Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, March 2, 2012
(JOHNSON COUNTY)(WTHR13) - New details were released on Thursday in the case of a Johnson County mother who is accused of drowning her 3-year-old son.
Amanda Smith was charged in the death of Jacob Smith after she told police she drowned him in the bathtub at her apartment on Monday, investigators said.
Although Smith battled severe mental problems, a judge allowed her to have unsupervised visits with her son once a week.
Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Mark Floyd defended his decision to grant Smith unsupervised custody of her son despite concerns from the child's father and grandmother, who was his legal guardian.
"There were no inferences throughout the case of any physical violence or anger toward the child," Floyd said.
During court hearings, Smith asked for once-a-week unsupervised overnight visits with her son and told Floyd that she wasn't a threat to anyone.
In a letter addressed to the court, Smith portrayed herself as a caring parent who "thanked God for her children and for being drug and alcohol-free." Smith also complained that she wasn't getting the proper mental health counseling that she needed in the letter.
Robert Crim, Jacob's father, said Smith is a diagnosed schizophrenic and that her mother shouldn't have agreed to let the boy spend the night with her.
"Why would you agree to it when just a couple of months ago, you tried getting your own daughter committed?" Crim said.
Investigators said Smith suffered from mental illness and had called police agencies in Johnson County more than 200 times in the last year, including 11 times over the last weekend.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.