Hillsborough: Mother convicted in death of baby

Mother convicted in death of baby

The jury decided the 3-month-old girl's death was not an accident as her mother told officials.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN

The jury decided the 3-month-old girl's death was not an accident as her mother told officials.

TAMPA -- A jury took less than 90 minutes Thursday to convict a Tampa woman of second-degree murder in the smothering death of her infant daughter last year.

Sherrideen Smith, 26, leaned her head on her attorney's shoulder when the verdict was read.

She had contended that the March 23, 2000, death of her 3-month-old daughter, Akua, was an accident.

But testimony from neighbors and witnesses at Central Park Village, a cluster of publicly subsidized townhouses near downtown, may have doomed Smith. They testified that Smith's behavior the day Akua died was bizarre and that she delayed summoning help for the baby.

Many of them took special interest in the case, returning to the courtroom to hear the verdict by the jury of five men and one woman. They, along with prosecutor Kim Seace, expressed joy and relief in the outcome.

"I'm thrilled," Seace said. "I think it was the criminal justice system working at its absolute best."

Seace credited residents of the housing community for helping law enforcement in the investigation. "The neighborhood rallied behind that baby," she said.

Throughout the two-day trial, Seace used a baby doll about the size of Akua, blankets and a bassinet as visual aids.

Smith, who took the stand during the trial, testified that she tried to warm her baby, who had the flu. But jurors believe a different version of what happened that morning.

Akua would not stop crying, so Smith swaddled her baby tightly inside three blankets and placed the bundle inside a zippered blanket. She then laid the child face-down in her bassinet, causing the baby's death.

Smith went to a neighbor's house to call 911, but sat on a couch for at least five minutes before picking up the telephone.

Before the baby's death, Smith had talked about placing her for adoption. She already had four other children -- two of whom were taken away because of neglect.

Circuit Judge Daniel Perry will sentence Smith on Oct. 5. She faces life in prison.