JACOB SMITH - 3 yo/ Accused: Mother-Amanda Smith - Trafalgar (S of Indy) IN

TRAFALGAR --
A Trafalgar woman who police said murdered her 3-year-old son has a
history of cocaine use, child neglect and a mental illness that was
difficult to treat.

Police said Amanda M. Smith, 33, drowned her youngest child in her apartment during an overnight visit with him this week.

Smith then placed Jacob Smith, who soon would have turned 4, in bed, propped up on pillows with blankets over him.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Monday, she called police and then waited in a bathroom with an ax.

She was arrested on a charge of murder.

No one else was in the home at the time. Smith has three children, but they do not live with her.

In recent weeks, Johnson Circuit Court approved a plan for Jacob
Smith to spend one night a week with his mother. His maternal
grandmother is his legal guardian, and she recommended the visitation.

Smith has been in legal trouble before. She was convicted of a felony
charge of neglect of a dependent in 2009 and a misdemeanor charge of
possession of paraphernalia in 2010.

Both times, she told police she had been smoking crack.

Both times she called police to report herself.

A crack addiction also was the reason she called state authorities
asking for help in 2009. The Indiana Department of Child Services placed
Jacob Smith with a foster family and then permanently with his
grandmother.

Police still were figuring out the timeline of the events Monday and
what led up to the boy’s death. An autopsy is planned today to determine
exactly how he died.

Police called the death tragic.

“This is a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to the remaining
brothers and sisters and grandparents,” Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox
said.

Police said Jacob Smith was at his mother’s Trafalgar apart­ment on
Monday night for his weekly overnight visit. He lived with his
grandmother, Wanda Smith, along with two other children, Trafalgar Town
Marshal Kurt Heminger said.

Around 9 p.m. Monday, both Amanda and Wanda Smith called 911. Amanda
Smith reported her son was dead and told police he was in a better
place.

Her mother reported that her daughter had called her and told her
“she had done something to her child that could not be undone,” Cox
said.

Police found the boy unresponsive in a back bedroom. Shortly after,
Amanda Smith came out of the bathroom swinging an ax at officers,
Heminger said.

Officers were able to persuade her to surrender, and she was arrested on a charge of murder.

Amanda Smith told police she had drowned her son to end “any possible misery the child could be facing in the future,” Cox said.

He declined to elaborate on what she told police, but said she was
vocal about what had happened to her son and was willing to answer
investigators’ questions.

The boy was unresponsive and taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin, where he was pronounced dead.

Amanda Smith had been convicted of child neglect after she was
arrested in March 2009 for smoking crack in a Greenwood apartment, with
Jacob Smith in the home.

She was arrested again in April 2010 when she called police to report
she and her boyfriend had been smoking crack in their Franklin home,
according to court records. She told police they had purchased between
$500 and $600 in crack and smoked it all day because child welfare
workers recently had taken their child away, court record said.

In her Trafalgar apartment, police found multiple empty prescription bottles, Heminger said.

They have done a blood test to see what drugs or alcohol might have been in her system, Cox said.

Police reports show Amanda Smith was a highly suspicious person who
believed people were tampering with her car and climbing in her attic.

According to court records, she was diagnosed as schizophrenic.

Every door, drawer and cabinet inside her apartment had a lock on it, Cox said.

In the days leading up to her son’s death, Amanda Smith called police
repeatedly, including 11 calls over the weekend, Heminger said.

She called at least 30 times since moving to the town three weeks
ago, but in the past few days those calls increased, Heminger said.

Police agencies across the county have gotten more than 200 calls
from her, he said. She’s reported people in her attic, her car being
tampered with repeatedly and suspicious images she believes she saw on
her home security system.

Heminger said family members told him the child lived with his grandmother because he didn’t need to be around his mother.

He knew there were two other children at the grandmother’s home but
was unsure if all of them were Amanda Smith’s children, he said.

When Trafalgar police arrived at her apartment, no one answered the
door. But family members, including the boy’s grandmother, who also
called 911, were outside and urged police to get inside. Officers forced
their way into the apartment, Heminger said.

A paramedic took the child outside and downstairs. Then Amanda Smith
came out of a bathroom, swinging an ax and at one point hitting a door,
Heminger said.

The officers backed out of the apartment and called the SWAT team.
But they were able to talk to her through a bedroom door and got her to
surrender to police, Cox said.
http://www.browncountyindiana.com/index.php?id=11944

Crack and Coke abuser + Mental illness treatment + Previous charge of Child abuse =

Dear Lord, this child was born into a bad situation which only got worse. He never stood a chance.

Why do idiots consider a precious child "property"?

If a child is deemed to be safe with a parent then there is no reason to keep him away; however if a parent is found to be a danger to the child then it seems obvious that they should never be left alone with him. How can someone say "well one hour...or night...or weekend...or whatever" is okay when a child's life is at stake. Do they draw straws to determine which day will be a safe one that the parent won't use drugs or kill their baby. Why didn't the mother go to the grandmother's house to spend the night if she wanted to be with her baby. And how could the grandmother recommend this? Oh so sad. I know, running my mouth.

We all run our mouths on here. Besides writing letters to our lawmakers that's about all we can do for these poor lost children. It is getting worse and the experts blame the economy.

The economy doesn't turn people into baby killing monsters.

This baby never stood a chance. Had he not been murdered now he would have been tortured for years.

JMO.

Judge defends visitation decision for murdered boy

Mar 02, 2012 3:04 AM



FRANKLIN -
A Johnson County judge defended his
decision to allow a now-accused killer to visit her son, even though
police were called to her home more than 50 times in just the past two months.

Three-year-old Jacob Smith is dead and his mother is in jail, charged with drowning
him. 13 Investigates obtained documents that reveal a history of
problems with the mother, Amanda Smith, and a surprising decision by a
judge just days before the child died.

Just four days before Jacob Smith was murdered -
his mother told police she drowned the boy - Johnson County Judge Mark
Loyd told Amanda Smith she was about to lose visitation with her son.

Smith's parents had voluntarily surrendered their
son to his maternal grandmother in 2010. The couple, Smith and father
Robert Crim, by their own admission, had battled with drugs.

Allowing the courts into their lives meant the
couple had to earn the right to see their son, and they made their
arguments in Loyd's court.

Recently Crim wanted to regain custody, and at the
same time, Jacob's mother had taken a turn for the worse. There were
documented instances that Amanda Smith was mentally unstable.

Jacob's father said that Judge Loyd should have
known this, and should have refused to allow Amanda Smith visitation rights.

"He (Loyd) don't want to take the blame," Crim
told Eyewitness News. "He authorized this unsupervised visit to a woman
that was very, very unstable."

After Smith was arrested for Jacob's murder, Loyd
said, "There was never an indication, at any point in time, or even an
inference, that there was any physical abuse or violence targeted toward
the child by either parent."

The documents obtained by Eyewitness News show Amanda Smith not meeting
court orders. In January, the court granted Smith one unsupervised
overnight visit a week, but there were strings attached, with which Smith failed to comply.

And just four days before Jacob was murdered during one of those
unsupervised overnight visits with his mother, the court issued a
warning to Smith - comply with the court order or lose the right to see her son.

Judge Loyd told Eyewitness News his rulings were
based on what Jacob's guardian - Smith's mother - and others, presented in court.

"You would expect the guardian who is in charge of
the child, if she detects particular behavior problems or concerns, to
bring it to the court's attention," he said.

He also questioned the court-appointed child advocates.

"I don't know the parties were aware of it," Loyd
said of Amanda Smith's long history of run-ins with police and mental
problems. "The CASA representative had recently been appointed in
December, so they really didn't have an opportunity to get up to speed
on the case or investigate the case - certainly into the January hearing."

Crim implied that Loyd should have sought input about Smith's unstable behavior before rendering a decision.

"You just can't overlook anything," he said. "You've got to make sure that person is stable."

"There were apparently issues that were starting
to occur with regard to bizarre behavior by the mother, as reported by
the police departments and other media outlets, that I wasn't aware
of...wasn't brought to my attention," Loyd said.

Since Jacob's mother had not complied with recent court orders, it appeared
Crim would get full custody of his only child at a hearing scheduled in two weeks.

Jacob would have turned four this coming week.

Loyd says he will review the case, to try to gain more information about individuals, and their current mental state.

http://www.wthr.com/story/17051905/judge-defends-visition-decision-for-murdered-boy

Father feared for safety of murdered Trafalgar boy

Updated: Mar 10, 2012 5:20 AM




Jacob Smith




TRAFALGAR -
A three-year-old boy is dead and police believe his own mother is responsible.

It happened Monday night in the town of Trafalgar
in Johnson County. The murder of Jacob Smith has stunned even law
enforcement, but those who know the mother say they aren't surprised.

Some of those people tell Eyewitness News that
Amanda Smith should never have been alone with her child. Also, police
say she had made dozens of non-emergency calls to authorities in the
weeks before her son's death.

A playful child with a huge smile, Jacob Smith was just three years old.

"Sweetest, cute little boy you could ever find," said Kimberly Trittipo, who knows the family.

"He was adorable. Beautiful blond, curly hair,
just sweet as he could be. Just wonderful," said Pat Ridge, a Trafalgar
store manager who got to know the family.

Police say Monday night his mother, 33-year-old
Amanda Smith, drowned him, then placed his body on a bed in their
Trafalgar apartment. Authorities say, without being questioned, Smith
confessed to murdering her son.

"I think to end what possible misery the child could be facing in the future," said Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox.

While police aren't sure what she was referring to, acquaintances say it's crystal clear.

Kimberly Trittipo, a friend of Jacob's father,
says the boy's relatives were in the midst of a bitter custody battle.
His grandmother had guardianship while his father, Robert Crim, was
trying to gain custody. Amanda Smith had only limited visitation rights.


Police say the boy's grandparents did not want
their daughter to have unsupervised visits with Jacob overnight. But the
day of the alleged murder, a Johnson County judge said those visits
were okay.

Crim told Eyewitness News Smith once threatened
she would do anything to keep the boy away from him. He had a hearing
coming up, seeking custody of Jacob.

"If she was going to be around him it should have
been for a few hours and it should have been supervised," said Trittipo
in response to a question about visitation and custody.

"For the kid to come here and even stay the night,
you think the judge shouldn't be able to do that, you know," said Ryan
Wells, who witnessed the police entering Smith's home.

Police confirmed Amanda Smith had serious mental
issues and was on several medications. When police entered her apartment
Monday, Johnson County Sheriff Doug Cox said she "came out of the
apartment with an ax swinging it at the officers."

Smith then surrendered to officers.

"It's very sad," said Ridge. "She just wasn't real
stable yet and didn't need to have him. Just didn't, she seemed
distant. Didn't seem to really care (for her son)."

Timeline

Smith called 911 at 9:14 p.m. Monday night to
report that her son was dead. A second 911 call was received from
Smith's mother, advising that her daughter told her that she "had done
something to her child that could not be undone."

Witness Ryan Wells says the night the boy died,
"the grandparents pulled up, they were banging on the door and she was
yelling at the cops, 'She is capable of something!' Next thing you know,
cops just kick down the door."

When police broke into Smith's apartment on
Trafalgar Pointe Way, they found the boy, lifeless. He was later
pronounced dead at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Franklin.

Police turned to boy over to paramedics, then
Smith allegedly exited a closet and moved toward officers while swinging
an ax. Officers backed out of the residence and called the SWAT team.

Smith surrendered to Trafalgar Police before SWAT
arrived, and was transported to Community Hospital South to be checked
out medically.

Smith was transported to the Johnson County Jail, where she awaits formal charges by the Johnson County Prosecutor's Office.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Trafalgar
Police Chief Kurt Heminger said Amanda Smith had only been in his town
for about three weeks, but during that time, she made dozens of calls to
police for "anything." He described them as "crazy" calls, but did not
go into detail.

"Probably the best way to describe this is Amanda
Smith does have some mental health issues and that's really all we can
[say]," said the sheriff, who added that the statements that she made
were corroborated by the evidence inside the apartment.

Sheriff Cox said they found an empty bottle of
prescription medicine, which prompted them to have her checked out at a
local hospital. After that she was taken to jail.

Police said the apartment complex had not received any complaints about Smith.
http://www.wthr.com/story/17031994/trafalgar-mother-arrested-in-death-of-three-year-old-son