A Waynesville Woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars after pleading guilty to charges in the death of a 5-year-old Child.
According to Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman, Angela West was under investigation following the child’s death back in March, after a student told a Waynesville School Resource Officer that a child was unconscious at a residence at the 700 block of Washington Street.
Investigators there found marks on the wrist, ankles and necks of the little girl, along with a sock that had blood on it.
A sibling also testified that that West would use the sock to stop the girl from crying and waking up the other children in the home.
Investigators also noted that West admitted to them, that she would tie up the little girl and taught the other children in her home how to do so as a “last resort” to keep the girl from “stealing food.”
Another defendant in the case, Shamira Buford, has a trial set for June of 2024.
Press Release:
SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR THE MARCH 2023 DEATH OF 5-YEAR-OLD WAYNESVILLE CHILD
Kevin Hillman, Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney announces that in Circuit Court action today Judge John Beger sentenced Angela West of Waynesville to life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections as a result of her plea of guilty to Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the First Degree Resulting in the Death of a Child.
The charges in this case arose on March 7, 2023, after a student reported to his teacher and the school resource officer that his sister had died the night before in his home. Waynesville Police responded to the home in Waynesville and found a deceased five-year-old girl. During the investigation, Waynesville Police determined that the adults in the home regularly disciplined the victim by tying her up at night with ropes and if she cried, placing a sock in her mouth and covering it with duct tape. The cause of death was determined to be suffocation and the child had extensive ligature marks and bruises from the ropes. The child was also very malnourished. Angela West was one of the adults who participated in the abuse of the child resulting in her death.
“This is one, if not the most tragic case, I have seen in my thirteen years as Prosecuting Attorney,” said Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman. “These were heinous acts perpetrated on a young and innocent victim over a long period of time and I commend Judge Beger for sentencing the defendant to life imprisonment for her role in this abuse and death of this child.” The Prosecutor’s Office would like to commend the work of LT Mark Piles, Detective Greg Snyder, Chief Dan Cordova and the Waynesville Police Department for their hard work and investigation into this case. A case like this, involving the death of a child, is hard on everyone involved and a conviction and sentence like this is due to their professionalism and hard work.
This case was investigated by the Waynesville Police Department and prosecuted by Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Hillman and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sara Jones.
