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She shook the baby so hard his skull separated from his spine, so prosecutors charged her with murder.
But in February 1993, when the jury came back with its verdict, the day care provider was found guilty — but on a reduced charge of manslaughter.
For Robert Parrish, a prosecutor with more than 25 years of experience handling fatal child abuse cases for the Utah Attorney General and the Salt Lake County District Attorney, the lesser conviction was a best-case scenario early in his career.
"When I first got involved [with prosecuting these cases]," Parrish said, "it was just sort of accepted in the culture that we just cut a break to people who were frustrated when taking care of little kids."
But a new study by doctors at the University of Utah's Department of Pediatrics shows suspects of child homicides are now convicted at a rate similar to those of adult homicides — a finding experts attribute to new laws, a shift in cultural attitudes and improved forensics.
The study, published this month in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, examined 334 homicides in Utah, including 66 child homicides, from 2002 through 2007.About 88 percent of fatal child abuse cases with an identified suspect ended in conviction compared to about 83 percent of adult homicide cases, according to the study.
"Historically that was not the case," said Parrish, who prosecuted his first child homicide in 1985. "I think people just really did not want to believe that somebody who was taking care of a child would want to do anything on purpose."
Greg Skordas, a Salt Lake City defense attorney and former county prosecutor, pointed to advances in science and medicine as one reason for the increased convictions.
"When I was prosecuting these cases, it was hard to prove a shaken-baby case," he said. "Those were cases we lost all the time. The forensics have sort of improved to the point where experts are likely to say this injury was caused specifically by a shaking motion."
Efforts by the Legislature have also aided prosecutors' cause.
Lawmakers created the state's child abuse homicide law in 1994, giving prosecutors a way to charge someone with recklessly causing a child's death, even if the act wasn't intentional. The law originally made the crime a third-degree felony, but in subsequent years — first in 2000, and then again in 2008 — lawmakers ramped up the penalties, making recklessly causing a child's death a first-degree felony, which is punishable by up to life in prison.
But despite the increased ability to bring harsher charges against those who kill children, less than half of child abuse homicide cases ended with first-degree felony convictions, the study found, while the opposite is true of adult homicides.
"There's not a statistical difference there, but there's definitely a trend," said Hilary Hewes, one of the doctors involved in the study. "Luckily we live in a state where there aren't enough numbers" for a meaningful statistical analysis of the sentences.
Attorneys said they would expect the sentencing trend to hold true across the board. That has much to do with intent and criminal history, officials said.
According to the study, just four of the 30 people convicted of child abuse homicide had a prior felony conviction. Often, Skordas said, the death is simply the result of a moment of frustration.
But while he said most child abuse deaths are the result of "a moment of loss of impulse control," Parrish said he believes stiffer sentences are still needed.
"We have a heightened level of responsibility as adults taking care of children," he said.
Anne Freimuth, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Utah, said only more education — not more severe penalties — will prevent child abuse deaths.
"Obviously it sounds so easy to say, 'Put them away for life and they can never kill another a child.' But that's after the fact," she said. "I don't know that it makes any difference."
Added Skordas, "It's more a societal retribution. Not to deter people from doing it. But society is going to feel a lot better that you're now in prison."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
About the study
R Doctors at the University of Utah's department of pediatrics examined 334 homicides in the state between 2002 and 2007. Of those, 169 cases were within the state's jurisdiction and had an identified suspect, including 34 cases of child abuse homicide. Researchers found the conviction rate for child abuse homicide suspects (88 percent) was similar to the rate for adult homicide suspects (83 percent).