JUDGES ALLOWS W.V. MURDER SUSPECT TO VISIT 2 CHILDREN
A West Valley woman charged with murdering her 3-year-old son can visit her two living children under the supervision of authorities, a judge has ruled.
Darlene Bright, 32, spends one hour a week each with her son, Kory, and her daughter, Melanie Ann. The children's therapist recommended the visits, said defense attorney Ron Yengich.Bright is scheduled to stand trial for murder, a first-degree felony, on March 6. Prosecutors say she killed her adopted son, Kameron Bright, in April during a rage that left an 8-inch-long fracture in his skull and blood deposits in his eyes.
She told detectives the toddler "bumped his head" in a fall from a bunk bed.
But the boy would have had to fall several stories to suffer such injuries, an assistant medical examiner testified during a September court hearing. More likely, Kameron could have been shaken violently and then struck on his head with a blunt object, the doctor said.
Bright was released from jail in June and visits her two children at a foster home while their therapist supervises, according to court rec-ords.
"The children wanted to see her, and based on the recommendations of the therapist and others, we didn't argue against it," said prosecutor Ann Boyden. "The counselor said the kids needed to see her."
DFS received as many as seven reports of abuse involving Kameron before he died on April 5.
Yengich says all reports of past abuse against Kameron were unfounded, "fomented by people who didn't like Darlene Bright." And he said the woman, despite being charged with murder, deserves to visit her living children.