The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the ultimate cost in opposition to a Newton County mom who was as soon as convicted of killing her new child daughter.
Christopher McNabb and Cortney Bell have been convicted in 2019 for the 2017 homicide of their 2-week-old daughter, Caliyah. The jurors discovered Bell responsible of homicide in the second diploma, cruelty to kids in the second diploma and felony contributing to the dependency of a minor consequently of her death.
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Bell appealed her conviction and the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the homicide and cruelty to kids expenses final yr. On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed her last cost.
“As a result of we conclude based mostly on the information of this case that the proof was inadequate to authorize a jury to conclude that Caliyah’s death was not proximately attributable to Bell’s conduct as alleged in the indictment, we reverse the judgement of the Court of Appeals,” Justice John J. Ellington wrote in the unanimous opinion.
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Throughout the trial, prosecutors mentioned McNabb and Bell have been utilizing methamphetamine and in a violent relationship once they killed their daughter.
Primarily based on proof of her alleged drug historical past, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld Bell’s conviction on the contributing to the dependency of a minor cost. Nonetheless, the Georgia Supreme Court decided in its ruling that the proof was inadequate.
“In abstract, the proof right here confirmed that Bell went to sleep one night time, checked on Caliyah early the subsequent morning, and went again to sleep for 4 and one-half hours. The proof additional confirmed that whereas Bell slept, McNabb dedicated a violent crime that the State conceded was the direct and fast trigger of Caliyah’s death,” Ellington wrote.
The Georgia Supreme Court beforehand upheld McNabb’s homicide conviction. McNabb was sentenced to life in jail with out parole for the homicide and an extra 10 years for concealing the new child’s death.
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