Mother charged with murder in 4-year-old's death

Ashlee Clark

A Winchester mother has been charged with murder after investigators said her 4-year-old daughter died of abuse four months ago instead of a fall.

Jessilyn Robinson told medics on May 28 that her daughter Faith Raeanne Robinson fell in the bathtub at her McClure Road home, said Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue.

But doctors said the injuries were inconsistent with a fall, Perdue said.

Faith was initially taken to Clark Regional Medical Center and then to University of Kentucky Hospital, where she died the next day of a brain injury, Perdue said.

Because Faith had no outward injuries, deputies with the sheriff's department waited until they received the official medical examiner's report on her autopsy before moving forward with Thursday's arrest, Perdue said.

The report said Faith sustained a subdural hematoma — a traumatic brain injury — and retinal hemorrhaging, which indicated she had been shaken violently, Perdue said.

"These types of injuries are not common or associated with a fall," he said.

Perdue said he is unaware of any signs that the girl had been previously abused.

Robinson, 34, is being held at the Clark County jail on a $250,000 cash bond.

The child's father was not at home at the time, Perdue said.

She has another daughter and a son, who are in the custody of their father at the family's home on McClure Road.

During the sheriff's investigation, social services had gained authorization to keep Robinson from having contact with the two children other than one-hour visitations, Perdue said. She has been staying at an apartment on Lexington Avenue in Winchester.