ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) -An Albuquerque mom accused of killing her 4-month-old daughter faced a judge again Thursday. This is the third criminal case where prosecutors have argued to keep Christina Bennett in jail but questions about Bennett’s mental state have put a pause on her other cases.
“I don’t believe there is any conditions the court can set at this point to alleviate the concerns it has regarding Ms. Bennett’s behavior,” said Judge Jennifer Wernersbach.
Christina Bennett will remain behind bars after being accused of child abuse resulting in death for the killing of her 4-month-old daughter. “I don’t know if there just mental health issues or if the drugs are… I’m sure the drugs are exasperating them, I don’t know which comes first but it does seem the combination is pretty deadly,” Judge Wernersbach.
Investigators say Bennett showed up at her parent’s northeast Albuquerque home in April with her unresponsive daughter in her hands. Prosecutors argued Thursday that Bennett was using meth around her infant and that her twelve-year-old reported it to other relatives.
“Police show up, the defendant refuses to hand over AB to medics, and to the police, they have to force AB out of her arms. AB, she is gone at this point,” said Emilie Edmonds, assistant District attorney.
Prosecutors say an autopsy showed meth was found in the infant’s blood but the defense argued there is not enough evidence to charge Bennett with her daughter’s death.
“The state needs to prove that the defendant did a specific act either did or didn’t do an act that specifically leads to the death of a child and there’s just nothing here in the criminal complaint,” said Matthias Swonger, defense attorney.
The judge disagreed. “I do find that the state has met their burden for the dangerousness prong and under the conditions of release prong,” said Judge Wernersbach. The judge also ordered Bennett not to have contact with her 12-year-old child. Bennett is currently facing a mental competency evaluation in two other cases.
