Jan 15, 2015 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Ashley Renee Cordwell, 19, was found guilty by a Greene County jury Thursday afternoon of endangering the welfare of her infant daughter, Mackenzie Sammons, who suffered bone fractures to her ribs, legs and arms in the first two months of her life.

A jury of eight women and four men received the case following two days of testimony before Judge Farley Toothman and returned with two guilty verdicts against the Dilliner woman shortly before 5 p.m., concluding she failed to protect an infant in her care.

Charges were filed Dec. 10, 2013 against Cordwell, about four months after doctors at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., reported suspected abuse after Mackenzie was taken to the emergency department July 30, 2013, for a fractured leg. At that time, doctors compared X-rays of Mackenzie taken May 22, 2013, following her birth at Ruby Memorial, and those taken by doctors treating the broken leg.

The baby’s father, Bobby Jarond Sammons, 24, is serving a 2-to-5-year prison sentence after pleading guilty last August to charges of a parent or guardian endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Sammons admitted to breaking the baby’s leg, although maintaining it was accidental.

During questioning last July by Pennsylvania state police Trooper William C. Brown, the lead investigator, Sammons initially lied about what caused the broken leg, blaming a family dog, but he later confessed he leaned on the baby, breaking the bone.

In his charge to the jury, Toothman said they needed to agree Cordwell, “did through reckless conduct not protect her baby and allow her to sustain various injuries from May 2013 to July 2013.” Assistant District Attorney Brianna Vanata told the jury, “She (Cordwell) may not be as guilty to the same degree as Bobby Sammons, but she is guilty.”

Vanata said Cordwell did not immediately call for an ambulance July 30, 2013, when she learned her daughter was injured, but waited for her mother to come home from work before the child was taken to the emergency room.

“This isn’t a scraped shin. These are serious, serious injuries this baby suffered,” Vanata said. “Something broke that baby’s bones – every one of her limbs, also a number of her ribs. Nobody has disputed those broken bones.”

Cordwell and her attorneys placed emphasis on the fact she took the baby to multiple doctor visits over the course of the two months and the physicians did not find anything wrong. But Vanata noted, “Doctors base a lot of their advice on the input from parents because you can’t ask a baby.”

“Eighteen broken bones, all in different stages of healing, and Ashley Cordwell wants you to believe that never once did she notice anything was amiss,” Vanata said. “Did she turn her head, not pay too much attention, ignore these warning signs, these red flags?

“It’s not a crime to be a bad parent. It is a crime, when you know, when you should know, something dangerous is going on.”