DEVON EPPS - 7 yo (2007) - Greenville SC

Greenville SC ---- After a 29-year-old woman was sentenced Tuesday for killing her son, the boy's grandmother called the woman "a monster."Amanda
Raegan Smith had claimed a carjacker killed 7-year-old son, Devon Epps.



She pleaded guilty to lesser charges Tuesday afternoon.Her sentence is one year longer than her son's life.Smith
pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice.
Smith entered the pleas under Alford Guidelines, which is equivalent
to pleading "no contest," according to 13th Circuit public defender John
Mauldin."We acknowledge that the state's evidence, as summarized
by...Solicitor (Cheryl) Aaron, would have established a strong
likelihood of a conviction," Mauldin said in court.Mauldin said it would have been very difficult for Smith to prove that she "did not do something.""Amanda has maintained her innocence from the moment of the 911 call and, in fact, that never has wavered," said Mauldin.Mauldin asked the judge to consider imposing a concurrent sentence."This is a terrible tragedy and it is forever and it can't be taken back," said Judge Ned Miller.Miller
sentenced Smith to five years for involuntary manslaughter and three
years for obstructing justice, to be served consecutively."Eight
years isn't long enough for someone who killed a child," David Epps,
Devon's paternal grandfather, said after the hearing.David Epps and his wife said Devon's father was too upset to attend the hearing.Patricia Epps, Devon's paternal grandmother, said she did not agree with the sentence either."She
took our grandbaby and now we have no grandbaby and I hate her for it,"
said Patricia Epps. "I hope she rots in prison and I hope she rots in
hell."Smith has been in jail since she was charged with murder in
November 2007. With credit for time served, Smith will serve a little
over five years in prison.Three months earlier, Smith had told
authorities a knife-wielding carjacker forced her to drive to a
secluded, wooded area, forced her out of the car, locked the car doors
and pressed a pillow on Devon's face.Authorities said autopsy results showed Devon died of asphyxia due to neck pressure.Prosecutors said that Smith’s version of the story did not match evidence collected from the scene."Law
enforcement exhausted every lead of the defendant's story. As each
lead was pursued, contradictions began to be apparent between the
forensics at the scene and the carjacking story," said prosecutor Cheryl
Aaron.Aaron said one of the most significant inconsistencies came from the pathologist's report."The
victim was on his stomach for at least 30 minutes prior to disocvery by
EMS," said Aaron. "The defendant's carjacker story places the death of
the victim on his back in the back of the car minutes before EMS
arrived."Aaron added investigators did not find any evidence of a third party at the crime scene.A judge issued a gag order in the case sometime back, so no one connected to the case had been able to talk about it.Smith’s trial on the murder charge had been scheduled to start next week.Smith’s family did not comment after the sentencing.Mauldin issued a written statement afterward:"Nothing
that anyone can do will change the tragic events on August 12, 2007 and
the loss of young Devon Epps. However, perhaps this court proceeding
will allow the families involved and all of their friends and supporters
to begin the healing and move forward."