Wilson County parents charged in beating death of 4-year-old

By Nicole Young

THE TENNESSEAN

Neighbors say they didn't even know a Wilson County pediatrician and her husband had adopted a second child until they saw her being rushed out of the couple's home and into a waiting ambulance earlier this month.

Now the doctor and her husband are facing child abuse and murder charges as a result of the child's death.

Dr. Deborah Wen-Yee Mark, 39, and Steven Mark, 47, were indicted by a Wilson County grand jury Monday in the beating death of the 4-year-old girl.

Mt. Juliet police said Monday that Deborah Mark, 39, was the one who delivered the fatal blow to the head of her newly adopted daughter Kairissa on July 1.

The child died at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt one day later.

Investigators declined to comment specifically on the extent of the child's injuries or how they were inflicted. They said Kairissa had been abused over a period of time, but no specific timeline was given.

Mark and her husband, Steven, 47, a stay-at-home dad, adopted the girl from China through an unnamed Nashville adoption agency. She had been in the United States since April 9, police said.

"It's heart-wrenching," said detective Bonnie Harris, lead investigator on the case. "It appears the couple's 8-year-old daughter may have witnessed some of the abuse, but we don't think she was ever abused."

The older daughter, who is the couple's biological child, has been placed in the custody of the Department of Children's Services.

Harris presented her case to a Wilson County grand jury Monday morning.

Her team has been working the case almost nonstop since the little girl was

discovered unresponsive inside her home in the Autumn Ridge subdivision in Providence. Steven Mark called 911, and the child was transported by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt.

"I've had them drop everything else and make this the lead," said Mt. Juliet Police Chief Andy Garrett. "This is one of those cases you want to forget, but can't. You never will.

"It's affected everyone in the department because she was a defenseless child."

Harris said she did not know how long Deborah Mark had been in practice at Centennial Pediatrics in Lebanon. She and her husband had moved to Mt. Juliet about two years ago from New Jersey. Records indicate that Deborah Mark had been licensed to practice there before she moved to Tennessee.

On Monday, a call to Centennial Pediatrics seeking comment was not returned.

Both Marks were arrested after their indictment Monday morning and posted bond a short time afterward, police said. Deborah Mark is free on $150,000 bond. Her husband is free on $100,000 bond.

A knock on their Laurel Hills Drive home went unanswered.

Neighbors said the two-story brown brick home has been vacant since the incident on July 1.

Ryan Cernoch's house backs up to the Marks' home.

"I never heard anything, and I never saw the little girl," he said. "I only thought they had the one daughter, the older one. I only saw her out walking the dog with her parents."

Cernoch said he met Steven Mark only one time but thought the man was nice enough.

"He'd wave during his walks and when he was out doing yardwork," he said. "This whole thing has really been a shock for the neighborhood. I did not see anything like this coming from them."

Neighbor Lauren Johnson said the couple weren't really involved in the neighborhood.

Like Cernoch, she didn't know the Marks had adopted a new child.

"I never thought they would do anything like this," she said. "We live in a safe neighborhood. Things like this just don't happen here."

Deborah Mark is charged with first-degree murder, perpetration of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child abuse and four counts of child abuse.

Steven Mark is charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect, criminal responsibility for aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault by failure to protect, four counts of child abuse and accessory after the fact.

Both are due in court for arraignment on July 23.