ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 29, 1996.
Katina Smith has been convicted of child neglect. A story and
headline in some editions of Thursday's paper incorrectly reported the
charge.
The statement a young mother gave to police shortly after she brought her infant to the hospital helped a Roanoke County circuit judge convict the woman Wednesday of child neglect.
In October, Katina Smith, 23, told a detective that she feared the games she played with her 2-month-old daughter might have injured her.
On Wednesday, Smith denied inflicting the broken bones and bruises on her child, saying the statement she gave to police was a frantic attempt to explain the inexplicable.
"I assumed that because I played with her that I had caused her injuries," Smith told Judge Robert P. Doherty. "I didn't know what to do. I was in complete shock. ... I wasn't worried about anything but her."
Smith testified that on Oct. 26 she left her child alone with her husband, Brian, for an hour. When she returned home, the infant was crying uncontrollably.
"I brought her in the kitchen, placed her in a swing, and she went absolutely nuts," Smith said.
The child was already suffering from bronchitis and was recovering from a recent hernia operation. When the Smiths noticed the child was having difficulty breathing, they took her to Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley.
Doctors discovered the baby had several broken ribs. They also found bruising around her eyes and head and broken bones in her arms and legs. Some of the fractures had recently been inflicted, while others had already begun to heal, according to testimony.
Vinton Sgt. Mark Vaught was called to the hospital that night. He testified that after conducting preliminary interviews he attempted to leave the hospital several times.
But each time Katina Smith asked him to stay. She then told Vaught that earlier that day she had tried to stop her daughter from crying by bouncing the child on her knee and playing patty-cake.
When Vaught asked Smith if she was under stress and wanted therapy to work through the pressures of parenting a sickly child, Smith agreed. Smith's baby was premature and suffered from chronic bouts of crying and irritability.
"I don't want to hurt her, I didn't mean to hurt her," Smith said in her statement. "I need some [help] because I don't want to hurt her."
Smith's interview with police was a statement of admission, Doherty said. But he reduced the charge against Smith from a Class 4 felony to Class 6, decreasing the maximum punishment she faces from 10 to five years.
The child is living with Smith's mother-in-law in Thaxton. Doctors testified that the child has recovered from her injuries and is doing well.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced May 6.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB