CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A Clarksville woman charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of her 3-month-old daughter in 2018 entered a no-contest open plea to the charge of reckless homicide Monday morning at the Montgomery County Courts Center.
Sarah Scribner, 28, agreed to the maximum sentence of 12 years on the reckless homicide charge.
“We’ve otherwise reached a compromise that alleviates some of the concerns at trial but also holds responsibility,” Scriber’s attorney, Daniel Ufford, said in court.
Child found unresponsive
Clarksville Police said officers responded to a home on the 200 block of Orleans Drive on April 28, 2018, at 11:41 p.m. They found the infant, Annabelle Scribner, unresponsive and not breathing. Officers and EMS personnel performed CPR, and the child was transported to Tennova Healthcare.
The child failed to regain consciousness and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to court documents obtained by Clarksville Now, a witness said she received a phone call from Scribner saying she had “done something bad.”
Scribner told the witness that she was trying to stop the child from crying by putting her hand over the child’s mouth and the child stopped breathing.
Five months after the child’s death, the grand jury handed down indictments for two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse. Scribner was originally charged with criminal homicide in April of 2018.
The plea
According to Ufford, there were concerns of diminished capacity regarding Scribner’s mental disorders, which include autism and depression, but Ufford said she had been evaluated for competence and that he had no question about her ability to understand her plea.
Ufford said that while Scribner is a range 1 offender, meaning she has no prior criminal convictions, she did agree to the maximum sentence of 12 years.
“The only thing that is going to be determined at the sentencing hearing is the manner of service, so we’ve got Department of Corrections or community corrections,” Ufford said.
Scribner is under a conservatorship, and her father, Paul, is her legal guardian. They live in the Nolensville area. Paul said that at the time of Annabelle’s death, Scribner had been left alone with Annabelle for several days while staying with other family members.
“The highest IQ she’s got is a 61,” Paul said Monday morning, adding that she was diagnosed in 2015. “If you would have asked me, ‘Can she watch my child?’ I would have told you no, she’s not capable. This is what’s happened,” Paul said
Scribner will remain out on bond pending her sentencing hearing on Jan. 12.
Correction: Annabelle was 3 months old when she died, not four months. This story has been updated.