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

DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995                   TAG: 9505150059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WOMAN ADMITS BITING CHILD

Tonya L. Basham admitted to police that she bit a small child on the cheek and burned him by holding a blow dryer to his skin - in both anger and carelessness - as she cared for him at her Roanoke apartment, a police detective testified Friday.

After hearing the testimony, a judge decided not to lower Basham's bond.

Basham, who is being held in the Roanoke City Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond, is charged with child neglect and three counts of malicious wounding in connection with injuries suffered by 18-month-old Anthony Harvey.

Rescue workers found the toddler lying unconscious in his bed at a Hunt Avenue Northwest apartment the night of March 7. His badly beaten and bruised body also was scarred by burns to his ear, buttocks and feet.

Harvey's mother, Tammy L. Harvey, also has been charged with felony child neglect for entrusting her son to Basham's care. She, too, is being held in the city jail, unable to make bond.

At a hearing Friday in Roanoke Circuit Court, defense attorney Deborah Caldwell-Bono asked Judge Robert P. Doherty to lower Basham's bond to $10,000.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner objected, raising concerns that Basham planned to live with her 1-year-old child in her mother's home. "This court cannot take a risk to let her harm another child," Gardner said.

The lawyers' arguments came after Detective T.W. Spence testified about a statement he took from Basham. The 23-year-old woman said she bit Anthony on the cheek after he bit her on the finger and would not let go. And she said burns to his ear and buttocks were caused by the hot air of a blow dryer, which she used to push him out of her way in the bathroom.

While Basham said she acted purposefully, Spence said, she added that she did not intend to seriously hurt the child.

As for other burns and bruises, Basham has told police that the 18-month-old suffered them accidentally when he played in a bathtub full of hot water, and later when he fell on a sidewalk.

In testimony Friday, Basham's mother suggested the injuries could have happened before her daughter agreed to do Harvey a favor by taking care of her child. "She wanted to take care of him because they were homeless," Basham's mother said. "Tonya wanted to take care of that child until his mother could provide food and shelter for him."

After spending several weeks in the hospital, Anthony Harvey was released to the custody of the Department of Social Services and has since been placed in foster care.

by CNB