he mother of a 4-year-old who died of blunt force trauma in March 2018 is scheduled to go on trial in connection with the death later this month.
Khadijah Wright, 26, is charged with injury to a child by omission resulting in the death of D’Money Lewis.
D’Money’s father, Benearl Lewis, is currently serving a life sentence in Texas for beating the boy to death. Wright is accused of violating a Child Protective Services care plan which provided that she would not leave her children alone with Lewis or allow him to spend the night in her home when the children were there.
Wright allegedly lied to investigators about how D’Money suffered catastrophic brain injuries and damage to his internal organs. Wright and Benearl Lewis allegedly told investigators the boy fell from a chest freezer in the family’s Texarkana, Texas, home, an account which experts testified was unlikely at Benearl Lewis’ trial last year.
Wright appeared Wednesday with Dallas attorney Jasmine Crockett for a final pretrial hearing before 5th District Judge Bill Miller. Jury selection is scheduled for June 25 at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston, Texas.
First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said the state’s only outstanding concern relates to reports from defense experts who have evaluated Wright. In April, the court granted a defense motion for a state-funded evaluation of Wright. Crisp said the state has still not received the report and intends to have its own expert evaluate Wright next week.
Mom accused in child's death set for trial this month | Texarkana Today
The mother of a 4-year-old who died of blunt force trauma in March 2018 is scheduled to go on trial in connection with the death later this month. Khadijah Wright, 26, is charged with injury to a child by omission resulting in the death of D’Money Lewis. D’Money’s father, Benearl Lewis, is...
txktoday.com
Benearl Jermane Lewis, 24, was not supposed to be alone with his son, D'Money Lewis, or D'Money's 6-year-old brother, according to a probable-cause affidavit used to create the following account. D'Money's brother has the same mother, but a different father, and is not being identified because of his age.
"Our investigation has revealed D'Money and his 6-year-old brother were in the care, custody and control of Benearl Jermane Lewis while the mother was at work, which violates a CPS (Child Protective Services) safety plan that was already in effect from a prior incident, and there were no other persons in the home during the time period D'Money's injuries were sustained,
D'Money was taken to Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana via ambulance while in cardiac arrest. Aultman's report states he observed a large area of bruising on the boy's back and "strap" marks on D'Money's legs and back. Staff at Wadley told Aultman the boy was suffering from bleeding in the brain and bruising to his back and chest "as if he had been kicked."
After initial treatment at Wadley, D'Money was taken to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. Medical staff there told investigators that the boy's injuries were inconsistent with the account allegedly provided by his parents and more likely the result of abuse.
Lewis and the boy's mother, Khadijah Wright, allegedly told investigators that D'Money had "jumped or fallen from a deep freezer and that his eyes rolled back in his head," the affidavit states. Lewis allegedly claimed that after determining the child wasn't breathing, he and Wright decided to take the boy to the hospital in their car.
Following D'Money's death March 8, his body was taken to Dallas for an autopsy. Among the damage documented to the child's body was a "space occupying subdural hematoma" that had caused the youngster's brain to "herniate down into his spine," the affidavit states.
Man accused of capital murder in 4-year-old son's death
Bail is set at $1 million for a Texarkana man accused of capital murder in the death last week of his 4-year-old son from blunt-force trauma.
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