Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of his then-girlfriend, Pavelka.

The trial started with Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel giving his opening statements to the jury, during which he broadly walked them through what they can expect to see and hear from evidence and witnesses. He also acknowledged the graphic nature of that information and reaffirmed the claim that it is Aarn Trout who is responsible.

“First and foremost, I want to apologize to you for what you’re about to see and hear,” Weichel said to the jury. “Nobody should have to see and hear what this defendant did to 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell. Two-year-old Jayde Lynn McDonnell was tortured, brutally beaten, savagely and mercilessly beaten and tortured until she could hold out no more.”

After providing his opening statement, Weichel called Anthony Utt, a detective sergeant at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, as his first witness. Utt was a central figure in the investigation into McDonnell’s death and had extensive interviews with both Trout and Pavelka.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Witness Amanda Tolen answers questions from Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel during her testimony before the jury in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Wednesday. Tolen is a unit tech at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena and was among the first people at the hospital with whom Adrienne Pavelka interacted when Pavelka brought the corpse of her daughter, Jayde McDonnell, to the hospital.

During his testimony, Utt explained to the jury the chronology of his involvement with the investigation as well as the evidence that police secured.

After Utt concluded, Amanda Tolen, a unit tech at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, was called in as the next witness. During her testimony, Tolen tearfully recalled seeing Pavelka rush into the hospital with McDonnell’s dead body wrapped in a blue towel on July 22, 2022, and Pavelka’s story of the cause of McDonnell’s death at the hands of Trout.

The next witness to be called by the prosecutor was Nicholas Harrison, the operations supervisor for emergency medical services at MyMichigan Health and the medical legal death investigator for Alpena County. Harrison was responsible for taking the photos of McDonnell’s corpse.

During his testimony, Harrison’s photos of McDonnell were put on a projector in front of the jury. He then identified the numerous injuries present all over McDonnell’s body as well as other notable elements present in the picture, such as bandages or medical equipment.

Following Harrison, the next witness to be called was Shelby Martin, a friend of Pavelka’s family. During her testimony, Martin recounted the day that she picked up Pavelka’s two other children to take them to Pavelka’s mother’s house.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Anthony Utt, a detective sergeant at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, answers questions from Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel before the jury in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Wednesday. Utt helped investigate Jayde McDonnell’s death.

The final witness called on Wednesday was Pavelka.

During her testimony, Pavelka explained her history leading up to her relationship with Trout, as well as the details of his alleged abuse and assault on McDonnell, leading up to an incident on July 19, 2022, in which Trout allegedly committed the assault that would lead to McDonnell’s death.

After Pavelka’s questioning by Weichel, Judge Laura Frawley ended the trial for the day, leaving Pavelka’s cross-examination by defense attorney Bill Pfeifer to begin today.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Anthony Utt, a detective sergeant at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, during his testimony before the jury in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Wednesday, points out Aaron Trout’s car in a video showing the front of MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Shelby Martin answers questions from defense attorney Bill Pfeifer during her testimony before the jury in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Wednesday.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Witness Nicholas Harrison answers questions from Alcona County Prosecutor Thomas Weichel during his testimony before the jury in Alcona County’s 23rd Circuit Court on Wednesday. Harrison is the operations supervisor for emergency medical services at MyMichigan Health as well as a medical legal death investigator for Alpena County. He was the one responsible for photographing Jayde McDonnell’s corpse.