit Landon in the head,” Christy Musser testified during the fourth day of Lauren Maloberti’s murder trial.
Maloberti, 36, of Delmont, is on trial on charges she caused the injuries that resulted in the death of 5-year-old Landon in early February 2023.
Musser said her nephew disclosed the events to her during a car ride. The boy related the incident to his aunt less than three weeks after Landon was hospitalized on Jan. 30, 2023, and two weeks after his death. Prosecutors allege the incident was part of a protracted period of physical and emotional abuse.
Musser’s testimony offered a more detailed description of what her nephew testified to earlier in the day.
Fourth grader Joey Maloberti, the biological son of Jacob Maloberti, said he arrived at his father’s Delmont home on Jan. 29 and went upstairs to watch television as Lauren Maloberti prepared lunch. He told jurors he heard a loud “bang” from the kitchen.
“It made a metal sound, like a pan. Landon was in the kitchen when I looked downstairs,” he testified.
Assistant District Attorney Adam Barr sat in a chair in front of the witness box as he questioned the boy about his memories of that day. Joey Maloberti told jurors his father was at work when he arrived and saw that Landon was confined to a corner in the living room. He later said he saw his stepbrother with “purplish blue” skin and described how his father and Lauren Maloberti put Landon in a shower to wake him before taking him to the hospital.
He also said it was not unusual for his stepmother to spray water on Landon as a punishment.
Joey Maloberti’s biological mother, Kimberly Maloberti, testified her son told her he did not witness Landon being hit, but saw him standing in front of Lauren as she held what he thought was the handle of a pan behind her back.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky suggested Kimberly Maloberti had a motive to testify against her ex-husband’s new wife. Kimberly Maloberti conceded her marriage to Jacob ended in 2018 after she learned of his infidelity with the woman she considered a family friend.
Prosecutors contend Landon died from blunt force trauma. A child abuse advocate testified the child was a victim of torture that included physical and emotional violence, malnutrition, and isolation, and was denied prompt medical attention.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Jennifer Hammers said an autopsy revealed Landon’s injuries were severe. He sustained bruises on his arms, legs, chest, shoulders, face and skull, including a catastrophic brain injury.
“When you added them all up there were over 100 individual injuries,” Hammers testified. She said most of those injuries appeared to be inflicted.
Lauren Maloberti has denied allegations she abused her adopted son. Witnesses testified she told medical personnel that Landon had fallen and hit his head.
Defense attorney Tim Dawson raised the first hint of another explanation during his questioning of Hammers.
“Is it possible it was a single blow to the head from a large individual?” Dawson asked. Hammers conceded the suggestion was possible, as was a scenario where the head injury could have been sustained up to three days before Landon was hospitalized.
Jacob Maloberti, 36, is also charged with murder. He is being prosecuted separately and is expected to testify against his wife when the trial resumes next week before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears.