In Ohio, Deasia Watkins, who has been accused of decapitating her baby in her home, faces a grand jury next week, which is expected to officilly indict her with a murder charge.
On March 16th, children who were playing inside the home alerted police that there was a dead baby inside; and tragically, an early investigation showed that the baby suffered “multiple traumas.” Watkins’ daughter, Janiyah, was only three months old and prior to her death, there had been questions about Watkins’ mental health. In fact, at one point she was removed from Watkins care and placed with family members.
Neighbor Jimmie Graham told the Daily Mail, “It was a lot of commotion going on out here this morning. They had the crime tape up, and I figured when the crime tape was up, somebody got hurt or killed or something. She must have been out of her mind. I heard she cut the baby’s head off.”
After a hearing in court today, Watkins faces a $500,000 bail, making it almost a certainty she will not be out of prison during her trial, and a grand jury indictment next week:
Bail was set Friday for Deasia Watkins, who was charged with aggravated murder after her daughter was found decapitated Monday on a kitchen counter in the Cincinnati home of an aunt who was caring for the baby.
A handcuffed Watkins didn’t speak at Friday’s hearing in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Judge Melissa Powers also scheduled March 26 as the date for Watkins to go before a grand jury, which would decide on any indictment. Attorney Michael Joseph Trapp, who is representing Watkins, said Friday that he had no immediate comment. Watkins, who had been hospitalized since she was taken into custody Monday, has since been transferred to the county jail.
Watkins was considered a threat to her child and had been “acting crazy” and talking about demons when a juvenile court judge in March placed the baby in the custody of Hamilton County Job and Family Services, according to court documents. Social workers later placed the baby in the temporary care of an aunt, who authorities say was warned to keep the mother away from the child unless social workers were present.
Police responding to a 911 call on Monday found the baby decapitated and stabbed multiple times with a large chef’s knife. She also had a fractured arm, and the knife had been placed in her hand, authorities said.
Police found Watkins in bed covered with blood. County prosecutor Joe Deters said Tuesday that Watkins appeared to be suffering from “serious mental issues.”
The Hamilton County Corner, Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, said it remains unclear if Watkins acted alone. She said, “It’s days like this when you really wonder how much evil there is in the world and how we’re fighting it. We’re trying to do right by this child. We’re trying to bring justice for this baby. We’re going to go over the evidence that we have, and try and make sense of this murder which, seems to us, is very senseless. We’re trying to do right by this child. We need to bring some justice for this baby.”
A spokesman for the corner’s office, Terry Daly, added, “It was very obvious the death was a homicide.”
As LifeNews previously reported, Nadejda Voronova was arrested in Russia after she cut off her disabled daughter’s head because she allegedly heard the voices of demons who told her to do it. The woman’s daughter, Yana, was seven years old and had cerebral palsy.
In 2010, Vornova divorced her husband and was raising her daughter alone. The police found out about the horrific incident from an anonymous tip that she had killed her daughter. Unbelievably, when they arrived at Vornova’s apartment, they found the child’s corpse with her head lying next to it. One neighbor told local TV, “She looked worse every day but she didn’t ask anyone to help, we thought she was managing.” Now Voronova is being held at a secure psychiatric ward waiting testing.
