Police: Woman charged in death said she hated baby, blew smoke in infant's face, relative says

Mother pleads innocent in Sebastian County; bail set $250,000

Kinyata Nichols
Kinyata Nichols

FORT SMITH -- A woman charged in the Dec. 11 death of her 10-month-old son told a relative that she hated her baby, flung him around and blew cigarette smoke in his face, according to police records.

Kinyata Nichols, 36, pleaded innocent Wednesday in Sebastian County Circuit Court to charges of second-degree murder and first-degree endangerment of a minor. A public defender was appointed to represent her, and her bail was set at $250,000.

An autopsy performed by the state medical examiner's office reported that he died from cranio-cerebral trauma. Police believe the injuries were the result of shaking.

A police probable cause affidavit said Nichols told investigators she did not remember shaking her baby, Calipe Jamie Henry, and that there was a blank space in her memory around the time he was injured, but she acknowledged that her baby could have been injured by shaking.

The affidavit said police interviewed a relative who said Nichols brought her baby over for a visit. She was flinging the baby around and blew cigarette smoke in his face, saying the baby didn't like that.

"'I can't stand this little m * * * * * * * * r,'" the relative recalled Nichols saying, according to the affidavit.

Initially, Nichols told police she was changing the baby when he became unresponsive and his head began to shake. She denied there was any accident or other problem that could have caused his injuries, the affidavit said.

The baby was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith where doctors diagnosed him with subdural hematoma, the affidavit said.

A subdural hematoma occurs when blood vessels rupture between the brain and membrane layers that cover the brain and create a hematoma that presses on brain tissue, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is caused by severe head injuries.

Calipe was flown to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock where doctors performed surgery to try to relieve pressure on the brain, the affidavit said.

Doctors at Arkansas Children's Hospital suspected abuse, according to the affidavit. They noted severe weight loss and dehydration. A hair toxicology test revealed positive results for methamphetamine.

Doctors also found Calipe suffered from retinal bleeding and had healing rib fractures.

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State Desk on 08/17/2018

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