DONNA MAE BUSCH - 18 Months (2008) - Hollister CA

http://www.shadowscope.com/archives/2008/11/cheryl_busch_arrested_on_suspicion_of_shooting_her.php

Poater's Note: Initial story from 2008

39-year-old Cheryl L. Busch of Hollister, California has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of her 18-month-old daughter.


Law enforcement arrived after a 911 call in the town of Hollister to find that a toddler had been shot. They found the little girls body in it's crib with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. A .357 magnum was found outside the house and has been identified as the murder weapon.


Initially both parents were taken in and after questioning John Busch, the husband, was released. Cheryl was also arrested on a previous domestic violence charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or inhabitant

HOLLISTER, Calif. -- A San Benito County judge ruled Thursday that a woman accused of killing her 18-month-old daughter is not competent to stand trial.

Cheryl Busch, 39, was sent to a state mental hospital to go through a competency course until it is determined she can stand trial.

The hospital will then notify the court of Busch's competency. All criminal proceedings are suspended pending those actions.

Busch is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of her daughter, Donna Mae, with a .357 Magnum at her Shore Road home on Nov. 19, 2008.

Busch's next court appearance is scheduled for March 4 for a status hearing.

Read more: http://www.ksbw.com/news/22177046/detail.html#ixzz1ih2VGxCz

http://www.gilroydispatch.com/articles_from_hollister/accused-child-killer-s-trial-delayed-until-march/article_8a6e7ec9-f8c5-5d83-929f-df3b2c5810dd.html

Accused child killer’s trial delayed until March
Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 4:18 pm | Updated: 9:21 am, Tue Jan 31, 2012.
Accused child killer’s trial delayed until March 0 comments


The trial for accused child killer Cheryl L. Busch has been delayed from its February date until late March.

Busch, 41, is accused of shooting and killing her 19-month-old daughter with a .357 Magnum in November 2008 on the family's Shore Road property.

After several delays, including a nine-month stay at a mental hospital to become fit for trial, that trial had been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at the San Benito County Courthouse.

Public Defender Greg LaForge had noted before a Jan. 12 review hearing that the defense would have a good idea at that time whether its investigation would be done. It appears the defense is not quite ready because the trial has been rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. March 26, with a trial confirmation March 15, according to court records.

LaForge could not be reached immediately for comment.

A judge in late November ruled for a second time that Busch is mentally competent to stand trial. Previously, Busch spent time at Patton State Hospital after she had been admitted there in March 2010. After she took part in a trial competency program at the hospital, a judge in May ruled she was mentally competent for trial. About five months ago, LaForge filed another motion contending she is mentally incompetent for a jury trial.

She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and remains at the San Benito County Jail, while her jury trial is expected to last 10 days.

Cheryl Busch, a Hollister mother who murdered her 18-month-old baby out of jealousy, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

The
42-year-old woman was sentenced by a San Benito County judge and will
have the possibility of parole after serving 25 years.
Cheryl Busch shot her baby, Donna Mae, while the infant was in her playpen on Nov. 19, 2008.
"She
died of multiple gunshot wounds, one to the chest, and also a single
gunshot wound to the head," San Benito County Sheriff's deputy Curtis
Hill said.
Homicide investigators said the murder motive stemmed from her volatile marriage with her husband, John Busch.

John Busch worked at a massage center and his wife was intensely jealous of his female clients, prosecutors said.
Cheryl
Busch was even jealous of her baby, because she believed her husband
loved the baby more than his wife, according to prosecutors.

John
Busch testified against his wife during her preliminary hearing in 2009
and said Cheryl Busch wanted to control which clients he gave massages
to.

He said
his wife threatened to kill herself and their baby unless he listened
to her. He never thought she would do it, he testified.
http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/hollister-gilroy/Hollister-mom-Cheryl-Busch-gets-life-for-murdering-baby/-/5738758/13484642/-/13wb4ipz/-/index.html