Death penalty put on table for stepmom in girl’s slaying.
TEXARKANA — The Miller County prosecuting attorney’s office will seek the death penalty for a stepmother accused of capital murder in the death of her husband’s 3-year-old daughter.
McKenna Faith Belcher, 26, appeared before Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson on Tuesday afternoon at the Miller County jail courtroom for arraignment, with Adam Chandler and Andrea Stokes of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission.
On Belcher’s behalf, Stokes pleaded innocent to charges of capital murder and second-degree domestic battery. Belcher’s domestic battery charge involves allegations of abuse of her 2-year-old stepson.
Johnson asked the defense attorneys if they could be ready for trial July 29. Stokes and Chandler said they recently received copies of the state’s evidence and they needed more time to prepare for trial. Johnson scheduled the case for a status hearing in August and set an October trial date.
Belcher’s husband, Everette Cawley, 23, pleaded innocent earlier this month at a hearing before Circuit Judge Brent Haltom to two counts of permitting the abuse of a minor involving McKinley Cawley, 3, and her 2-yearold brother. Cawley’s case is scheduled for jury selection before Haltom in late August.
The husband and wife were arrested in April after McKinley died. The 3-yearold died of blunt force injuries hours after her father ran through the emergency room doors of a Texarkana hospital carrying her unconscious body. The child was airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock where she died less than 12 hours later.
Soon after the child arrived at the hospital about 4:30 a.m. on April 2, the hospital staff suspected abuse was to blame for her medical condition and contacted police, reports say. McKinley had a traumatic brain injury and “excessive bruising to the face and torso which is far beyond any over-active child and patterned to suggest use of a rigid object,” according to an affidavit.
Authorities said Belcher threw, kicked, stomped and beat McKinley in the days and hours before her death, and Cawley failed to protect her.
External injuries similar to those on McKinley were found on the 2-year-old boy’s face, torso and legs, which doctors believe were caused by a “blunt type instrument/ object,” according to authorities. A search warrant affidavit indicated that Texarkana police investigators were seeking to recover a wooden bed slat that authorities suspect was used to strike the girl.
The couple’s infant, born Jan. 30, was in need of medical attention, as well, according to reports. The baby girl had a severe yeast infection “under her neck skin fold,” which was bleeding at the time she was taken into state custody.
Cawley faces five to 20 years in prison if found guilty of permitting the abuse of a minor resulting in death. If found guilty of permitting the abuse of his son, Cawley faces up to six years in prison.
Belcher faces five to 20 years in prison if found guilty of second-degree domestic battery involving her stepson. If convicted of capital murder, she faces life without parole or death by lethal injection.
Belcher is being held without bail. Cawley’s bail is set at $1 million. Both are being held in the Miller County jail.