Lively Crue Colindres-Nunez was just seven months old when she passed away from injuries caused by her father, Corbin Lee Nunez.
Robbinsville – Over 3 ½ years after his arrest, a local man pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder and felony child abuse in Graham County Superior Court.
Corbin Lee Nunez, 25, entered his pleas Sept. 18 and will serve 300-372 months (25-31 years) in prison for the murder of seven-month-old Lively Crue Colindres-Nunez on Feb. 10, 2022. He was also sentenced to 64-89 months (roughly 5-7 years) on the separate count of child abuse.
Nunez will receive credit for 1,305 days of pre-trial confinement. He was represented by court-appointed attorney M. Victoria Jayne. Assistant District Attorney Jim Moore served as the prosecutor.
The case was set to go to trial next month.
Timeline of events
Court records show that first responders were dispatched to 203 Five Point Road, Unit No. 2 at 10:13 p.m., on Feb. 10, 2022, after a call was received about a patient who was "acting weird." The apartment is located 2/10 of a mile from the Graham County EMS base, so paramedics arrived four minutes later.
Nunez met the responders and took them into the apartment, where Lively's mother Elbia Colindres was holding the infant. Lively was still breathing, but the patient record said she was "limp and unresponsive."
While responders waited on a Life Force helicopter to arrive, they attempted to solicit a reaction and even tried to insert an IV, which received no reflexive response from Lively.
The baby was turned over to Life Force responders at 10:55 p.m., where she was flown to UT Medical Center in Knoxville. Lively passed away from what was deemed "non-accidental injury" at 4:04 p.m., Feb. 12, 2022.
Upon arrival of Graham County EMS personnel Feb. 10, Lively was noted as having a small, blue bruise over her left eye; a small, yellow bruise between her eyes; a small scratch on her right eyelid; and a small dark bruise under her right eye. Elbia told paramedics that Lively had rolled off the bed the previous day and struck her forehead on the carpeted floor of the apartment.
Det. Graham Page with the Graham County Sheriff's Office was assigned the case and interviewed Lively's physician at UT Medical Center before the baby's passing, who said Elbia had relayed the same story about the fall to the doctor and said it had occurred when Elbia got off the bed to get a diaper for Lively. The bed was said to be 10-12 inches off the floor.
Elbia also told the doctor that Corbin had expressed frustration using social media platforms Facebook and Snapchat the night of Lively's death about the baby's refusal to eat or drink for him, while Elbia attended classes at Southwestern Community College. Page's search warrant for Nunez's social media accounts said that Elbia told the doctor that Lively refusing to eat or drink for him was "an ongoing issue."
Nunez told the physician in a separate interview that Lively was asleep when Elbia left for her classes Feb. 10, 2022 and that the infant ate for him that same evening. His version of events was that Lively played with him before he placed Lively in her "chair." Later in the night is when Nunez told the doctor that he looked over and noticed that the baby was "looking funny," with the doctor demonstrating to Page that Lively's arms and legs were stretched out, rather than limp.
The stories merge back together with Nunez calling Elbia and stating, "Something is wrong with Lively, she isn't acting right."
Elbia replied, "Why did you call me? You need to call 911?"
It is unclear from court documents when this call occurred, but Elbia is heard on the 911 recording from Nunez arriving at home, shortly before first responders were on-scene.
The doctor at UT Medical Center told Page that medical staff inside the facility "believed Lively had been assaulted, causing massive brain trauma and bleeding." A rapid acceleration and deceleration injury to the brain was believed to be the culprit, which is commonly known as "Shaken Baby Syndrome."
Page attended Lively's autopsy, which was held Feb. 14, 2022 at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. Medical Examiner Dr. Mark Giffen provided Page with his preliminary findings after the autopsy concluded: Lively's death was caused by multiple, blunt-force trauma to the head. She had a large amount of bleeding around her brain, which was not consistent with the fall off the bed that purportedly took place Feb. 9, 2022. Giffen also told Page that the trauma had occurred "minutes to a couple hours" before paramedics were dispatched and that the trauma had resulted in a "rapid decline of health."
Nunez was arrested and charged Feb. 21, 2022.