BENTONVILLE — A Benton County judge set bail at $250,000 for a Decatur woman accused of killing her 2-month-old son.
Molly Sullivan, 22, made her first court appearance Monday morning after being arrested Friday in connection with first-degree murder. Prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges against Sullivan.
Bryan Sexton, deputy prosecutor, requested bail be set at $250,000.
"This is a homicide and the victim was particularly helpless," said Sexton, who noted that Sullivan does not have a criminal record.
Scott McElveen, deputy public defender, who represented Sullivan at the hearing, said he did not think Sullivan could post bond.
Sullivan told Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green that she has two other children who are with their father in Decatur.
Sexton requested that Green issue an order that would prohibit Sullivan from having contact with any children under the age of 10. Green decided to issue the no-contact order.
On Friday, Benton County sheriff's office detectives Brandon Dill and Joe Adams went to 23632 Coon Hollow Road in Decatur after a call concerning the death of a 2-month-old boy, according to a probable cause affidavit. The child is identified as LS in the affidavit. Several passages in the affidavit are redacted.
Sullivan called 911 at 11:21 a.m. Friday to report that her son was not breathing, the affidavit states.
Detectives did not observe any signs of neglect or a dangerous environment in the home, according to the affidavit.
Sullivan said in a written statement that she woke up at 8:30 a.m. Friday and heard her son grunting. She made him a bottle and fed him, changed his diaper, rocked him back to sleep and placed him in his playpen, according to the affidavit.
Sullivan said she fell asleep on the couch. She said she heard her other two children playing after she woke up. Sullivan said she checked on her son in the playpen and discovered he was blue and purple, the affidavit says.
Sullivan then called 911, the affidavit states. She performed CPR on her son after being directed to do so by a 911 dispatcher, according to the affidavit.
Benton County Coroner Daniel Oxford asked Sullivan to reconstruct how she found her son. Oxford gave her a doll to demonstrate how she placed her son in the playpen after she fed him, according to court documents.
Sullivan placed the doll on its back and said that was how she placed her son in the playpen, according to court documents. Sullivan said her son was alive on his back the last time she saw him, and he was on his back before she called 911, the affidavit states.
Sullivan later told detectives she had placed her son on his stomach after feeding him because he was fussy and she thought he had gas, according to the affidavit.
Sullivan told detectives there was a couch pillow in the playpen when she found her son, but that the pillow was not on top of him, according to the affidavit. Sullivan admitted she threw couch pillows in the area near the playpen and said she may have accidentally thrown one into the playpen, the affidavit states.
Sullivan said she often caught her other sons throwing toys into the playpen and that they could have put the pillow there, the affidavit states.
Detectives later observed what were described as pressure marks on the boy's body, the affidavit states.
Sullivan's arraignment is scheduled for 8 a.m. Dec. 5.
At a glance
A Class Y felony is punishable with a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 40 years or life imprisonment.
Source: Staff report