AMILYA MARIAH HAIL - 17 Months (2011)/ Convicted: Mother; Tabitha Hail, Charged: Father; Robert Benjamin Ransom - Sikeston (S of Cape Girardeau) MO

Mother, boyfriend arrested after toddler found dead
Jan 27, 2011 9:55 AM


Tabitha Hail (Source: Sikeston DPS)

Robert Benjamin Ransom (Source: Sikeston DPS) Click image to enlarge

SIKESTON, Mo. — Two suspects were charged Wednesday for murder
in connection to the child death investigation of a 17-month-old girl.

Police and EMS were called to 502 E. Gladys Monday night in reference to
a medical emergency.  When they arrived, they found a 17-month-old girl
who was not breathing.
The child was later pronounced dead at Missouri Delta Medical
Center.  The Scott County coroner was notified and requested an autopsy be conducted.

The Department of Public Safety immediately began a child death
investigation along with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of
Drug and Crime Control, the Scott County Juvenile Office and Missouri
Children’s Division.  Initially, it was reported that the toddler was
asleep with the mother and boyfriend when they woke to find the child unresponsive.

Information gathered during the investigation and findings during the
medical examination led detectives to arresting two suspects Tuesday
night.  These two suspects are the mother and her boyfriend, who had
custody of the child at the time of the incident on Monday.  The Scott
County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges on the two Wednesday for death
of the 17-month-old girl.

Tabitha Hail, 25, of Sikeston, was charged with second degree murder,
abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree.

Robert Benjamin Ransom, 21, of Sikeston, was charged with second degree
murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree.

Both subjects were each given a cash bond of $150,000 through Scott
County Courts.  They are still in custody awaiting their arraignment.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Two-charged-with-death-of-17-month-old-girl-114671659.html

Sikeston mother enters plea in daughter's death; trial was to be in Jefferson Co.

December 14, 2012 4:07 pm  
By Leah Thorsen

HILLSBORO • A Sikeston mother charged with murdering her baby who was set to go to trial in Jefferson County — where she was be tried because she requested a change in venue  — pleaded guilty on Dec. 7 to endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to seven years in prison with credit for time served.

Tabitha Hail, 27, had been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of her daughter, 17-month-old Amilya Mariah Hail.

An indictment only said the baby died in January of 2011 of a strike to the abdomen that caused internal bleeding.

Robert Ransom, the child's father, is charged with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child. He is awaiting trial.

Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd handled Hail's case and is prosecuting Ransom.

A police report stated that an autopsy showed bruising on the baby's head and a kidney, as well as a laceration to the liver, according to a Jan. 27, 2011, article in the Southeast Missourian.

One liter of blood was found in her stomach and a child that age normally has 1.5 liters of blood in her whole body.

The police report also said that Hail and Ransom said they didn't know how their daughter was fatally injured, but that there were several inconsistencies in what they told police, such as when Hail left buy cigarettes at a gas station and meet a friend to borrow cash, according to the newspaper.


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sikeston-mother-enters-plea-in-daughter-s-death-trial-was/article_2a859ad9-4d6b-5d94-a29b-8acd84ba8a52.html