
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 4, 1995                   TAG: 9504040076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GRAND JURY INDICTS WOMEN IN CASE OF ABUSED CHILD

A Roanoke woman was charged Monday with child neglect for leaving her 18-month-old son in the care of a friend, who is accused of beating, burning and abusing the child over a three-month period.

Both women were indicted Monday by a grand jury in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Tonya Lashawn Basham, 23, is charged with felony child neglect and three counts of malicious wounding in connection with injuries that Anthony Harvey suffered while staying at her apartment on Hunt Avenue Northwest.

Harvey's mother, Tammy LaShawn Harvey, has told police that she left her son with Basham for several months while she looked for a place to live. But in charging her with neglect, prosecutors maintain that Harvey knowingly placed her son in danger by entrusting Basham to his care.

Tammy Harvey faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of felony child neglect, which applies to a parent or guardian who "by willful act or omission ... permits the life or health of a child to be seriously injured."

Authorities expect to arrest Harvey and Basham on the indictments sometime this week, Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Betty Jo Anthony said.

Authorities learned of the situation March 7, when rescue workers responded to a 911 call about a child not breathing at a Hunt Avenue apartment.

Anthony Harvey was taken to Community Hospital, where doctors found that he had been burned on his ear, buttocks and feet. He also was found to be suffering from internal bleeding to his head and bruises to his inner ear, an injury consistent with being struck in the head.

At the time, Basham told police that the child hurt his head from a fall on a sidewalk, and that he suffered the burns while playing with hot water in a bathtub.

Although authorities said they believe otherwise, they are not certain of exactly when the injuries occurred. The indictment charges that Basham caused them sometime between Dec. 1, 1994, and March 7.

Tammy Harvey has said earlier that she was aware that her son had been injured while in Basham's care, but that she took no immediate action. "I was in shock," she said.

Anthony Harvey's father, who, authorities said, had dated Basham at one point, was in prison during the time of his son's injuries.

After spending nearly three weeks in the hospital, Anthony Harvey was released to the custody of foster parents after a judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court granted temporary custody to the Department of Social Services.

by CNB