Child Neglect

The mother of a 2-month old boy who died in December 2010 from blunt force trauma to the head and her boyfriend were indicted Wednesday by a Berkeley County grand jury on multiple charges. Jessica Lynn Skupnick, 23, of 192 Butterfly Lane, Hedgesville, W.Va., and Dominic Michael Hall, 19, who is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, were both indicted on two felony counts of death of a child by a parent, custodian or guardian, single counts of child neglect resulting in death, gross child neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury and conspiracy, according to their indictments, which were released by Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely's office.

A Berkeley County woman will plead guilty to two felony counts of child neglect and will testify against her co-defendant in a case involving the abuse of the man’s two children last year, under an agreement discussed during a hearing Monday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Karen S. Boback, 44, and her boyfriend, Jesse A. Lafferty, 33, both of 292 Labonte Drive, were indicted in February on felony charges of child abuse causing serious bodily injury, gross child neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury or death, and conspiracy.

A woman charged with child neglect causing the death of her 2-month-old son in December waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Berkeley County Magistrate Court on Wednesday. Jessica Lynn Skupnick, 22, and her boyfriend, Dominic Michael Hall, 18, are charged with felony child neglect resulting in the death of Jaxon Chaz Hall. On Dec. 4, Jaxon was pronounced dead at 192 Butterfly Lane near Hedgesville, W.Va., where the infant resided with his mother and Hall, Hall's mother and his stepsister, police testified last month in a preliminary hearing that was held for Skupnick's boyfriend.

The Dec. 4 death of a 2-month-old boy in Berkeley County has been ruled a homicide, a sheriff's deputy said Tuesday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. The baby's mother, Jessica Lynn Skupnick, 22, and her boyfriend, Dominic Michael Hall, 18, are charged with felony child neglect resulting in the death of Jaxon Chaz Hall. Jaxon was pronounced dead at 192 Butterfly Lane near Hedgesville, W.Va., where the infant resided with his mother and Hall, Hall's mother and his stepsister, according to testimony from Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. T.M. Snyder during a preliminary hearing held for Hall.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A 25-year-old woman charged after her 2-year-old daughter was found shoeless and without a coat on a cold, wet Martinsburg street in October 2008 was placed on five years of probation on Monday. Lanish A. Bailey’s plea of no contest to one felony count of child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury was accepted by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who described her actions as “despicable,” reciting the definition of the word aloud in court.

A Berkeley County couple charged Monday with felony child neglect resulting in death allegedly canceled a regular checkup for their 2-month-old son the day before the boy was found unresponsive earlier this month, police said. Dominic Michael Hall, 18, and his girlfriend, Jessica Lynn Skupnick, 22, both of 192 Butterfly Lane in Hedgesville, W.Va., were in Eastern Regional Jail Monday night after being arraigned hours earlier by Berkeley County Magistrate Sandra L. Miller, according to magistrate court and jail records.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg man accused of fracturing his 5-month-old daughter's skull in October 2008 was found guilty Friday by a Berkeley County Circuit Court jury of abuse and neglect. Alfonso F. Sanchez, 28, was convicted of one count of child abuse causing serious bodily injury and one count of child neglect creating a substantial risk of bodily injury, Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gregory K. Jones said. Sanchez, who is scheduled to be sentenced Sept.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. --A woman charged with child neglect after her 2-year-old daughter was found shoeless and without a coat on a cold, wet Martinsburg street in October 2008 declined to accept a plea offer from the state, attorneys handling the case said Monday. The trial for Lanish A. Bailey, 24, of Martinsburg, was scheduled for Oct. 26 by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III in a status hearing Monday. By entering a guilty plea to one felony count of child neglect, Bailey would have been allowed to avoid a jail sentence, according to her attorney, Nicholas Colvin.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A circuit judge on Monday rejected arguments Monday that a Martinsburg man accused of fracturing his 5-month-old daughter's skull in October 2008 was denied his right to a speedy trial since being indicted last year. Alfonso F. Sanchez, 28, was indicted in February 2009 by a grand jury on one count of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of child neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury. In a motion hearing Monday, 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh ruled that Sanchez's decision in November 2009 to enter a plea agreement, which the judge ultimately rejected in February 2010, amounted to the defendant agreeing to a continuance of the case.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The trial for a woman charged with child neglect after her 2-year-old daughter was found shoeless and without a coat on a cold, wet Martinsburg street in October 2008 was postponed again on Monday. The trial for Lanish A. Bailey, 24, of Martinsburg, was not immediately rescheduled by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III. He agreed to allow time for her defense attorney's expert to review a psychological evaluation report. A status hearing was scheduled by Silver for Aug. 16. The evaluation of Bailey was scheduled to done last month, but the report on the evaluation's findings was not made available until last week, according to her attorney Nicholas Colvin.