MARKALA THOMPSON - 4 Months (2010) - Tampa FL

31-year old Ebony Thompson, accused of murdering her own child, showed no expression upon hearing the charges she's facing. The judge also refused to give her bail because of the severity of the charges filed against her. Last Tuesday detectives say Thompson was watching her 4-month old daughter at the home of the baby's father, Markus Harden. When Harden left to go to the store, police say she strangled her baby, Markala, because she wouldn't stop crying. Police say Thompson confessed to the crime during questioning. "I'm still in disbelief, " said family friend Leonard Smith. He says he has known Markus Harden, and Eboni Thompson for years. “From what I knew of her, she wasn't a troubled girl, she was always at home." Smith explained. But according to police, there was plenty of trouble in how Eboni Thompson cared for her children. The
department of children and families took her five children away from
her, and put them in their father's care, with the understanding that
Thompson could not have unsupervised visits with the children. But according to police, that's exactly what happened, resulting in this tragedy. Leaving friends and neighbors wondering why? “I was very concerned, it's a sad situation,” added neighbor Johnney Foster Sr.

TAMPA - Marcus L. Harden was at the store when his 4-month-old daughter was strangled at his home.

Still, he's partly to blame for her death, police said.

Harden, 38, was arrested Wednesday on one count of child neglect,
accused of leaving his daughter alone with her mother, Eboni Thompson.

"He created an environment that allowed the child to be abused," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The state Department of Children & Families had investigated
allegations of medical neglect relating to Thompson's children. The
children were removed from her care and placed with Harden.

Thompson was prohibited from unsupervised visits because she never completed a DCF case plan, authorities said.

Thompson, 31, was arrested Dec. 17 on first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges.

Police said Thompson choked Markala Thompson to death Dec. 14 because
she wouldn't stop crying and then pretended her daughter was alive when
Harden came home.

Harden checked on his daughter about an hour later and called 911 when he discovered she wasn't breathing.

Markala was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital. An autopsy showed she had three broken ribs and a broken arm, police said.

According to a child abuse investigator, the child also had
fingernail marks on her neck and bruises on her forehead. She "appeared
to be emaciated and small for her age. She also had right lung
pneumonia."

Harden initially denied leaving the children with Thompson. But he
later said Thompson had been staying at his home for a few days and had
watched the children while he ran errands, investigative notes state.

Harden and Thompson remained in jail today.

Thompson's four other children have been placed in foster care.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/jan/06/tampa-man-charged-with-neglect-after-daughters-dea/news-breaking/

As Judge Judy would say....THEY HAD ENOUGH CHILDREN!

Tampa Police Detectives have charged the father of a murdered
four-month old girl with child neglect.


Detectives have determined
through their investigation that Marcus Harden was neglectful when he
left Markala Thompson alone with her mother, Eboni Thompson. Thompson was not allowed to be left unsupervised with her child. Through
investigation, detectives later learned that the mother was living in
the home with the children despite the court order, and a warrant was
issued for Harden's arrest on January 5. A few weeks earlier,
while Harden was away from the home, Thompson allegedly choked the
crying infant until she stopped breathing. Thompson was arrested on December 17 and charged with First Degree Murder and two counts of Aggravated Child Abuse. Authorities found the father at a home Wednesday on East Emma Street and took him into custody.

Lawyer seeks to have charges thrown out against mother accused of strangling baby

TAMPA - A woman who allegedly confessed to killing her baby has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Eboni
Thompson, 33, of Tampa was arrested in December 2010 after police say
she choked her crying infant daughter until she stopped breathing.

Thompson
was alone with 4-month-old Markala at the child's father's home on
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. She was not allowed to be unsupervised with
the child.

In court on Thursday, Thompson's attorney said doctors found his client to be incompetent based on mental retardation.
He informed Judge Gregory Holder that he planned to file a motion to have murder and child abuse charges against her dismissed.


Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/lawyer-seeks-to-have-charges-thrown-out-against-mother-accused-of-strangling-baby#ixzz1uBSV8nkG

OMG, there should be a law that requires people like this to be sterilized. It has been proven that this woman is permanently incapable of being around children and yet she's had 5. She needs to be fixed so she doesn't kill anymore. And the idiot father should be prosecuted as well as why in the heck does he continue to impregnate a retarded woman who is harmful to children. Idiots!

Mother accused of murdering her baby poses legal dilemma

By John Barry, Times Staff Writer
Friday, June 8, 2012 3:31pm

TAMPA — Everyone agrees that a mother accused of killing her 4-month-old baby is incapable of defending herself in court. But what to do with Eboni Thompson, 32, who police say fatally choked her crying daughter, Markala, in 2010?

Should authorities toss out the murder charge? Let Thompson go live with her sister in Virginia? Or try to get her to overcome her mental illnesses and her mental retardation so she can one day stand trial?

There was little agreement Friday on which option is best.

A psychologist told Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder that Thompson's capacity to understand her murder charge and her legal rights could be "restored."

Two others said there was nothing to restore. They could treat her for her severe depression and her hallucinations, they said, but underneath was the mind of a 6-year-old. There is no cure for that.

Neither of those two saw a reason for Thompson to remain locked up.

The case has been tragic and difficult from the start. Thompson was forbidden unsupervised contact with the baby. But the father is accused of violating the order, leaving Thompson alone with Markala in December 2010. When he got home, the baby wasn't breathing.

Tampa police say Thompson put her hand around Markala's neck to make her stop crying. Later, a medical examiner found that Markala had three broken ribs and a broken arm.

The father, Marcus Harden, is charged with child neglect. Thompson is charged with first-degree felony murder.

In jail, Thompson has virtually shut down, doctors say. She sits and stares. She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder due to previous domestic violence. She hears voices. She hasn't fully responded to medications for depression and hallucinations. Her IQ is 55. Doctors say she's like a child entering the second grade.

Psychologist Cecilia Yocum said an intensive "competency restoration" program over the next 6 to 12 months could get her ready for trial.

Thompson would attend classes five days a week to help her understand legal terms like plea bargaining.

But psychologists Joseph Blitch and Mary Elizabeth Kasper said there was little chance Thompson could ever be made competent.

Her mental illnesses could be treated, Kasper said, but Thompson had years of special education as a child and has reached her limits of intelligence.

Thompson's older sister, Carol Williams, has offered to shelter Thompson in her home in Virginia and arrange for day care and counseling there.

But Judge Holder was unwilling to make that decision Friday. "I'm more concerned with the psychotic aspects," he said, especially "her safety and the safety of others."

His other option is to let mental health experts try for six months to restore her competency.

He said he would rule June 26.

Either way, a trial looks nowhere near happening.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/mother-accused-of-murdering-her-baby-poses-legal-dilemma/1234347