St. Elmo woman charged in baby’s death pleads guilty

A St. Elmo woman who was charged in February in connection with her infant child’s death could serve a prison sentence of up to five years.
Heaven N. Davis, 24, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to felony endangerment of a child.
Davis signed an open guilty plea, meaning that a judge will determine her sentence at hearing on June 25.
However, through the plea-bargain agreement, the office of Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison, agreed not to seek more than five years in prison for the offense.
Davis was charged with the offense of endangering the life or health of a child on Jan. 31, nine days after the death of her 1-year-old son, Addison Scott.
The charge filed by Morrison’s office alleged that Davis “cause or permitted (her) child to be placed in circumstances that endangered the child’s life or health in that she left (the child) with a person under the age of 14 and out of her sight.”
Davis admitted that she had smoked marijuana prior to going to sleep, and that she discovered her son submerged in water in a bathtub after being awakened by her 3-year-old daughter.
The offense is a Class 3 felony carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in this case.
Davis’s bond was set at $100,000, but it was subsequently lowered to $35,000. She posted the required $3,500 bond on Feb. 18.
However, on May 1, Morrison’s office filed a petition to revoke her bond after she allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine earlier that day.
At last week’s hearing in which she pleaded guilty, Judge Allen Bennett agreed to a request by her court-appointed attorney, Jeff DeLong, to lower her bond to $10,000.
In agreeing to lowering the bond amount, Bennett ordered Davis to undergo drug testing twice a week.