Bedford woman convicted of child neglect pregnant again

A Bedford woman set to be sentenced Thursday for felony child neglect in the death of her infant daughter is pregnant again, her lawyer said Tuesday.

Cecelia Burnette, 27, had been charged with second-degree murder in eight-month-old Marissa Burnette’s death, but a March jury found her not guilty on that count. In convicting Burnette of neglect, jurors recommended an eight-year sentence.

David Oblon, her lawyer, confirmed the pregnancy, but did not comment about how long she has been pregnant or how it could influence Thursday’s hearing. In an email, he said he anticipates the hearing will go forward as scheduled.

Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Doucette said in an email he wasn’t aware of any court filings seeking special treatment, just that her pregnancy was noted in a report prepared by a probation officer. Doucette was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case because the Bedford Commonwealth’s Attorney is distantly related to the man Burnette was living with at the time of the baby’s death.

Burnette is free on a $15,000 bond.

Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority Administrator Elton Blackstock said pregnant women undergo the same medical evaluations as all inmates.

“We follow whatever the doctor tells us to do,” Blackstock said. “It’s not unusual.”

It could mean segregated housing, but most often will result in extra food, he said.

Once sentenced to a prison term, local inmates are still housed in the authority’s jails for an average of five or six months before being transferred to the state Department of Corrections, he said. Jail officials will usually try to get a pregnant inmate transferred to a state prison more quickly, but he said it would still likely mean at least a 90-day wait.

If she delivers while in local custody, he said, she would be taken to a local hospital and allowed to give birth normally except with a guard posted at the room. Most of the time, he said, a family member takes custody of the child unless there is a reason for the Department of Social Services to intervene.

A Department of Corrections spokesman said pregnant inmates are sent to the University of Virginia Medical Center for delivery.

According to testimony during the three-day trial in March, Marissa died after suffering shaking injuries on Sept. 2, 2008. Josh Cheek, Cecilia Burnette’s then-boyfriend, testified that in the early afternoon, after Burnette left the child with him, the baby began having seizures and losing consciousness. Cheek told jurors he tried to call Burnette three times, begging her to return home and to seek medical attention for the baby, but that she ignored him.

Later that afternoon, again left alone with the baby, the child lost consciousness and stopped breathing. The child survived for a few days at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, but was brain dead, doctors testified.

Prosecutors tried to show that Burnette’s lies about her whereabouts and the child’s injuries showed she was covering up for her actions in shaking her baby to death. Her lawyers argued it was just as likely that Cheek hurt the baby and that prosecutors couldn’t prove Burnette’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors prevailed on the child neglect charge by arguing Burnette should have sought medical attention after reports of seizures earlier in the day.

The jury recommended an eight-year sentence and a $75,000 fine. Bedford Circuit Court Judge James Updike will have final say at Thursday’s hearing. Judges are allowed to reduce a jury’s recommended sentence and to order a delayed reporting date.