The Natchitoches District Attorney’s Office has confirmed the state’s intention to seek the death penalty in the case against a woman accused of burning her son to death.
Hanna Nicole Barker, 25, was indicted on a charge of 1st-degree murder in November 2018.
A second woman, 27-year-old Felicia Smith, is also facing a 1st-degree murder charge.
The body of Barker’s 6-month-old son, Levi Cole Ellerbe, was found on July 18, 2018 off Breda Ave. after officers got a call about a fire.
The infant was taken to Natchitoches Regional Medical Center with 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns over 90 % of his body.
He was later airlifted to a hospital in Shreveport, where he died from his injuries.
Barker, who officials have said was in a relationship with Smith, is accused of asking Smith to kill the baby.
According to the indictment, Smith said she took the baby from Barker’s home, poured gasoline on him and set him on fire before going to work.
Barker initially claimed the baby had been kidnapped from her home in the Mayberry Trailer Park, prompting a search involving several law enforcement agencies.
Both Barker and Smith have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Barker’s trial date was set for January 13, 2020.
Source: KTAL news, Staff, August 3, 2019
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
