Jan. 15--Witnesses testified in court Thursday that the child Richard Schirnhofer is accused of abusing and molesting cried every time he held her.

"That indicated something wasn't quite right, it didn't sit well with me," the child's grandmother, Tiffanie Carpenter, testified.

Schirnhofer, 19, and his girlfriend Jessica Carpenter were arrested January 2009, after Yolo County Child Protective Services workers noticed signs of abuse on Jessica's 7-month-old daughter. The baby reportedly had bruises on her jaw, cheek, ears, inner thighs and genitals.

Jessica is serving a six-year, eight-month prison sentence after being convicted on five counts of child abuse. Schirnhofer sat through the second day of his trial on Thursday on charges of committing sexual acts with a child under the age of 10, willful injury to a child, corporal injury to a child and inflicting great bodily injury to a child.

Tiffanie told the jury Thursday that Jessica has struggled with depression, and drug and alcohol addiction since she was 14. When Jessica became pregnant at 17, she was scared but committed to her child.

However, Tiffanie said, "When the drinking started again and Richard got involved, that baby was in hell."

Jessica and her baby lived with her cousin Shawna Gallardo on two separate occasions. The first time was before Jessica met Schirnhofer and for a short time after they started dating, the couple moved in with Gallardo.

A week after Richard moved in, Gallardo saw what she described as a black-and-blue, hand-shaped bruise on the baby's face that spanned from her eyelid to her neck.

The baby's attitude changed when Schirnhofer was around and would always start to cry when he was near, Gallardo said.

The crying was the source of Schirnhofer's frustration, according to several witnesses testimony, who said he would repeatedly yell at the child to "shut up."

An acquaintance of Schirnhofer, Jason Lourenco, said on one occasion he witnessed Schirnhofer grab the baby by the front of her onesie and hold her in the air while yelling at her to "stop being fussy."

"It was his attitude and demeanor toward that little girl; he didn't like that baby," Lourenco said.

Jessica's friend, Alexa Vendowski, said she witnessed a similar event in which Schirnhofer grabbed the infant by her clothes and carried her that way into the bedroom, where he dropped her on the bed.

Another cousin of Jessica's, Melissa Siquig, said on a half-a-dozen occasions Schirnhofer "yanked" the baby by her leg when she was trying to crawl.

"He thought it was funny and that he was playing," Siquig said.

Shortly after the bruises appeared on the child's face, Tiffanie called child protective services in Modoc County, and Gallardo asked the couple to leave because she feared for the safety of her own children.

They came to Woodland to move in with Schirnhofer's mother in October 2008.

A few weeks later Tiffanie received a call from Jessica, who was crying and saying Schirnhofer was hurting the baby. Tiffanie called WPD, who responded but determined the baby was safe.

Two days later Jessica attempted suicide by overdosing on Tylenol PM, and the baby is taken into protective custody, where social workers reported evidence of physical abuse.

The trial continues today in Yolo Superior Court.

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