BABY GRACE SMALL - minutes old (10/13) - / Convicted: Mother, Devin Monique Small - Dinwiddie, VA

Dinwiddie Grandmother Also Charged In Baby's Death


Posted: Oct 01, 2013 12:33 PM EST Updated: Oct 03, 2013 3:41 PM EST




 

Angela Small

 

Devin Monique Small


DINWIDDIE - The grandmother of the baby that was found dead in a toilet has also been charged.

Angela Small, 41, the mother of Devin Monique Small, has also been charged with first degree murder and is currently held without bond.

According to a police source, it's believed that Angela helped to deliver the child.

On Saturday, Sept. 28 at approximately 2:15 a.m., Dinwiddie deputies responded to 18000 block of Namozine Road for a 22-year-old female who had given birth to a baby in the toilet.

Upon arrival deputies located the mother, and the baby was still in the toilet.

The baby was deceased upon arrival and was transported to Richmond Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Dinwiddie County Sheriff Office charged Devin Monique Small, the mother of the baby with first degree murder. She has been transported to Meherrin Regional Jail and being held without bond.



http://www.wric.com/story/23579545/dinwiddie-baby-found-dead-in-toilet

Woman Left Newborn in Toilet Bowl to Drown, Gets Suspended Sentence


By Tamar Auber on May 7, 2014





A Virginia woman will not serve time in jail after she gave birth to a baby on a toilet and then left the child in the toilet bowl to drown.

Devin Monique Small, age 22, received a 3-year suspended sentence this week after pleading guilty to the court. Initially charged with first-degree murder, in an agreement reached with prosecution, charges against her were reduced to involuntary manslaughter after it was agreed Small did not plan to murder her child in advance or with malice.

The tragic case began last September when Small, who claimed at the time she had no idea she was pregnant, gave birth to a little girl on the toilet. Panicking, she left the infant -named Baby Grace Small by authorities – in the toilet.

After paramedics arrived at the home, they found newborn Baby Grace, still attached to her mom by the umbilical cord, lying in the water and dead. Small’s mother, Angela Small,was also present, tending to her hysterical daughter who had just given birth.

In a police statement, Angela Small said that she was unable to retrieve the child from the water because she was tending to her daughter who needed her. Police, however, did not believe the elder Small and charged her, along with her daughter, with first-degree murder.

Charges on the elder Small were ultimately dropped when she died shortly after the Baby Grace’s death of an apparent heart attack.

An autopsy revealed that the infant had been born alive but ultimately drowned when left in the toilet bowl where she was born.

Devin Small’s defense attorney, Joseph Morrissey said while the case is tragic, the facts do not point to murder but a deadly mistake.

As soon as Devin gave birth, he said, “family members, including the defendant [Devin Small], began praying for the safety of Devin and the baby,” Morrissey said. “Emergency personnel arrived at the home within minutes and began efforts to assist mother and newborn.”

He added he never thought first-degree murder applied to Small’s crime. “You don’t call 911 if you’re thinking about a premeditated act with malice,” he said in defense of his client.

Photo Credit: Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Department




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