Friday, February 10, 2006

 

and another....

ED: Days like this, it's hard to read the ews when there is one after another child hurt or killed...

Mom on toddler's death: 'I didn't plan to hurt Emma'
Spring Hill woman says she lied earlier to protect husband, family


Jennifer Alvey is charged with murder in the death of adopted daughter Emma.

By MITCHELL KLINE

FRANKLIN, TN — A Spring Hill mother charged with killing her 20-month-old daughter told police she shook the toddler "without thinking," striking the child's head on a coffee table.

That caused damage that led to the death of Emma Alvey, police say. Jennifer Alvey and her husband, Phillip Alvey, adopted the toddler, who had been abandoned on a roadside in China, eight days after her birth.

In a written statement to police, Jennifer Alvey said she first lied about Emma's injuries, implying she was not involved, because she was trying to protect her husband and family.

"I lied because I was scared," she wrote in a statement taken Nov. 18 at the Spring Hill Police Department. "Not so much for myself, but I didn't want to hurt my husband and my family.

"People hate people who hurt kids. I hate those people, too. I didn't plan to hurt Emma."

The statement is one of a stack of recently released documents related to the death of Emma Alvey, who died Oct. 25 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

A police report, the statement, adoption records, an autopsy report and medical records filed by Williamson County prosecutors on Friday show how investigators gathered evidence to charge Alvey, 34, with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect and reckless homicide.

She remains free on $250,000 bail, with a case review date set for April 18. Her attorney, Mark Puryear, said she would not talk to a reporter, and said it was "premature to comment on the evidence."

In her written statement, Alvey said that on Oct. 19 she was "busy in the kitchen" and Emma "was fussing."

She told police that she went to Emma to see what was wrong, then "without thinking I just shook her and she hit her head on the coffee table." Alvey then cuddled with her daughter and put the child down for a nap.

Emma never woke up. She was taken to Vanderbilt, where she died six days later after doctors performed surgery and several procedures.

District Attorney General Ron Davis said he was "always pleased when any defendant in a criminal case decides to take responsibility and admit their conduct."

Davis said Alvey's written statement would be taken into consideration as prosecutors prepare their case.

Emma Alvey was born Feb. 11, 2004. She was found on a roadside in China, wrapped in a blanket, with a piece of paper denoting her birthday, according to documents from the Huangmei County Social Welfare Institution.

Then named Mei Fu Ping, the infant girl was taken to a social welfare institution in Huangmei. Chinese authorities were unable to locate the child's birth parents, according to the institution.

Emma was taken to a foster family when she was 11 days old, the documents say.

On Feb. 14, 2004, Jennifer Alvey filled out an adoption form with Bethany Christian Services in Nashville.

Alvey answered a question about how she would discipline a child by writing: "No hitting. Limits will be set according to age and action. They need to know even if they do something wrong they will not be loved any less."

Alvey told police she'd wanted a child for a long time and had the name Emma picked out for 10 years.

Her ex-husband, Jimmy Terhune, told a Spring Hill detective that Alvey was "on a mission to have a child." Terhune said he and Alvey never had a child and that was the driving force behind their divorce.

Jennifer Alvey told police that she suffered from panic attacks and had taken medication to control the attacks. She said stress from being a new mom and stress from her mother-in-law were "the reason I started taking (medication) in the first place."

In February 2005, Jennifer and Phillip Alvey went to China to pick up Emma.

Medical records show that the couple brought Emma to Pediatric Associates of Franklin at least seven times between March and October. Emma was receiving speech therapy.

In a statement to police, Jennifer Alvey wrote, "I made sure Emma had the best doctors, eye doctors, medications, clothes, therapist … anything that was going to help her grow and develop into a healthy, happy, little girl."

Emma received 13 stitches on Sept. 27, after she fell down a flight of stairs, according to medical and police reports. She was examined and found to have no serious head injuries.

Spring Hill Detective Steve Cretin was called to Vanderbilt on Oct. 20, when social worker Carolyn Orr reported possible child abuse, according to his investigative report. Cretin interviewed Jennifer and Phillip Alvey that day.

Both told him that Jennifer Alvey was home alone with Emma, emptying the dishwasher while the baby was playing in the living room.

Jennifer Alvey told Cretin she heard Emma crying and found her in a crawling position. She said she consoled the child and laid her down for a nap, according to Cretin's report.

An autopsy conducted the day Emma died revealed that the child had suffered blunt head trauma. Dr. Thomas Deering, a medical examiner for the state, concluded that the death was a homicide.

The case was presented to a grand jury in Williamson County on Dec. 12. Jennifer Alvey was arrested the next day, and freed four hours later after posting bail. Jennifer Alvey has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. •

Published: Thursday, 02/09/06

Comments:
This is absolutely sickening.

Do you have the website where this story is published, and updates on whether the False mother is covicted of homicide?
 
Jennifer Alvey committed suicide over a year ago.
 
JENNIFER ALVEY DIDN'T COMMITTED SUICIDE HER AND HER HUSBAND STILL LIVE IN TENNESSEE!!!!
 
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/COUNTY090101/806200363/1352/COUNTY

the link to the tennessean story.
 
She has admitted guilt and awaiting sentencing in Sept.of this year.She faces 15 years,but I doubt she'll get it.She has the money to walk.
 
pring Hill mom to serve a year in death of daughter

By Mitchell Kline • The Tennessean • January 21, 2009

* Read Comments(11)
* Recommend (4)
* Print this page
* E-mail this article
* Share
o Del.icio.us
o Facebook
o Digg
o Reddit
o Newsvine
o Buzz up!
* What’s this?

FRANKLIN — A Spring Hill woman has been sentenced to serve one year in jail and 14 years of probation in the death of her daughter.

Jennifer Alvey, 37, pleaded guilty last year to aggravated assault and reckless homicide. She had originally been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Advertisement

Her daughter, 20-month-old Emma, died in a hospital, days after striking a coffee table at their home. The impact, which occurred Oct. 19, 2005, was hard enough to fracture the girl’s skull and caused brain swelling.

Williamson County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Bivins said this was, “Probably the most difficult sentencing hearing” he’d ever conducted. He called it a “tragic situation.”

Exactly what happened to Emma Alvey is unclear. Jennifer Alvey has given three different versions of how her daughter was injured. She told doctors that Emma was playing with a push toy, fell and hit her head. More than a month passed before Alvey told a Spring Hill detective that she’d lied to doctors and had actually shook the girl in a moment of frustration, accidentally striking Emma’s head on the table. Alvey said even her husband didn’t know the truth until after her last interview with police.

“Does that disturb you… that she lied not only to the police and to you, but to the doctors trying to save her life?” Deputy District Attorney Derek Smith asked Phillip Alvey during today’s sentencing hearing.

“They already knew what was wrong,” Phillip Alvey said. “She did it for me and her family.”

Jennifer Alvey took the witness stand and told Bivins that she was at the dishwasher when Emma became fussy. Alvey said she picked Emma up and the toddler lifted her feet from the ground.

“I jerked her to stand up and when I did she arched her back and hit her head on the coffee table,” Alvey said.

“Never had that been Mrs. Alvey’s explanation before,” Assistant District Attorney Mary Katharine White said.

Jennifer Alvey told Bivins that she lied to doctors because she was afraid that if she’d told the truth she wouldn’t have been allowed to stay by Emma’s side at the hospital. The girl died after five days of treatment at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

Phillip and Jennifer Alvey have been married for 10 years. The husband called his wife “a beautiful person” who loves children. The couple was not able to have children of their own and adopted Emma from China in 2005. Phillip Alvey said his wife would “never intentionally hurt” Emma.

“If I thought she would intentionally hurt her I wouldn’t be here today,” Phillip Alvey said.

More than 50 friends and family members came to the courtroom to support the Alveys.

Jennifer Alvey’s attorney, Mark Puryear, said she should have gotten full probation.

“If you could define a crime of impulse this would be it,” Puryear said. “A second of her life brings us here today.”

Medical examiner Tom Deering said Emma’s death was a result of “blunt trauma to the head.” Deering said it would have required a “significant amount of force” to cause the injuries Emma suffered. He said the wounds he inspected were “fresh.”

Puryear said prior injuries, including a fall down a flight of steps three weeks earlier, could not be ruled out as possible causes of death.
 
http://tennessean.com/article/20090121/COUNTY09/90121080/1177/COUNTY0902

She gets a year.No justice for Emma.
 
Jennifer Alvey did not commit suicide. She is in Williamson County jail serving her time. I have to spend weekends there for the next month. She has been my roommate twice. What she did was horrible, but she has to live with that mistake for the rest of her life. She feels horrible and will probably never forgive herself. She is a very sweet girl and I would have never thought she was capable of doing such a thing.
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Blogging Birthmothers