JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A West Virginia woman already in jail for trying to kill her son is facing a murder charge for allegedly smothering her young daughter to death while living in Jacksonville.
Amanda Butler, 25, is nearing the end of a sentence for child abuse after she pleaded no contest to trying to smother her son at a West Virginia hospital in 2003. While she continues to deny that she killed her 2½-year-old, Cheyenne, in 2002, Jacksonville police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Butler on Tuesday.
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Butler told a reporter with WSAZ-TV that she never tried to harm either child, although she was arrested after being seen on hospital surveillance tape holding a rag over her 3-month-old son's mouth and nose for 42 seconds.
Last month, Butler pleaded no contest to abusing the baby. That plea led police in Jacksonville to file murder charges against Butler for the death of Cheyenne.
While the family lived in Jacksonville in 2002, Cheyenne kept having unexplained seizures, and her mother repeatedly took her to the hospital. When Cheyenne died after one of those seizures, the medical examiner determined "the cause of death to be consistent with asphyxiation." But prosecutors said there there wasn't enough evidence at the time to charge Butler with Cheyenne's death.
Butler moved to West Virginia, where her newborn son started having similar seizures. He eventually ended up in the hospital.
Doctors said the baby was not epileptic, and Huntington Police Detective Kendra Beckett believed the only thing wrong with the children was their mother.
According to the arrest affidavit, Butler is also accused of abusing another child while babysitting in 2000.
Butler was arraigned Tuesday on a fugitive of justice warrant from Jacksonville. When she completes her prison sentence West Virginia later this year, she will be extradited to Florida to face the murder charge.