ELYRIA, Ohio — Nicole Diar went bowling, danced the electric slide, drank, and sang "YMCA" on a karaoke machine in a dive bar only hours after she attended the funeral of her only child, Jacob, several witnesses testified Thursday.

"She was having a good old time," said Samantha Garcia, one of Diar's childhood friends.

Garcia told jurors she was both dumbfounded and disgusted as she watched Diar behave in a manner she thought was inappropriate for a grieving mother.

"It was hurtful to see her there after she buried her son," Garcia said.

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Diar, a 30-year-old Lorain, Ohio, woman, is facing the death penalty for the murder of her son Jacob, who was 4 the time of his death on Aug. 27, 2003.

Prosecutors say Diar was weary of the burden of parenthood and asphyxiated her son, then set her house on fire to destroy any evidence of foul play.

Because the blaze was so powerful, almost all potential direct evidence literally went up in smoke. With about one day left in their case, prosecutors have so far focused on circumstantial evidence from neighbors, babysitters and former friends of Diar's to show that she was a neglectful mother more interested in partying than parenthood.

Though several investigators have established the fire was arson, there is no direct link to Diar, other than her presence in the house at the time.

In a unique strategy, the state also has used Diar's history as a burn victim against her.

Diar was severely burned on 22 percent of her body as a 4-year-old and still has visible scars on her face. Prosecutors say that the defendant's experience speaking as a burn victim and attending burn camp for children made her knowledgeable enough about fires to set the blaze that destroyed her son's body.

Diar's lawyers have said that Jacob was killed by an unknown intruder, perhaps with a grudge against his mother, who then lit the house on fire. The defense has argued repeatedly that though Diar may not have been the best parent and mourned the loss of her child in an unconventional way, those facts do not make her a killer.

Sitting across from her former friend, Garcia said that she had not talked to Diar since after the funeral because it seemed more celebratory than mournful, and it made her uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you think [Diar] seemed upset?" prosecutor Anthony Cillo said.

"She had a smile on her face," Garcia said.

Joyce Harkness, whose son often played with Jacob, was at the event and testified she was also surprised by Diar's behavior.

"I saw Nicole on the stage. She was singing karaoke," Harkness said.

Harkness, who broke down in tears when she spoke about Diar dancing the "electric slide," remembers imagining how she would have reacted to her own son's death.

"If I lost my child, I would be in the psych ward," she said.

Two of Jacob Diar's babysitters testified Thursday about his mother's instructions for them to give the child codeine to put him to sleep. But on cross-examination, Chris Shreevs contradicted several statements he made to police about who was with him when he saw Jacob take the pills.

Thursday's testimony may have been too much for the defendant. Diar left the courthouse after the lunch break propped up on the arms of family members and supporters.

Judge Kosma Glavas excused Diar, who is free on $1 million bail, so she could to go to the hospital to be treated for dehydration.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case Friday and defense attorney Jack Bradley has indicated he will present a brief defense lasting about a day, meaning that jurors could begin deliberating as early as next Wednesday.

Court TV Extra is streaming the trial live on the Web.