Not-guilty plea in toddler’s slaying

Woman is accused of killing granddaughter, stabbing two others.

A woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to the murder of her 18-month-old granddaughter and the attempted murder of her daughter and another granddaughter in a stabbing attack.

Nicole Yanick Darrington, 43, entered the pleas in a San Bernardino court and was ordered held on $3.2-million bail, according to court records.

Lawyer Loyst P. Fletcher declined to discuss details of his client’s case, but said Darrington’s mental competency likely would be discussed when she returns to court June 16.

“Obviously this is someone who snapped and has some very serious problems,” he said.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the case, a district attorney spokesman said.

According to authorities, Darrington stabbed to death her 18-month-old granddaughter Damani Trouter and wounded another granddaughter and her daughter Monday during a visit to their Colton home, then fled. She was arrested the next day.

Darrington spent nearly a decade in a state psychiatric hospital and outpatient treatment program after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2005 attempted murder of her own children.

She was deemed sane by a jury in 2015. That decision meant she no longer required court-mandated psychiatric care.