MODESTO — Jurors in the murder trial of Kelle Anne Brassart let out an audible gasp as they watched video footage Thursday of the defendant’s unattended 2-year-old daughter jump into a swimming pool — a leap that would result in the child’s death. 

Brassart, 45, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder and felony child endangerment charges stemming from the Sept. 12 drowning of Daniellé Pires, who was one week shy of her third birthday.

Brassart is currently being held at the Stanislaus County Public Safety Facility on $2 million bail.

Deputy District Attorney Sara Sousa, during her direct examination of Turlock Police Detective Gina Giovacchini, played 52 minutes of footage taken from the security camera at 4598 Fireside Drive.

The first half of the video shows the child running about in a diaper and happily poking the surface of the water with a stick. But at the 26-minute mark the child glides into the water from the shallow end of the pool and immediately begins to struggle. One of the family’s dogs anxiously follows the child’s movements.

Eventually, the toddler propelled herself toward the side of the pool, but was unable to climb out. Still thrashing, she drifted back to the center of the pool.

Five minutes later, the girl was motionless, and her body floated in the pool for another 15 minutes until Turlock Police Officer Nicholas Gutierrez pulled her from the water, just after 3:30 p.m. that day.

Jurors and members of the gallery could be seen wiping away tears. One juror sat motionless, her palms pressed together prayer-like with her forefingers resting against her lips.

Previously, jurors had only seen police body-camera footage that showed a fleeting image of the girl being pulled from the water.

Brassart, seated in a wheelchair, began to cry as she watched images of her daughter fighting for her life. The defendant eventually put her head down on the table, averting her eyes from the screen and occasionally dabbing at her nose with a tissue. 

At the conclusion of the video, court was adjourned until Monday at 10 a.m., and the visibly shaken jurors and alternates quietly filed out of Department 1.

Before the video, Giovacchini testified about her interview with the witness on Sept. 12. 

Sousa asked Giovacchini if Brassart had known how long the child had been outside. The detective replied that Brassart told her she did not know. Brassart also said she could not go outside because she was in a wheelchair, according to the detective.

When Giovacchini asked Brassart why she didn’t attempt to crawl outside, she told her, “I could have tried.”

Court adjourned before defense attorney Franz Criego had a chance to cross-examine the detective.

Earlier on Thursday, Denise Healy, Ph.D., who is the CEO of Streets2Schools, testified about Brassart’s completion of a 52-week court-ordered parenting class. Sousa tried to establish that, because of the course work, Brassart should have known better than to leave a child unattended for more than 40 minutes.

Criego chipped away at Healy’s testimony, asking if the course offered a unit dedicated to water safety.

“No, we are not water-safety specialists,” Healy said.