OAN Staff Taylor Tinsley
6:34 PM – Wednesday, July 17, 2024
A woman charged with killing her 11-month old baby is planning to claim insanity as a defense in her upcoming murder trial.
30-year-old April Evalyn Short was charged with premediated murder and felony murder in May of this year. She’s accused of killing her 11-month-old baby in November of 2023 and pleaded not guilty.
The defense was given 90 days to file pretrial motions. Court records indicate Short now plans to claim insanity and her lawyers will call a forensic psychologist from the Justice Department to the stand.
The incident took place at Fort Eisenhower on November 15th in Augusta, Georgia, where her husband worked as a drill sergeant.
Short’s husband became worried after receiving a text from her saying “days of darkness” were upon them and referencing God.
After he failed to contact his wife, Shorts husband quickly returned home to find her barricaded inside a bedroom with their three children.
Military and local police were eventually able to talk her out of the room. She then reportedly attempted to flee in a vehicle with her two other children.
The baby was found wrapped in a shower curtain in the bathroom, covered in blood.
The infant was rushed to the base’s hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Short reportedly told investigators that she knew what she had done was “wrong” and “evil.” One of Short’s children also reportedly told investigators that she had hurt the child so he could “be with Jesus and God.”
Short was evaluated at a federal medical center for two months, where a doctor wrote she “exhibited worrisome symptoms of psychosis,” but later said Short showed “dramatic improvement” with medication and deemed her mentally competent to stand trial.
According to court documents, Dr. Dori Mitchell Franco will also be called to the stand. She is an active-duty Colonel in the U.S. Army and current Armed Forces Medical Examiner.
Dr. Franco performed the 11-month-old’s autopsy and is expected to present her findings, where she concluded the child’s manner of death was homicide.
Franco found the baby “died from the sharp force injuries of the neck, of which the injury to the left carotid artery was fatal. She also found that the abrasions are consistent with use of a serrated knife.
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