Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tonya L. Basham, 24, told police she became frustrated as she struggled to care for Anthony Harvey - her boyfriend's son by another woman - and her own daughter in a Hunt Avenue apartment in Northwest Roanoke.
Basham said she splashed Anthony with scalding tap water and burned him with a hot hair dryer in an attempt to discipline the toddler, not knowing that she was causing serious injuries.
But Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner argued that the bruises, bite wounds, burns, cuts and other injuries found on the child when he was rushed to Community Hospital were the result of malicious intent.
The abuse, which Gardner said spanned more than two months, came to the attention of police after a 911 call at 4 a.m. March 7, after Basham found Anthony lying unconscious in his bed.
At first, Basham said the child hurt himself, falling on a sidewalk and accidentally burning himself with hot water in the bathtub. But she gave different explanations later as police showed her graphic photographs of the injuries, one by one:
As for the bite mark on his left cheek, Basham said she bit the toddler after he bit her on the finger and would not let go.
As for the burns on his feet, Basham said she turned the hot water - later found to be 140 degrees - on Anthony to teach him a lesson after he climbed into the bathtub without permission.
As for his swollen and bruised hands, Basham said she slapped them with a shoe to keep Anthony from picking at the peeling skin on his badly burned feet.
As for the burns to his buttocks and left ear, Basham said she held a hot blow dryer to his skin because he was getting in her way as she tried to do her hair.
As for the cocaine found in the 17-month-old's urine, Basham said he may have been exposed to the drug when she visited a friend who was smoking crack.
As for other injuries - including bruising on the inside of Harvey's ear that indicated a severe blow to the head - Basham had no explanation.
"I guess I got sort of frustrated" with Anthony, she told police. "He constantly stays into something."
Basham showed little emotion Tuesday as Gardner played a videotape of the injuries, taken while Anthony was lying in a hospital bed, crying and in obvious pain.
Anthony's mother, Tammy L. Harvey, also faces charges of child neglect for entrusting her son to Basham's care while she looked for a place to live. Testimony Tuesday indicated that Harvey was aware of her son's injuries at one point but did not seek help. At the time of the abuse, Anthony's father was in prison.
Basham had been charged with child neglect and three counts of malicious wounding. Under an agreement reached in Roanoke Circuit Court, two of the charges were dropped after she pleaded guilty to child neglect and entered an "Alford plea" to a malicious wounding charge, meaning she pleaded guilty while maintaining her innocence.
Defense attorney Deborah Caldwell-Bono said that while her client may have exercised "extremely poor judgment," she did not act with malice. Basham faces up to 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Robert P. Doherty next month.
After spending several weeks in the hospital, Anthony was released to the custody of foster parents.
by CNB