A senior nurse appointed by the Department of Child Safety to care for her nephew hadn't taken him to the doctor for almost five years before he died covered in bruises, a court has heard.
Curtis James Powell, 10, was found dead in a home in south-east Brisbane suburb Mackenzie on July 20, 2015, by another family member, who called an ambulance.
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Arrests over boy's death
Two people are arrested over the death of a 10-year-old boy at Mackenzie, south of Brisbane in July, 2015. Nine News
Mater Hospital head of infection control and prevention Jodie Maree Powell and long-term partner James Colin Burnham are accused of the manslaughter of her nephew, child cruelty and interfering with a corpse.
On Wednesday afternoon, a court heard Curtis had been vomiting and sick in bed immediately before his death from pneumonia.
Prosecutor Sergeant Josh Kelly said the boy had "many bruises", which were "inconsistent with normal sibling or pet interactions or even child's play".
"The body regions that raised the most suspicion are the back, the buttocks, the groin and the back of the legs," he said.
Sergeant Kelly said police had found a fork with Curtis' blood on it after his death.
Both accused faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday but only Ms Powell applied for bail.
The court heard she could face a jail term of eight to 10 years if convicted.
The 43-year-old sat in the dock with her back to the public gallery for the whole proceeding, long, black hair spilling down the back of her prison-issue jumper.
The court heard she had been appointed by the Department of Child Safety to provide care to Curtis in June 2009 but Medicare records showed he hadn't received medical care since September 2010.
In arguing for bail, defence solicitor Brittany White said her client had no criminal history and knew about the police investigation for 18 months but hadn't tried to leave the jurisdiction.
Ms White told the court it was hard to comment on the prosecution's case, that the nurse of 15 or 16 years had failed to care for her nephew, without seeing the coroner's report.
She said her client no longer had contact with children and was not an unacceptable risk of failing to appear, reoffending or interfering with witnesses.
But magistrate Penelope Hay rejected the bail application, remanding Ms Powell in custody until her next court appearance on February 13.
She said the defendant had a strong prima facie case to answer "particularly given her qualifications and the serious state of ill health of the child in relation to the assessment that it was pneumonia that caused the child's death in circumstances where no medical attention was received".
Ms Hay noted the injuries could not be readily explained and had not been treated or brought to the attention of the "appropriate entities".
Mr Burnham, 35, was also remanded in custody, to apply for bail on December 23.