BEDFORD – The sentencing scheduled for Monday for 33-year-old Cheyenne Hill has been postponed until April 23, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. in Lawrence County Superior Court I.
A Lawrence County Superior Court I jury deliberated for almost two hours and found Hill guilty of child neglect causing death, a Level 1 felony in the death of her 20-month-old daughter, Elliaunna (Elli) M. Plummer.
A Level 1 Felony is one of the most severe crimes in Indiana and carries a sentence of 20 to 40 years. She is currently being held in the Lawrence County Jail.
Robert Hamilton of Salem represented Hill. Deputy Prosecutors Sarah Cummings and Joshua Scherschel presented the case for the state.
During closing arguments, Scherschel told the jury Hill placed her child in danger, resulting in Elli’s death.
“She did it knowingly,” Scherschel said.
Scherchel told the jury that Elli was not Hills’ priority.
Scherschel repeated Hill’s testimony, “He (Cameron Fleming) wouldn’t care to marry me if I didn’t have a baby,” Scherschel told the jury. “Smoked a little marijuana and walked to work on that morning. We are going to get stoned and go to Taco Bell. Save me some Thanksgiving dinner. Do I still have a place to live if Elli dies? Those were her priorities, not this little girl.”
“We don’t know beyond a reasonable doubt who did the physical act that killed Elli Plummer. Unfortunately, we do know her mother had a responsibility to care for that child, but she put her in danger to the point of death,” Scherschel added.
During closing remarks, Robert Hamilton told the jury this was a terrible case because a child died. He said, “Why are we not hearing about the person that harmed the child? The state has pigeon-holed the mother into the responsibility for the child’s death.”
“Elli passed. Why go after the mother,” Hamilton added. “They used the state statute to make my client the biggest victim and compound her grief, the most trauma you can experience. That is what my client has gone through, but who caused the death of Elli? Where is the evidence my client Cheyenne Hill had an evil mind that made a decision that hurt Elli? She was attentive, but she said some terrible things. She doesn’t have the tools to behave as we want. How did she place this child in danger? Cheyenne is the victim. She lost her daughter… Put yourself in her shoes. She had no one to trust. She didn’t know what to do. To find Cheyenne guilty makes no sense.”
However, Scherschel said Hill was not the victim; Elli was.
Scherschel added, “Unfortunately, We don’t know who hurt Elli beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. “We do know her mother placed Elli in that position. She didn’t call 911, and she didn’t get her help… she placed her child’s life in danger, and Elli Plummer died.”
Scherschel reminded the jury that Hill failed a polygraph.
“She was asked, do you know who hurt that little girl? And she (Cheyenne) said no,” Scherschel added. “Focus on the evidence and return a verdict of guilty.”
Hill was arrested in September 2023 in Michigan and transported back to Lawrence County to face charges.
On November 23, 2022, at 12:16 p.m., officers were requested to go to IU Health Bedford Hospital by the Department of Child Services caseworker, who reported that Elli had been flown by a medical helicopter to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.
The baby had suffered a brain bleed, a broken collar bone, and had head and facial bruising. She also had a swollen and deformed head with bruising to her forehead and the left and right sides of her face.
On November 26, 2022, Elli was pronounced dead at 4:35 p.m. after showing no brain activity. Elli’s organs were donated.
A post-mortem examination conducted by Pathologist Doctor Amanda Paul concluded the manner of death was a homicide and that the injuries would have occurred after November 21, 2022.
On November 29, 2022, a post-mortem examination was conducted by Pathologist Doctor Amanda Paul. The 7-page autopsy report revealed Elli was malnourished and had lacerations to her upper and lower mouth that were not from medical intervention and a right, acute clavicle fracture. Elli also had numerous bruises in various stages of healing.
“She suffered multiple impacts throughout the whole head,” Dr. Paul testified. “She had subdural bleeding to both sides of her head but more on the right side. The head injury would have been fatal…She was brain-dead for a while before she was pronounced dead.”
Dr. Paul concluded the manner of death was a homicide, and the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
