Mother Of Slain Toddler Ordered To Stand Trial On Abuse Charges
CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) -- A Lincoln County judge on Friday ordered the mother of a toddler who died after being hit in the stomach to stand trial on charges of child abuse and enabling child abuse.<br/><br/>Special
Friday, April 27th 2007, 11:43 am
By: News On 6
CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) -- A Lincoln County judge on Friday ordered the mother of a toddler who died after being hit in the stomach to stand trial on charges of child abuse and enabling child abuse.
Special District Judge Dawson Engle bound Raye Dawn Smith over for trial in the death of Kelsey Smith-Briggs after a three-hour preliminary hearing, the Shawnee News-Star and The Oklahoman reported.
After five witnesses, including a Department of Human Services caseworker, Smith's mother and a doctor, took the stand, Engle said enough evidence had been presented for Smith to stand trial.
Kelsey died Oct. 11, 2005, of suspected child abuse, with the official cause of death being blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
In early February, Kelsey's stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, 26, who was originally charged with first-degree murder, accepted an agreement and pleaded guilty to one count of enabling child abuse.
Porter, who is divorced from Smith, is serving a 30-year prison term.
Smith, 26, was initially charged in February 2006 with enabling child abuse by injury and child neglect but those charges were amended to one count of child abuse, or in the alternative, one count of enabling child abuse.