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Woman gets probation for slaying of adopted daughter

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Wilkins previously served 30 months for injuring 9-year-old

Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)

Author: JOHN STEVENSON jstevenson@heraldsun.com; 419-6643

In a case fraught with what the judge called "a most unusual set of circumstances," a Durham woman was placed on probation Tuesday for killing her adopted daughter -- years after she previously was punished for causing an injury that reportedly led to the child's death.

Melinda Ann Wilkins, 41, received two years of probation after she pleaded guilty in Durham County Superior Court to involuntary manslaughter in the June 2003 death of Melissa Wilkins, then 9.

Wilkins originally was accused of first-degree murder, but the charge was downgraded as part of a deal with prosecutors.

She had pleaded guilty in 1996 to feloniously abusing her child and served about 30 months in prison for it.

Prosecutor Mitchell Garrell said the earlier injury set off a chain of complications that eventually killed the child. Defense lawyer Jay Ferguson denied it.

According to Garrell, the girl was found to have suffered "severe brain trauma" in 1995. In addition, she had a skull fracture and spine injury, along with three unrelated rib fractures and what appeared to be bite marks on her body, the prosecutor said.

"Shaken baby impact syndrome" was the diagnosis.

Wilkins initially told authorities the child had fallen off a sofa. But she later amended her story to say the girl was "thrown into the air and accidentally fell."

The child remained institutionalized for the remainder of her life, first at Duke University Hospital, then Lenox Baker Children's Hospital in Durham and finally the Hilltop Home for Retarded Children in Raleigh. She reportedly was blind, speechless and unable even to sit up without support.

"She was cared for on a 24/7 basis," Garrell said Tuesday. "But for the criminal act that occurred back in 1995, she would not have been in that condition at all. She never functioned at anything like a 9-year-old level. She functioned more like a 2- or 3-year-old in terms of comprehension. ... Those weren't by any stretch normal or carefree years."

Pathologists concluded that the child's 2003 death was caused by "pneumonia due to complications of traumatic brain injury." Homicide was listed as the manner of death.

However, lawyer Ferguson disagreed with that assessment Tuesday.

"Nothing that happened back in 1995 was the cause of Melissa's death," he argued.

If the case had gone to trial, defense physicians would have testified in support of that assertion, Ferguson added.

He said Wilkins "loved her daughter Melissa with all her heart and soul. "

Still, Ferguson described Tuesday's plea bargain as a good way to end what had become "a long, long ordeal for everyone."

Ironically, the child-abuse charge to which Wilkins pleaded guilty in 1996 was a higher-level felony than the involuntary manslaughter case -- even though the latter case involved a death.

Judge Ron Stephens noted that, as a result, Wilkins had previously served more prison time than she could receive even if he locked her up Tuesday.

2006 Feb 8