BENTONVILLE -- A Decatur woman pleaded not guilty to a felony charge that accuses her of recklessly causing the death of her 2-month-old son.
Molly Sullivan, 22, is charged with manslaughter, which has a prison sentence of three to 10 years. She entered the plea at her arraignment before Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren on Jan. 9.
Sullivan was arrested for first-degree murder Oct. 28, but prosecutors later charged her with manslaughter. She was being held in the county jail on $250,000 bond, and Karren reduced the bond to $3,500 because of the lesser charge. Sullivan was still listed as in the jail Thursday.
Benton County Sheriff's Office detectives Brandon Dill and Joe Adams went to 23632 Coon Hollow Road in Decatur for 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. Sullivan called 911 at 11:21 a.m. Oct. 28 to report her son was not breathing, according to the affidavit.
Sullivan said in a written statement she woke up at 8:30 a.m. and heard her son grunting. She then 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, and after she woke up she heard her other two children playing. Sullivan said she discovered her son in the playpen was blue and purple. She called 911 and performed CPR after being directed to do so by a 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, according to court documents. Sullivan said her son was alive the last time she saw him, and he was on his back prior to her calling 911, according to the affidavit.
Sullivan told detectives there was a couch pillow in the playpen when she found her son, but the pillow was not on top of him, according to the affidavit. Sullivan said she threw couch pillows in the area near the playpen and may have accidentally thrown one into the playpen, according to the affidavit.
Detectives later observed what were described as pressure marks on the boy's body, according to the affidavit.
Karren scheduled Sullivan's jury trial to begin June 13.
General News on 01/18/2017