Mother’s trial set to begin
WAYNESBURG – The trial for a Dilliner woman, who faces charges in connection with injuries sustained by her infant daughter over a two-month period in 2013, is scheduled to begin today in Greene County Court.
On Dec. 10, 2013, Ashley Renee Cordwell, of 105 Ford Street, was charged with endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person once authorities determined the infant had suffered “ongoing, non-accidental trauma.”
Cordwell’s live-in boyfriend, Bobby Sammons, 23, the father of the infant girl, pleaded guilty in August to charges of a parent or guardian endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. A charge of aggravated assault was dropped in exchange for Sammons accepting a 2-to-5-year sentence in a state penitentiary.
The baby was taken to the hospital July 31, 2013, for a fractured femur. State police were then contacted to investigate an alleged case of child abuse.
Dr. Jeffrey Lancaster showed troopers X-rays taken the day the baby was born in May 2013 at Ruby Memorial Hospital and compared them to those taken when she was brought in two months later. Lancaster said there were no breaks shown on the X-rays taken at birth, but the new X-rays indicated four healing rib fractures on the left side, two healing rib fractures on the right and healing bones in her arm and wrist.
Ruby Memorial Radiologist Dr. Michael Cunningham found additional healing fractures to bones in the lower right and left legs of the infant.
Doctors classified the baby’s injuries as ongoing, non-accidental trauma, that began when she was just a few days old, based on the various stages of healing, according to the criminal complaint filed in Greene County.
Sammons entered a guilty plea and was sentenced Aug. 27. During his sentencing hearing, Sammons maintained he did not harm the baby intentionally. Sammons said he accidently pushed his knee into the baby while reaching across her body to grab a diaper. However, this was not the story he gave police when arrested. At that time, Sammons said he heard the baby cry from another room and when he entered he said the family dog jumped on her.
He said he was agreeing to plead guilty because he failed in his responsibility to protect his child. The only explanation he gave for how the infant might have sustained injuries, other than the broken femur, was when the baby fell out of her car seat. Sammons said he picked the seat up after a blanket was thrown over it and did not realize the baby was not secured in it.
In regards to Cordwell, Sammons told the court, “Ashley, her mother, her sister or anyone else who was around my child, I can’t speak for them. I can only speak for myself.”