Mother ‘deliberately shook her baby son to death’
A mother deliberately shook her disabled eight month-old baby son to death, police say. Jennifer Woodward, 33, is said to have killed her son Malcolm Xavier in July 2019, and was charged with aggravated child abuse on Tuesday. Smith’s husband Andrew Smith, 50, of Hawkins County in Tennessee, faces the same charge.
Malcolm is believed to have been fatally injured sometime around the end of June last year, with the injuries he sustained in the suspected attack ultimately killing him a fortnight later.
The Times News reported that he was admitted to hospital at the end of June, with social workers beginning an investigation into his injuries on July 1. Malcolm had been so badly injured by the abuse he spent the final few weeks of his life on a feeding tube.
His parents were charged after a grand jury handed down a sealed indictment on August 17.
The youngster received specialist treatment at the Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, but his injuries were too serious for him to recover from. Knox County Sheriff’s Office say they plan to share more details about Malcolm’s case on Thursday afternoon.
No motive for the abuse that killed Malcolm has been given. The baby’s parents each face up to 60 years behind bars if convicted of the abuse that killed him. Andrew Smith has been freed after posting a $100,000 bond while Woodward – who has three other children – is being held in jail in lieu of the same amount.
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