Mom to serve one year in child's death

FRANKLIN — A Spring Hill woman has been sentenced to serve one year in jail and 14 years on probation in the death of her toddler daughter.

Jennifer Alvey, who appeared before Williamson County Circuit Judge Jeff Bivins on Wednesday, pleaded guilty last year to aggravated assault and reckless homicide. She had been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

Her daughter, 20-month-old Emma, died in a hospital days after hitting her head on a coffee table at their home. The impact, which occurred Oct. 19, 2005, was hard enough to fracture the girl's skull and cause brain swelling.

Alvey was given 30 days to report to jail and her attorney said they would consider filing an appeal of the sentencing. Alvey had asked for full probation.

Bivins said this was "probably the most difficult sentencing hearing" he'd ever conducted. He called it a "tragic situation."

Exactly what happened to Emma Alvey is unclear. Jennifer Alvey has given three different versions of how her daughter was injured. She told doctors that Emma was playing with a push toy, fell and hit her head.

More than a month passed before Alvey told a Spring Hill detective that she'd lied to doctors and had actually shaken the girl in a moment of frustration, accidentally striking Emma's head on the table. Alvey said even her husband didn't know the truth until after her last interview with police.

"Does that disturb you … that she lied not only to the police and to you, but to the doctors trying to save her life?" deputy district attorney Derek Smith asked Phillip Alvey during the sentencing hearing.

"They already knew what was wrong," Phillip Alvey said. "She did it for me and her family."

Jennifer Alvey took the witness stand and told Bivins that she was at the dishwasher when Emma became fussy. Alvey said she picked Emma up and the toddler lifted her feet from the ground.

"I jerked her to stand up and when I did she arched her back and hit her head on the coffee table," Alvey said.

"Never had that been Mrs. Alvey's explanation before," assistant district attorney Mary Katharine White said.

Jennifer Alvey said she initially lied to doctors because she was afraid that if they knew the truth she wouldn't be allowed to stay by Emma's side at the hospital. The girl died after five days of treatment.

Phillip and Jennifer Alvey have been married for 10 years. The husband called his wife "a beautiful person" who loves children. The couple was not able to have children and adopted Emma from China in 2005. Phillip Alvey said his wife would "never intentionally hurt" Emma.

"If I thought she would intentionally hurt her, I wouldn't be here today," Phillip Alvey said.

More than 50 friends and family members came to the courtroom to support the Alveys.

"If you could define a crime of impulse this would be it," Alvey's attorney, Mark Puryear said. "A second of her life brings us here today."

Puryear said prior injuries, including a fall down a flight of steps three weeks earlier, could not be ruled out as a factor in Emma's death.

Medical examiner Tom Deering said Emma died from "blunt trauma to the head."

Deering said it would have required a "significant amount of force" to cause the injuries Emma suffered. He said the wounds he inspected were "fresh," not weeks old.

Contact Mitchell Kline at 615-771-5417 or mkline@tennessean.com.