MIDDLESBORO, Ky. — Defense attorneys filed a motion on Jan. 24 asking a judge to consider removing any chance of a death penalty for Erica Lawson, a young woman accused of killing her 17-month-old daughter in Bell County.
The motion was filed on Jan. 24 and is expected to be heard on Monday. Evidence in the motion said no male DNA was found after a sexual assault collection kit was used on 17-month-old Elena Hembree. Previously, authorities said she had been sexually assaulted as well as severely injured.
She was taken to the Middlesboro ARH Hospital on July 28, 2023, and was flown to the East Tennessee Children's Hospital due to the extent of her injuries. Elena died on July 30, 2023.
In September, Kentucky prosecutors filed a motion saying they planned to seek the death penalty against Lawson. They argued because Hembree was so young and the killing was deliberate, the case merited consideration of the death penalty.
"The indictment charges the intentional cause of death of her child by failure to render medical aid," the defense attorney's motion said.
It argues that the accusation was inconsistent with Kentucky law, and argued that prosecutors were "shoehorning" the word "intentional" into the indictment against Lawson. By making the killing seem intentional, they could seek the death penalty. Instead, it argued that the killing was "wanton" — a kind of murder that does not allow for the death penalty.
The defense attorney's motion also points to posts on social media by Lisa Fugate, the Commonwealth Attorney, about prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
"The Commonwealth Attorney made numerous social media comments regarding her intention to do so under the defective indictment. It is notable that all of this occurred during her campaign to become Circuit Judge and against the backdrop of rumors and accusations that Erica permitted her child to be raped and abused by multiple men," the motion said.
It asks the court to dismiss the indictment against Lawson, and if it refuses to do so, the motion asks the court to consider at least removing the death penalty as an option against Lawson.
"The Commonwealth has created a spectacle of a tragedy," the motion said.