NATALYNN HAMRICK - 11 Months (2/2011) - Hampton (Langley AFB) VA

The father of an 11-month-old girl who died Thursday denies that his wife killed the child.
"All I can say is that the mom didn't do it," Eric Hamrick said Friday. He declined to comment further.

Police charged 23-year-old Carliece Hamrick Thursday with killing her daughter, Natalynn Hamrick. Hamrick,
of the first block of West County Street, was charged with murder and
felony child abuse, according to police. Natalynn died at 11:47 a.m. Thursday.
She had been in critical condition at Children's Hospital of
the King's Daughters since Saturday. Hamrick is an airman 1^st class stationed at Langley Air Force base.
She is assigned to the 633^rd Security Forces Squadron, which is considered military police.
Hamrick has been stationed there since June 2009, according to Rick Haverinen, spokesman for Langley.
Military pay stops when a person is jailed.

HAMPTON — In a police interview room, Carliece Hamrick held a small cloth doll in her hands and shook it back and forth.

It was Jan. 29, and she told police that was how she shook her
11-month-old daughter hours before, as shown on DVD in court Thursday.
Hamrick was trying to get Natalynn Hamrick in her car seat, but she
wouldn't stop crying.

As she shook her, Hamrick told police she said, "stop crying, stop crying."




Natalynn finally stopped
crying and went to sleep. Five days later she died of inflicted brain
injury caused by being shaken, according to a medical examiner.
A judge found Hamrick, 24, guilty of felony murder and felony child abuse in Natalynn's death.

When Hampton Circuit Judge Bonnie Jones announced the verdict,
Hamrick began crying and buried her head in her hands. Her chained right
leg shook under the table.

Hamrick's interview with police was played during the trial. It was
taken by Hampton police during one of their initial interviews with
Hamrick. During the interview, Hamrick told Detective Jim Curtis she
lost control. She had several errands to run that day and had just left a
family counseling session. After the Jan. 29 session on Cunningham
Drive, she walked to the parking lot with Natalynn and her
three-year-old sister around 2:45 p.m.

"I have two kids," Hamrick said in the recording. "One is in the
terrible three's and the other one's beginning to walk. It's like
everything is going a mile minute."

She said as she was trying to put Natalynn in the car seat her other daughter tried to sit there instead.

"I didn't want to," Hamrick said. "I tried … I picked her up … I
shook her back and forth," she told Curtis, as she wept. "I put her in
her seat. Two minutes later she was asleep."

Curtis asked her at what speed she had shaken Natalynn.

"I know I did it really fast," she told him.

Hamrick then dropped the girls off at a babysitter's home around 3
p.m, according to court testimony. The babysitter, Cynthia Quier,
testified that when Natalynn arrived she was "crying and very fussy."
She said she put the child down for a two-hour nap. When Natalynn awoke,
she put her in front of the TV. Shortly after, she noticed her slumped
over. Quier and her husband tried to wake the infant. She testified that
the child was conscious, but not breathing normally. Quier said she
called Hamrick and then 911.

Natalynn was taken to the hospital. She died Feb. 3. Her fatal
injuries were consistent with being shaken, said Dr. Wendy Gunther,
assistant chief medical examiner. Gunther testified that Natalynn's
injuries indicated that she was shaken prior to the shaking that led to
her death. She estimated that the fatal shaking occurred between three
and five days before she died. Gunther found swelling on both sides of
the child's brain. She testified that the fatal shaking caused her brain
to swell, "so severely that the skull started to separate."

Hamrick's attorney, Christopher Reagen, argued that the fatal injury
could have occurred during the three-hour period that Natalynn was with
Quier. Reagen said it was not clear how hard Hamrick had shaken Natalynn
and if it led to the child's death.

"We do have proof of what happened during that three-hour period,"
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Leslie Siman-Tov said. "Not only did
they [Quiers] speak to police, but came to court to testify. … We have a
defendant who confessed to police."

Hamrick was convicted of felony murder, a form of second-degree
murder, which is classified as an accidental death that occurs in the
course of another felony. In this case, the other felony is child abuse.
Felony murder is punishable with 5 to 40 years in prison. Hamrick will
be sentenced Feb. 24.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/crime/dp-nws-hamrick-murder-trial-20111201,0,2728440.story

According to the ME's report, the baby may have been shaken before. Poor thing. I have an 11 month old grandson and can't imagine shaking him when he is fussy. I just rocked him to sleep last night. He fell asleep quickly but every time I laid him down in the crib he'd wake up. So I picked him up and rocked him again. If I were his mom, I would probably let him cry for a little while but certainly wouldn't harm him. You have to control yourself and not do anything to harm fragile, defenseless babies. All it takes is one mishap and a baby can be damaged or killed. I hope that justice is served for this sweet baby.

HAMPTON — Carliece Hamrick says she regrets the moment she took her 11-month-old daughter's life.

"I know I was stressed and under a lot of pressure, but that doesn't change the fact of what I did to my little girl," Hamrick told a judge before being sentenced Friday. "She trusted me and I let her down … I know I messed up. I had a bad moment … but this isn't about me, this is about Natalynn. She deserves justice."

Hamrick, 24, faced a minimum of 13 years in prison. The judge showed her mercy.

Hampton Circuit Judge Bonnie Jones sentenced Hamrick to seven years behind bars.

Jones sentenced Hamrick to 25 years on the murder charge, but suspended 18 years of the sentence. Jones gave Hamrick 10 years on the child abuse charge, but suspended all the years.

Jones told Hamrick that she believed she was remorseful and was an unlikely defendant to be before her, given that she had no prior criminal record. Jones said she recognized that Hamrick was trying to juggle many factors in her life including raising her two daughters, being in the military and trying to get her husband off drugs.

"This is a fair sentence, based on everything I've heard," Jones said.

Sentencing guidelines ranged between 13 and 22 years in prison.

Hamrick told police she shook her daughter because she was trying to get the infant in a car seat on Jan. 29, 2011 and Natalynn wouldn't stop crying. As she shook her, Hamrick told police she said, "stop crying, stop crying." In a videotaped interview with police, Hamrick demonstrated how hard she shook the girl using a cloth baby doll — its head bobbed back and forth.

Five days later, on Feb. 3, 2011 Natalynn died of inflicted brain injury caused by being shaken, according to a medical examiner.

Natalynn's injuries indicated that she was shaken prior to the shaking that led to her death, according to a medical examiner who testified during the trial. The doctor estimated that the fatal shaking occurred between three and five days before she died. Swelling was found on both sides of the child's brain. The fatal shaking caused her brain to swell, so severely that the skull started to separate, according to court testimony.

"Natalynn's childhood was extinguished," argued Leslie Siman-Tov, Hampton Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney. "She never had a chance to go to school, never had a chance to make friends … never had a chance to run around on the playground. Her childhood was stolen by the one person she should have been able to trust."

Hamrick's attorney, Christopher Reagen, argued that Hamrick should have an opportunity to be rehabilitated.

"We all want justice for Natalynn," Reagen said.

"I would submit that justice in this case does not require a lengthy penitentiary sentence."

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/dp-nws-murder-sentencing-20120224,0,6435155.story