GUILTY GA- McKenzy Debelbot, newborn, murdered by parents, Columbus, 2008

[Bradley Q.]

https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/crime/article240737036.html

After multiple court hearings over two decades of appeals, a Columbus mother and father convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in their infant daughter’s death have been granted a new trial.

In a unanimous ruling announced Friday, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Ashley and Albert Debelbot, deciding they were denied their Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel during their joint trial in October 2009.

A jury convicted the couple in the death of their daughter McKenzy, who was born May 29, 2008, at Fort Benning’s Martin Army Hospital and released the next afternoon.

After the Debelbots brought her home to their apartment on Buena Vista Road, they found a lump on her forehead early on June 1, and took her back to Martin Army. She was pronounced dead at 3:55 a.m.

To sum up the main points of the article:

A medical examiner reported that the baby had died due to head trauma, and the parents were both arrested. The Debelbots claimed that McKenzy had been born with with a brain deformation that caused her death. During the trial they were not permitted to bring testimony from doctors related to this illness, and were both convicted of murder. While the issue of medical evidence was brought up in their appeal, the deciding factor in the decision was several very misleading statements about reasonable doubt that the prosecutor had made to the jury ("It does not mean to a mathematical certainty. Which means we don’t have to prove that 90 percent. You don’t have to be 90 percent sure. You don’t have to be 80 percent sure. You don’t have to be 51 percent sure.") A new trial for the couple will be scheduled and take place later.

Hopefully the new trial will determine with full certainty the cause of Mckenzy's death.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Georgia Jury Trials To Restart After Pandemic Slowed Right To Speedy Trial

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton said he’s planning to lift a year-long restriction Tuesday to allow jury trials to resume that have been on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

[Bradley Q.]

Prosecutor won’t retry Georgia couple in newborn’s death

A Columbus Army couple sentenced to life in prison for the 2008 death of their newborn daughter will not be retried following the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision to overturn their convictions.

District Attorney Mark Jones has filed motions to drop all charges against Ashley and Albert Debelbot after the pair spent nearly 12 years in prison, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.

The two were convicted of murder in 2009 following the death of their daughter, McKenzy, who died three days after her parents brought her home from the Martin Army Community Hospital in Fort Benning. A medical examiner determined the infant died from trauma caused by a blow or multiple blows to the head, though prosecutors never said which parent allegedly killed her

According to this article the DA has decided not to attempt a retrial, citing the lack of evidence to suggest that the couple committed murder and the reports suggesting that McKenzy indeed died due to a medical condition. The article says a hearing with the Muscogee County Supreme Court on Tuesday (presumably today) will determine what steps are taken next.

 

[Bradley Q.]

And we have the final word:
Charges against Fort Benning couple accused of killing newborn baby in 2008 dismissed

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - A Fort Benning couple convicted of killing their newborn baby walked out of a Columbus courtroom Tuesday free to live their lives. Six months ago they were released on bond after spending almost 13 years in a Georgia prison.

Albert and Ashley Debelbot were a military family when they arrived at Fort Benning in March of 2008. Soon after they had a little girl, McKenzy, who died almost two days later from a head injury and in turn, turned the Debelbot’s lives upside down.

A 13-year saga came to an end when Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Art Smith accepted the district attorney’s motion to dismiss murder and child cruelty charges against Ashley and Albert Debelbot. District Attorney Mark Jones also issued an apology to the couple.

“I thought I would never hear that being said to me ever,” said Ashley Debelbot. “I don’t hold any bitterness toward anybody, I’m just happy that now, me and my husband can now properly grieve for the daughter we lost.”

“My freedom, I did not loose to begin with, so why is he giving it back to me and apologizing,” said Albert Debelbot. “It should have never been taken from the beginning. We lost 12 years of being apart. Let’s ask the better question. What is the state going to do for us?”

TL;DR- conviction has been fully overturned, the couple are now officially free after twelve years in prison.