AUDRINA CLAIRE HEPBURN - 16 months - (2009) Cross Hill SC

A 21-year-old woman has been arrested and stands accused of killing her 16-month-old daughter.

Laurens County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ashley Nicole Hepburn, 21, of 11563
Highway 72 West, Cross Hill and charged her with murder by child abuse.

According to sheriff’s office reports, deputies were contacted about 2 a.m. last
Tuesday by officials at Self Regional Medical Center about a possible
child abuse case. The reports said deputies responded and spoke with
Hepburn’s boyfriend, who said he went to check on the child about 1:30
a.m. and found her unresponsive, lying face down in the corner of the
crib.

The man said he picked the child up and again found her
unresponsive. A call to 911 was placed moments later and the child was
taken to Self Regional. The report said the boyfriend told deputies the
child had been fine about two hours earlier.

Deputies reportedly then spoke with Hepburn. The 21-year-old mother reportedly initially
said she had put the child to bed at 10:30 p.m. and that the baby was a
little fussy, but generally in good health.

The report said she told deputies she went to sleep and was later awakened by her
boyfriend, who was holding the unresponsive baby.

The young victim was taken from Self Regional to Greenville Memorial Hospital,
because of the extent of her injuries. The investigation led to Hepburn
being charged on Thursday with abuse by inflicting great bodily injury
upon a child.

However, on Friday, the child died in the Greenville hospital. At that point, Hepburn’s charges were upgraded to
murder by child abuse.

A Laurens County Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant affidavit accusing Hepburn in the child’s death reads as follows:

“Lt. R. Plaxico states under oath, based on information and belief, that the
defendant Ashley Hepburn did cause the death of (the victim), a
16-month-old child, by battering her, causing irreparable damage to the
brain, while committing child abuse.”

The sheriff’s office is still investigating the incident.

A Clemson University student was arrested Friday and charged with killing a baby girl who died last year of brain injuries caused by abuse.Richard Brandon Lewis, a junior at Clemson, is accused in the death of 16-month-old Audrina Claire Hepburn. He is 25 and is from Clinton.Lewis is charged with homicide by child abuse and with aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse.Lewis was arrested by agents from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and Clemson University police on Friday morning outside Lowry Hall. He was wanted in Laurens County.The arrest came on the 11-month anniversary of Audrina’s death.The little girl died on Oct. 17, 2009, at Greenville Hospital System of brain injuries that authorities say she received at least four days earlier.The baby’s mother, Ashley Nicole Hepburn, was charged with homicide by child abuse in October 2009.The relationship between the baby’s mother and Lewis is not clear.One warrant for Lewis’ arrest accuses him of “willfully … causing the death of a child … while committing child abuse or neglect by an act or omission.”It says that Audrina’s death occurred because of “extreme indifference to human life.”A second warrant accuses Lewis, in part, of “knowingly aiding and abetting another person to commit child abuse or neglect” that resulted in Audrina’s death.The warrant says that was happening from about Aug. 1, 2009, through Oct. 13, 2009.SLED is investigating the case at the request of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office.Last year, Rita Carnes Hepburn-Ebel, the baby’s paternal grandmother, set up a Facebook page called “Justice for Audrina Claire Hepburn.”On Friday morning, Hepburn-Ebel posted a message: “Audrina Claire, 11 months ago today, our family chain was broken and nothing seems the same. But as God calls us one by one the chain will link again.”The message said she and her family would visit her granddaughter’s grave Friday.“Missing you, little Pretty,” she said, and added, “see you tonight in my dreams.”

Jury Finds Mother Guilty Of Homicide By Child Abuse

A jury found Ashley Hepburn guilty of homicide by child abuse Thursday afternoon. She was sentenced to 45 years and will have to serve 85 percent of the sentence.
Lewis was also found guilty of aiding and abetting with the homicide. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspended to seven years

http://www2.wspa.com/m/news/2011/mar/03/6/solicitor-jury-deliberating-ashley-hepburn-trial-ar-1533028/