Dilliner woman’s child-abuse sentence vacated by state Superior Court
The state Superior Court found that there was not enough evidence to convict a Dilliner woman of seriously injuring her 2-month-old baby in 2013, and vacated her conviction and sentence.
Ashley Renee Cordwell, 21, was found guilty by a Greene County jury on the charges of recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child last year.
The charges stemmed from an incident in 2013 where Cordwell and her then boyfriend, the baby’s father Bobby Sammons, took the little girl to the hospital. Doctors found the baby’s femur bone was fractured and the infant had 17 other fractures including broken ribs and limbs. Doctors believed the injuries occurred sometime within three weeks of the hospital visit.
Court documents state that Sammons initially told hospital staff that the couple’s dogs had jumped on the bed and injured the baby, but said he fell on the girl the prior evening and dropped the baby out of her infant car seat when she was a couple weeks old.
After her conviction, Cordwell was sentenced to serve 60 days in prison followed by 36 months of intermediate punishment with 30 days on house arrest.
Her sentence included 33 months of regular supervision and attending monthly re-entry court for six months along with 300 hours of community service.
In her appeal, Cordwell argued there was insufficient evidence to show she caused injury to the baby, and that an expert testified that there was nothing more she could have done to discover the child was injured.
Superior Court Judge Anne E. Lazarus wrote in the opinion that there was nothing on the record to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Cordwell acted to neglect or endanger her child’s welfare.
Lazarus writes that Cordwell took the baby to every scheduled check up, complied with the doctor’s orders when the child was diagnosed with common medical issues like colic, none of the baby’s healthcare providers suspected or discovered any injuries prior to the hospital visit and Cordwell had no idea the baby fell out of her car seat when she was a few weeks old.
Lazarus also pointed out that doctors testified that the baby’s injuries occurred when Cordwell was at work and Sammons was caring for the child.
“Plainly stated, there is no evidence in the record to show that (Cordwell) consciously disregarded a known risk of great bodily harm to (the baby),” Lazarus wrote.
In a separate proceeding from Cordwell, Sammons pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering another person, endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. He was sentenced to serve two to five years in prison in 2014, and is currently out on parole.