JACARRA ROBINSON - 1 yo (2009)/ Charged: Mother; Emma Kelly - Jackson MS

A 22-year-old mother pregnant with her fourth child only recently
regained custody of the 1-year-old daughter she is accused of killing,
authorities said.Emma Kelly, who is eight months' pregnant, has been charged with murder and is in custody on $100,000 bond.She's accused of causing head trauma to one of her three children, Jacarra Robinson, on Thanksgiving.After four days on life support, the child died Sunday from shaken baby syndrome, according to law enforcement.

But
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said Tuesday evening that
the medical examiner was not able to confirm the death was caused by
shaken baby syndrome. She said blunt force trauma to the head was the
cause of death.Kelly,
who is unemployed, was arrested Monday at her apartment at 445 Hooker
St. She has no criminal history, according to the Hinds County
Sheriff's Department, which is handling the case in conjunction with
Jackson police."There
is information regarding other incidents that we have not yet been able
to verify," Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said during a news
conference Tuesday.McMillin
said the state Department of Human Services had custody of Jacarra
during an investigation into allegations that Kelly was using drugs.
Kelly regained custody of Jacarra just a few weeks before the child's
death.Kelly told
investigators her daughter "was whining a lot" and she shook the baby
and "popped her in her chest," according to an investigator's report
from the Sheriff's Department.The baby's head "started dangling so she (the mother) took her to the hospital," the report states.The
Jackson/Hinds Child Protection Unit was contacted by officials at the
University of Mississippi Medical Center after the child arrived,
according to investigators.Kelly has two other children, ages 2 and 3. They are in DHS custody.Kelly's father, James Taylor of Jackson, would not comment.Nobody answered the door at Kelly's apartment Tuesday.A
neighbor, Joseph Rippy, who has a 1-year-old daughter, said he didn't
know Kelly well but had seen her around the apartment complex."If she did this, then she should go to jail," Rippy said.Authorities have not learned anything about Jacarra's father, McMillin said.DHS is investigating. But agency spokeswoman Julia Bryan said she could not discuss specifics.When
DHS gets custody of a child, it files a petition in Youth Court
alleging abuse or neglect and requesting the child be removed from
harm, Bryan said in a news release.The
parent or parents are then put on an individualized service plan with
the aim of improving whatever DHS has found wrong so the child can be
returned.After successful completion of the plan, it remains up to the court whether to return the child to the home.Youth Court records are closed.More than 1,400 babies die in the U.S. every year from shaken baby syndrome, according to DHS.Shaken baby syndrome and injuries are not always the result of long-term abuse, Bryan said."You can't just shake a baby, you've got something very fragile ... a gift from God," Bryan said.

The father of a Jackson woman accused of killing her 1-year-old daughter says she cared for all of her children as best she could.

James Taylor cannot explain, nor imagine, how his daughter, Emma Kelly, 22, could deliver the blow authorities say killed JaCarra Robinson.
Kelly, who is eight months pregnant, was arrested Monday and charged with murder. Her other three children, ages 2, 3 and 4, were placed in Department of Human Services custody. Kelly is being held in the Hinds County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.
"I don't know what was going on in her head," Taylor said. "I know she and her boyfriend were going through some problems, the bills were piling up - it was stressful.
"She had four kids with one in her stomach. That's a lot of pressure."
Hinds County Sheriff's Department deputies said Kelly shook JaCarra, then "popped" her in the chest on Thanksgiving because she was "whining" and "moving around." Kelly later took JaCarra to University of Mississippi Medical Center, when her head began to dangle, the report says.
Doctors ruled JaCarra brain dead on Saturday and took her off life support on Sunday.
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said the cause of death was blunt trauma to the back of the head.
Chief Deputy Steve Pickett on Thursday said the case will be presented to a grand jury.
Taylor said he and family members are agonizing over the recent events. On Wednesday, Taylor talked to both Kelly and his grandchildren, he said.
"They really don't know what's going on, but they miss their mommy and daddy," Taylor said.
Taylor said DHS already has begun court hearings to determine what will happen to Kelly's children.

Mother arrested for murdering child

Posted:
'Tuesday, December 1, 2009 1:48 PM EST'


Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin told reporters investigators from his office were called, Thanksgiving Day, to investigate a case of possible child abuse. McMillin said Monday afternoon investigators determined that the injuries to the child "were consistent with head trauma."

McMillin said 22 year old Emma Kelly of 445 Hooker Street in Jackson is charged with the murder of one year old Jacarra Robinson.

Her child had been on life support for four days. She told WLBT news she did not kill her child.

Kelly made an initial appearance before Judge William Barnett. He set bond at $100,000 and said he would appoint a public defender for her. She was returned to the Hinds County jail.

Kelly is eight months pregnant and has two other children.

"Doctors said that the injuries were consistent with injuries that could possibly result from, from shaken baby syndrome, which could include head trauma as well" said Sheriff McMillin.

Kelly refused to answer when we asked her who the father was of the murdered child.

http://www.wlox.com/global/story.asp?s=11599869

No update found.

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