Oak Ridge Today

DA: Granddaughter in murder case was malnourished, smothered

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Valerie Stenson

The young granddaughter who died in Oak Ridge in 2011 was malnourished and had been smothered, District Attorney General Dave Clark said Friday, after the child’s grandmother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last Tuesday.

Emergency workers and law enforcement officers responded to a 911 call at Teller Village Apartments around 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, 2011. The grandmother, Valerie Stenson, now 54, was trying to revive her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, Clark said in a press release Friday.

“An autopsy reveled that the child was malnourished, and the cause of death was smothering,” said Clark, who is DA in the Seventh Judicial District (Anderson County).

Manhattan was two years and nine months old when she died, Clark said.

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Grandmother sentenced to 30 years in murder plea deal

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Valerie Stenson

A grandmother pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death of her young granddaughter in Oak Ridge eight years ago, and she was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Valerie Stenson, 54, who has an address listed in Knoxville, was ordered to serve 100 percent of her sentence.

Stenson had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, who was 18 months old when she was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane on April 17, 2011.

The first-degree murder charge was reduced to second-degree murder as part of the plea deal entered in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday.

Prosecutors had once sought the death penalty against Stenson, but it was withdrawn in March 2018. Prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.

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Rocky Top man charged with child abuse after infant found unresponsive

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Cameron Tommy Beard

Cameron Tommy Beard

 

A Rocky Top man has been charged with aggravated child abuse and child abuse after an infant who was reported to have a brain injury was found unresponsive on Old Lake City Highway in Anderson County in March, authorities said.

Cameron Tommy Beard, 19, was arrested by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after he was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton, District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release Friday. The indictment of Beard charged him with aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child less than eight years old, and two counts of child abuse of a child less than eight, Clark said. [Read more…]

Prosecutors withdraw death penalty in grandmother’s murder case

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Valerie Stenson

Valerie Stenson

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Oak Ridge grandmother charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter seven years ago.

Announcing the decision, prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.

The state filed a withdrawal notice, announcing it would not seek the death penalty, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on March 16. The withdrawal notice has not been previously reported. [Read more…]

Death-penalty defendant to be taken to psychiatric hospital

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Valerie Stenson

Valerie Stenson

 

The Oak Ridge grandmother facing the death penalty in a first-degree murder case will be taken to a psychiatric hospital where her competency and mental health can be evaluated, according to Anderson County court records.

The defendant, Valerie Stenson, 53, is currently being held at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville. She will be taken to Moccasin Bend Psychiatric Hospital in Chattanooga for an intake scheduled for 1:30 p.m. January 17, according to an order filed in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Wednesday, January 3.

A two-week trial for Stenson had been scheduled for December 2017, but it was canceled and a mental health evaluation was ordered. It’s not clear if or when the trial will be rescheduled.

Court orders filed in August and October called for a psychiatric evaluation of Stenson and a referral to Moccasin Bend, where experts can determine her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense). [Read more…]

Grandmother’s murder trial has been canceled, mental health evaluation ordered

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Valerie Stenson

Valerie Stenson

 

CLINTON—Scheduled for December, the murder trial of an Oak Ridge grandmother who is facing the death penalty has been canceled, and a mental health evaluation has been ordered.

On Thursday, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark in Clinton said he’s not sure if or when the trial for Valerie Stenson, 53, will be rescheduled, and he can’t address why the two-week trial in December has been canceled.

Some of the most recent court documents filed in the case relate to a psychiatric evaluation for Stenson. It’s not clear if that evaluation is related to the cancellation of the trial, which has been rescheduled before, but it does seem that it would be difficult to conduct the evaluation, which could last up to 30 days, before the trial in December.

A status hearing was scheduled for Stenson in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday, and subpoenas filed on Tuesday said the trial is off. It had been scheduled for December 4-8 and from December 11-15.

An August 14 order for a psychiatric evaluation that was filed by Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge said Stenson was previously evaluated by State of Tennessee experts and determined to be competent to stand trial and to help with her defense. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman charged with murder in death of infant daughter in Knoxville

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Heather-Renee-Keylon

Heather Renee Keylon

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m.

A woman listed as an Oak Ridge resident was arrested Saturday on murder and child abuse charges for the death of her three-month-old daughter due to a drug overdose in Knoxville in April 2015, authorities said.

Heather Renee Keylon, 31, of 134 Waddell Circle in Oak Ridge, is facing charges of felony murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated child neglect, the Knoxville Police Department said. She was arrested Saturday and taken to the Knox County jail, where her bond has been set at $1 million.

Police responded to an unresponsive infant call at 3534 Old Valley View Drive, Apartment Number 12, in north Knoxville at about 12:39 p.m. April 21, 2015.

Keylon told police that her infant daughter, Skylar Brewer, had stopped breathing, the KPD said. The child had gone to sleep on the sofa, Keylon said, but she realized a short time later that Skylar wasn’t breathing and she called 911, authorities said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman convicted of abuse charge

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Note: This story was updated at 11:05 a.m. April 17.

Oak Ridge Today/WYSH Radio

An Oak Ridge woman will spend the next 15 to 25 years in a state penitentiary after an Anderson County jury needed less than 20 minutes Tuesday to convict her of aggravated child neglect following a trial in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Melissa Lopez, 37, was charged with failing or refusing to seek emergency medical care for her then-10-month-old son, who had suffered what the Anderson County District Attorney’s Office described as “horrible,” second-degree chemical or thermal burns to his skin and injuries to his eyes in November 2008.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services began an investigation after someone called and told them about the infant’s injuries, and DCS workers compelled Lopez to take the boy to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for treatment of his skin burns, eyes, and management of his pain. [Read more…]

Clinton man charged after teen pierces tongue

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Clinton man was arrested Wednesday morning on charges of aggravated child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection to an incident that allegedly happened last fall.

Jeremy Vandinter, 36, is accused of posing as a 13-year-old girl’s father and signing a parental consent form that allowed the girl to get her tongue pierced at an Oliver Springs tattoo parlor, against her actual father’s wishes. The teen had apparently babysat for Vandinter in the past and approached him to sign the form so she could have the procedure done at Uptown Ink in Oliver Springs.

The incident allegedly occurred on Sept. 28 of last year but the girl’s father did not discover the tongue-piercing until late last month, when he called police. Vandinter will appear in court in Roane County on June 6.

Grandmother facing death penalty in murder case indicted on new child abuse charges

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Valerie Stenson

Valerie Stenson

An Oak Ridge grandmother who is already facing the death penalty and charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter has been indicted on nine new counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children, court records said.

Valerie Stenson, 49, of Teller Village Apartments, was indicted and arrested last year in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and an Anderson County grand jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in 2012.

The new indictments were filed Sept. 3. They include four counts of aggravated child abuse, two counts of aggravated child neglect, and three counts of aggravated child endangerment. The offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims are under 18, the indictments said. [Read more…]

Report: With four children in car, chase exceeds 100 mph, mother urges driver to go faster

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Billy Ray Fox

Billy Ray Fox

Heather Renee Buchanan

Heather Renee Buchanan

Note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. Aug. 24.

With four unrestrained children in the car, an East Tennessee man and woman fled from officers at speeds exceeding 100 mph on Thursday afternoon, crossing from Anderson County into Union County, and a mother allegedly urged the driver to go faster, authorities said.

The high-speed chase began at about 4:22 p.m. Thursday when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of an aggravated burglary on Foster Road. They located a suspect gray Pontiac Grand Am being driven by Billy Ray Fox, 28, of Corryton, on Hickory Valley Road and Collins Gap Road. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge couple remains jailed after infant allegedly kicked in head

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David Lee Francis

David Lee Francis

Melissa Darnell Shillings

Melissa Darnell Shillings

An Oak Ridge couple accused of being involved in a domestic dispute on Saturday that resulted in a seven-month-old child being kicked in the head with a boot remained jailed Wednesday evening.

David Lee Francis, 38, and Melissa Darnell Shillings, 35, of Wainwright Road, are both charged with aggravated child abuse and domestic assault. [Read more…]