HEZEKIAH VAUGHNS - 2 Months (2009) - Alamogordo NM

Kira Vaughns was sentenced Friday to 16 years in
prison for first -degree child abuse resulting in death with criminal
negligence in the June 21, 2009, death of her 2-month-old son Hezekiah.
Vaughns
was sentenced under the New Mexico statute of a serious violent
offense. She will have to serve a mandatory 13 1/2 years.
Vaughns will have to serve two years of parole after completing her prison term, and she will have to provide a DNA sample.
She
could have received 18 years in prison for the death of her son, but
the court found mitigating circumstances with Vaughns' mental state at
the time.
A Las Vegas, N.M. behavioral hospital psychologist found
Vaughns suffered from both postpartum depression and bipolar disorder
at the time of Hezekiah's death.
Vaughns' attorney Mario Torrez said he believes Judge Jerry H. Ritter Jr. was fair in sentencing his client.
"I
think he tried to be fair," Torrez said. "There is a case that allows
the judge to mitigate the sentence. It's always in the discretion of the
judge."
He said he fought hard for a psychological evaluation of his client.
"When
we did this much more thorough evaluation, a lot of her condition
showed up," Torrez said. "It was a very difficult pregnancy for Vaughns.
The baby was born premature. The baby stayed in the hospital for 17
days or more. She was crying because the baby was not bonding to her. It
led to classic postpartum syndrome. She didn't have a job, the father
didn't want to help her and she
kept crying more."Representing
the state, Senior Trial Prosecutor David Ceballes said he believes the
judge's sentence is very well reasoned in this case.
"It takes
into consideration all the factors in the case," Ceballes said. "We
evaluated all those factors in extending the plea offer initially. It is
certainly reasonable given the psychological evaluation that was done
of her to mitigate the sentence by two years. It's certainly reasonable
based upon on the severe and profound impact on the victim in this case
to make a finding that it's a serious violent offense making her serve
85 percent of her sentence."
Prior to being sentenced, a tearful Vaughns said she was very sorry for her actions.
"I
want to apologize for my action," she said sobbing. "I didn't know what
to do. I didn't know what to do. I wish I could take it back."
Alamogordo
Department of Public Safety officers responded to Vaughns' apartment in
the 2100 block of Starlight Court around 5:34 p.m. on June 17, 2009,
and found the 2-month-old child not breathing.
Officers began CPR
on the child, then American Medical Response transported the child to
Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center.
The child was stabilized
and airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque
but died on the morning of June 21 after being on life support.
According
to 12th Judicial District Court records, Vaughns had told ADPS
detectives she had become very upset with her son, Hezekiah, who was
crying, then lost control of herself and threw Hezekiah from the foot of
her bed.
Vaughns stated Hezekiah went across the bed to the head
of it, then his head landed very hard against the mattress, according to
District Court records.


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