Prosecutors: Mother charged with manslaughter after child dies of inflicted injuries
A Walton, Kentucky mother was scheduled to be sentenced Monday after prosecutors say she caused serious brain injuries to her infant son.
But prosecutors are now seeking a more serious charge after the child died of his injuries, according to documents filed in Boone County Circuit Court.
Kimberly Moore, 31, is facing a charge of first-degree manslaughter, court records show.
Moore initially pleaded guilty on April 21 to first-degree criminal abuse, according to the court documents. At the time of Moore's plea, prosecutors say, the victim, who is identified as J.F., was alive.
"Pending sentencing, J.F. died because of the physical injuries inflicted upon him by" Moore, prosecutors said in court filings.
J.F. was admitted to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with "a traumatic brain injury with multiple intracranial bleeds," prosecutors say. According to court documents, the child was 12 months old at the time of the May 2019 incident.
Documents say Moore told a doctor that the injuries were a result of the infant falling off a bed. However, prosecutors say J.F.'s injuries are more consistent with the child being shaken.
The incident happened just over a month after Moore was released on bond for a domestic violence charge out of Hamilton County, prosecutors said.
She was convicted on that charge earlier this month, according to court documents, which say she assaulted J.F.'s biological father. The assault stemmed from an argument "over her heavy drinking and lack of parenting of minor J.F.," prosecutors said in court documents.
Prosecutors say Moore and the infant moved into her ex-husband's apartment in Walton following her release from jail.
Investigators recovered text messages sent shortly after Moore caused J.F.'s injuries, according to prosecutors.
In those messages, Moore asked her ex-husband to "clear out beer bottles from the bedroom because CPS (child protective services) and the detective were coming to investigate the matter," the court records read.
Lucas Deaton, Moore's attorney, declined to comment on the upgraded charge.
Moore pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge and a pretrial conference is scheduled for July 20, Boone County Commonwealth's Attorney Louis Kelly said in an email to The Enquirer.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Docs: Mother charged with manslaughter after child dies of injuries
