Kelli Murphy, the 12-year-old girl who at age 10 was charged with killing an infant is scheduled to appear in a court hearing open to the public Wednesday morning at 10 am, at which a plea deal may be discussed.
Skowhegan District Court Judge Charles LaVerdierre ordered the session open to the public.
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Murphy was originally charged with manslaughter in the death of 3-month-old Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway in July of 2012.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys say that they’ve agreed on a deal in which the felony manslaughter charge against Murphy would be dropped in favor of a misdemeanor.
The infant’s mother, Nicole Greenaway, of Clinton, who has repeatedly called for charges to be brought against Murphy’s mother, Amanda Huard, posted a statement on Facebook soon after Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes told her about the deal last week.
In the post, Greenaway said she was angry and felt that there was nothing she could do about it.
“My heart feels like all the broken pieces have broken into more pieces,” she wrote. “I don’t think I can ever get put back together.”
She also said that she would attend the court hearing.
Stokes and Huard’s attorney said last week that the law does not support criminal charges against Huard.
Lawyers on both sides say they want Murphy, who has been in the custody of the State Department of Health and Human Services since she was charged, to undergo long-term treatment and counseling.
The deal, which needs court approval, was reached after the state argued unsuccessfully that Murphy was competent to stand trial twice last year. The judge ruled in each instance that Murphy was not competent to stand trial, but raised the possibility the girl would meet the required standard at some point in the future.
The infant died in July 2012 while in the care of Murphy’s mother, Amanda Huard.
Greenaway said at the time that police told her that traces of a medication prescribed to Murphy were in the baby’s system and that the baby had bruise marks on her face that were consistent with suffocation.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287 | mhhetling@centralmaine.com | Twitter: @hh_matt
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