Theodore woman’s newborn lived 1 hour; now judge must decide punishment

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Mobile County Circuit Judge Jay York on Thursday heard emotional testimony from both sides of a case involving the death of a newborn baby but withheld making a decision about an appropriate sentence.

Miranda Jane Smith pleaded guilty to chemical endangerment in May. On Thursday, she tearfully pleaded for mercy, attributing her behavior to a drug addiction that she since has kicked.

“This is not who I am,” she told the judge. “I came so far. … I don’t want to go to jail.”

Smith, 33, of Theodore, gave birth to a baby girl in May 2017. The child, Mia Rose, lived only about an hour, Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Madison Davis reminded the judge.

“This is not a typical chemical endangerment case,” said Davis, adding that the defendant – a nurse practitioner – made a “conscious and very selfish decision” to do drugs while pregnant.

Davis argued for a split 10-year sentence, with two years behind bars, followed by five years on probation. The rest of the prison term would be suspended. She argued it was comparable to one-year sentence that York imposed last year on Stephanie Bendish, a woman convicted of a similar charge

But defense attorney Jason Darley said the defendant in that case skipped out on her sentencing hearing. He said his client has done everything required of her since her arrest and argued that probation was more appropriate.

“What is achieved by putting this woman in prison?” he said.

Davis introduced video recordings and screen grabs showing the defendant taking drugs and said the evidence indicates that she abused drugs throughout her entire pregnancy – and even before –using both Adderall and her mother’s cancer medication. The prosecutor said the doctor who delivered the baby knew immediately something was wrong. In addition to the baby’s death, she said, Smith had track marks on her arms from where she injected herself.

Initially, authorities charged Smith with chemical endangerment of a child. But prosecutors later upgraded the charge to chemical endangerment resulted in the death of a child, a Class A felony.

The doctor who performed the autopsy determine she could not say whether the drugs in Smith’s system caused the baby’s death. That doctor retired, and a new doctor reviewed the file and determined the link could be made.

Davis said prosecutors agreed to let Smith pleaded guilty to the original charge due to the fact that there was a conflict in opinion among medical experts over whether the drugs caused the baby’s death.

Davis argued that Smith was not some uneducated defendant who did not understand the consequences of her actions. She noted that the defendant is a nurse practitioner with medical training. She offered a text message sent by the defendant reading, “I am literally the most selfish woman that exists.” That text, Davis said, demonstrates “consciousness of guilt.”

What’s more, Davis pointed to comments Smith commented on the FOX10 News Facebook page about her case just this week.

“It seems like, however, years later, she’s continuing to deflect blame for her conduct,” she said.

The parents of Smith’s ex-boyfriend, the father of the baby, offered gut-wrenching accounts of how the death impacted them.

Irvin Jemison told the judge he was on his way to the hospital for the baby’s birth when his son called to tell him the child had died. Jemison said he had to pull over because he had trouble processing what he was hearing.

“We had five grandchildren for an hour,” he said. “Then, it went back to four.”

Jemsion’s wife, Kelley Jemison, suggested a fair sentence would be nine months – one day for each of the days that Mia suffered in the womb. She told Smith it was her duty as a mother to protect her baby.

“But unfortunately for Mia, you were the one she needed to be protected from,” she said.

Smith’s relatives made the case that the defendant’s drug addiction is behind her.

“Miranda’s not even the same person she was,” he said.

Chase Culpepper, the defendant’s husband, said his wife always will suffer from Mia’s death.

“Miranda – she’s scarred,” he said. “I can see it day to day. … That only comes from losing a child.”

Darley said his client’s ex-boyfriend, Jeremy Jemison, bears some of the responsibility. He noted that Jemison is the one who made the recordings entered into evidence showing the defendant’s the drug use. He said his client did not begin to use drugs until after she got involved with Jemison.

“It started when a person who could have helped her chose to record her over and over and over again and do nothing,” he said.

York indicated he would decide the sentence next week.

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