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Thread: Valerie Stenson Sentenced in 2011 TN Slaying of Manhattan Inman

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    Valerie Stenson Sentenced in 2011 TN Slaying of Manhattan Inman

    Anderson County DA to seek death penalty in 2011 child murder

    The Anderson County District Attorney said Wednesday that he will seek the death penalty for a woman charged with murdering her two-year-old granddaughter.

    Valerie Stenson, of Oak Ridge, is accused of killing her granddaughter Manhattan Inman at her home on Teller Village Lane in April 2011. Stenson was charged in March of this year.

    According to documents filed by District Attorney Dave Clark, he made the decision to seek the death penalty because of the age of the victim and because the murder was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel".

    "I reached this decision considering all the factors and after careful review and reflection," Clark said. "Once such a decision has been made, it represents an enormous commitment of state resources and a recognition that the case will be reviewed and scrutinized exhaustively."

    In March, the grand jury indicted Stenson on five counts, including first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and neglect resulting in serious bodily injury, aggravated child abuse and neglect through use of a deadly weapon, aggravated child abuse and neglect through conduct that was especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or involved infliction of torture and aggravated child abuse and neglect during the year prior to the child's death.

    http://www.wate.com/story/20158532/a...1-child-murder
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    Grandmother charged with killing granddaughter in court

    A first Friday for an East Tennessee grandmother accused of killing her granddaughter.

    Valerie Stenson went before a judge for the first time since learning she will face the death penalty.

    During the status hearing, a judge set a new court date for her in February.

    Authorities found 2-year-old Manhattan Inman in Stenson's Oak Ridge apartment last April.

    Court documents say the girl's death was especially cruel because Stenson used quote "torture or serious physical abuse beyond what is necessary to cause death."

    http://www.wbir.com/news/article/245...pnews|bc|large
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    Grandmother facing death penalty in murder case indicted on new child abuse charges

    An Oak Ridge grandmother who is already facing the death penalty and charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter has been indicted on 9 new counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving 3 other children, court records said.

    Valerie Stenson, 49, of Teller Village Apartments, was indicted and arrested last year in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and an Anderson County grand jury indicted Stenson for 1st-degree murder and 4 counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect in 2012.

    The new indictments were filed Sept. 3. They include 4 counts of aggravated child abuse, 2 counts of aggravated child neglect, and 3 counts of aggravated child endangerment. The offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all 3 victims are under 18, the indictments said.

    On Monday, the Anderson County Circuit Court Clerk's Office said Stenson was arraigned Oct. 4 on the new charges, and she has a Dec. 9 court hearing.

    Her murder trial had been scheduled for February 2014, but it's not clear if the new charges could delay the trial.

    In a death penalty notice last year, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said aggravating circumstances in the murder case included:

    --It was committed against someone younger than 12 by someone older than 18.

    --It was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel "in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death."

    Stenson remains jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. Her bond has been set at $1.075 million.

    (Source: Oak Ridge Today)
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    Trial Set for Killing of Toddler

    Documents: Kids Claim Grandma said Child Possessed

    By Russel Langley
    The Oakridger

    An Oak Ridge woman is expected to face a jury this fall for the 2011 abuse and murder of her granddaughter, a toddler. The death penalty case is expected to get underway during the week of Sept. 19.

    Valerie Stenson, 51, formerly of 208 Teller Village Lane, Oak Ridge, was indicted in 2012 on five separate charges in the April 2011 death of Manhattan Inman, age two and one-half, while she was in Stenson's custody.

    The five charges are first-degree murder and four charges of aggravated child abuse or neglect.

    Stenson has been in the Anderson County jail since March 2012. She is being held on $1,075,000 bond.

    Information filed in Anderson County Criminal Court alleges that between April 15, 2010 and April 16, 2011, Stenson abused and tortured Manhattan and her three natural children. Stenson reportedly told the children she was especially hard on Manhattan because she was possessed by a demon and that Stenson was married to God.

    Stenson allegedly required that the children participate in “extensive Bible study, prayers and punishment.” The court documents called the punishment the children received from Stenson “excessive,” such as standing all night long for spilling a drink.

    “The punishment was continuous and systematic, rising to abuse and torture,” the documents said.

    The three surviving children, who were older than Inman, reportedly told officers that Stenson would abuse and torture all four children afterschool daily. This action was reportedly done as punishment for real or imagined misbehavior.

    Stenson's actions allegedly included forcing the children to stand all night with their arms outstretched or their hands on their heads. The children were reportedly left on their knees for extended periods of time without food, according to the court documents. They also allegedly reported “being hit with a ruler on their hands until bruised, being hit with a belt and being smacked or punched by the defendant, their mother.”

    Additionally, Manhattan was reportedly at times made to sit on “the potty” from the time she woke until bedtime, or made to stand with the other children. The older children reportedly told investigators that to punish her, Stenson would deprive Manhattan of food and then give her peanut butter and crackers “to make her more thirsty.” Then, Manhattan was given vinegar to drink to quench her thirst.

    One child reportedly told investigators that Stenson would pour water on Manhattan's head in the bathtub to get her to stop screaming. On the night of the toddler's death, Stenson allegedly had the other children help bind Manhattan from “head to toe in bandages and tape, not breathing.” The autopsy said the cause of Manhattan's death from the autopsy was suffocation, malnutrition and dehydration.

    “Evidence discovered in the death investigation revealed a pattern of abuse culminating in the smothering death of the child,” according to the court documents.The documents also said one of the older children expressed regret for “carrying out the orders of the defendant involving things done to Manhattan and for failing to get help for her.”

    In March 2012, The Oak Ridger reported on Stenson's arrest and Anderson County District Attorney General David Clark's decision to seek the death penalty against Stenson. Those articles also identified Stenson as Inman's grandmother.

    "I reached this decision (to seek the death penalty) considering all the factors and after careful review and reflection," Clark said in a March 2012 news release.

    The Oak Ridge Police Department investigated the case after the toddler was found unconscious and not breathing by a family member. She was pronounced dead at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge and an autopsy was performed at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville.

    The autopsy findings in the court documents reported, in addition to the causes of death, “injuries consistent with sexual assault, acute and chronic.”

    The jail's website listed no prior charges against Stenson.

    http://www.oakridger.com/news/201607...ddler/?Start=2
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    Death-penalty defendant to be taken to psychiatric hospital

    BY JOHN HUOTARI
    Oak Ridge Today

    The Oak Ridge grandmother facing the death penalty in a first-degree murder case will be taken to a psychiatric hospital where her competency and mental health can be evaluated, according to Anderson County court records.

    The defendant, Valerie Stenson, 53, is currently being held at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville. She will be taken to Moccasin Bend Psychiatric Hospital in Chattanooga for an intake scheduled for 1:30 p.m. January 17, according to an order filed in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Wednesday, January 3.

    A two-week trial for Stenson had been scheduled for December 2017, but it was canceled and a mental health evaluation was ordered. It’s not clear if or when the trial will be rescheduled.

    Court orders filed in August and October called for a psychiatric evaluation of Stenson and a referral to Moccasin Bend, where experts can determine her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense).

    Stenson had previously been evaluated by State of Tennessee experts and determined to be competent to stand trial and to help with her defense.

    But the order filed in Anderson County Criminal Court in August said a psychologist employed by Stenson was unable to complete an evaluation “due to the agitated state and mental health of the defendant. The expert did determine that the defendant is paranoid, delusional, and terrified, and when asking general questions about her case, the defendant began speaking in tongues and was unable to answer any questions from that point on or participate in the evaluation.”

    The next order, filed in October, said Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in Oak Ridge had referred Stenson to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga for a maximum of 30 days.

    An evaluation of competency to stand trial will determine whether Stenson has the ability to cooperate with her attorneys in her own defense, whether she is aware of and understands the criminal proceedings, and whether she understands the consequences.

    An evaluation of mental condition at the time of the crime, the insanity defense, will determine whether Stenson was unable to appreciate the nature of the alleged crimes at the time they were committed and that they were wrong.

    The results of the evaluation are to be reported back to Anderson County Criminal Court. It’s not clear how long that might take.

    Stenson was charged with first-degree murder in the April 17, 2011, death of Manhattan Inman, her toddler granddaughter. The child was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane, and the Anderson County Grand Jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect on March 6, 2012. Aggravating circumstances in the death-penalty murder case included the age of the child and the age of the defendant; the heinous, atrocious, or cruel nature of the alleged crime; and the fact that the alleged murder was committed while Stenson was committing or was attempting to commit, or was an accomplice in, another major crime.

    In 2013, Stenson was indicted on new charges: nine counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children. Those charges were filed September 3, 2013. They included three counts each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment.

    Those offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims were under 18, the indictments said. The indictments said the abuse caused serious bodily injury to the children, or caused injury and the abuse was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, or involved the affliction of torture.”

    http://oakridgetoday.com/2018/01/10/...tric-hospital/

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    Prosecutors withdraw death penalty in grandmother’s murder case

    BY JOHN HUOTARI
    oakridgetoday.com

    Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against an Oak Ridge grandmother charged with first-degree murder in the death of her toddler granddaughter seven years ago.

    Announcing the decision, prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.

    The state filed a withdrawal notice, announcing it would not seek the death penalty, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on March 16. The withdrawal notice has not been previously reported.

    Representing the state, District Attorney General Dave Clark of the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County had announced in November 2012 that the state would seek the death penalty against Valerie Stenson, who is now 53, in the death of her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, who was 18 months old when she died April 17, 2011.

    In the 2012 death penalty notice, Clark said there were aggravating circumstances in the case. They included:

    The alleged murder was committed against someone younger than 12 by someone older than 18.
    It was alleged to be especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel “in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death.”
    The alleged murder was committed while the defendant (Stenson) was committing, was an accomplice to, was attempting to commit, or was fleeing after committing or attempting to commit another serious crime.
    Since then, though, several issues have arisen that “cause the state to take the position that the penalty of life in prison is appropriate,” the state said in the withdrawal notice filed in March.

    “The state is confident that the defendant’s mental condition is such that she can assist her counsel in her defense,” the notice said. “Also, the state is of the position that she was not suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the offense. However, there is no question that the defendant has some mental health issues. As such, the state feels that a reviewing state or federal court may be hesitant to affirm a punishment of death.”

    The notice said that seeking the death penalty is a very laborious process that puts a “great deal of strain” on the local court system. It’s also very expensive and costly to the county, the notice said.

    “Several days are consumed with the jury selection process and the sequestration of the jury,” the notice said. “With a life sentence being the outcome upon a conviction of first degree murder, the District Attorney’s Office is hesitant to put that cost and extra-judicial burden on the county and local court.”

    If Stenson were convicted, a life sentence would carry a minimum 51-year prison sentence, the notice said.

    “Considering the defendant’s age and physical health, that is a death penalty,” the notice said. If Stenson were convicted of first degree murder, she would likely die before the death penalty would be carried out, the notice said.

    “Because of these and other factors, the state submits that a sentence of life in prison is just as effective as the death penalty, without the undue cost and burden on the local court system,” the notice said.

    A two-week trial for Stenson had been scheduled for December 2017, but it was canceled and a mental health evaluation was ordered. It’s not clear if or when the trial will be rescheduled.

    Court orders filed in August and October called for a psychiatric evaluation of Stenson and a referral to Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga, where experts can determine her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense).

    An evaluation of competency to stand trial would determine whether Stenson has the ability to cooperate with her attorneys in her own defense, whether she is aware of and understands the criminal proceedings, and whether she understands the consequences.

    An evaluation of mental condition at the time of the crime, the insanity defense, would determine whether Stenson was unable to appreciate the nature of the alleged crimes at the time they were committed and that they were wrong.

    The results of the evaluation are to be reported back to Anderson County Criminal Court. It’s not clear how long that might take. The evaluations are not public. Normally, if there is a competency issue, there would be a competency hearing, and that could be followed by a court order.

    Stenson has previously been evaluated by State of Tennessee experts and determined to be competent to stand trial and to help with her defense, according to court records.

    But the August order said a psychologist employed by Stenson was unable to complete an evaluation “due to the agitated state and mental health of the defendant. The expert did determine that the defendant is paranoid, delusional, and terrified, and when asking general questions about her case, the defendant began speaking in tongues and was unable to answer any questions from that point on or participate in the evaluation.”

    The October order said Ridgeview Psychiatric Hospital in Oak Ridge had referred Stenson to the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga for a maximum of 30 days.

    Stenson’s granddaughter, Manhattan, was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane on April 17, 2011. The Anderson County Grand Jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect on March 6, 2012.

    The next year, she was indicted on nine counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children. Those charges were filed September 3, 2013. They included three counts each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment.

    Those offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims were under 18, the indictments said. The indictments said the abuse caused serious bodily injury to the children, or caused injury and the abuse was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, or involved the affliction of torture.”

    The last death-penalty case in Anderson County was in May 2016. In that case, Norman Lee Follis Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder for killing his uncle, Samuel “Sammie” J. Adams, 79, sometime in mid-December 2011. Adams’ decomposing body was found buried under at least 10 blankets in a closet underneath a staircase at his apartment on Patt Lane in Claxton on January 24, 2012. A couch was shoved against the closet door. Adams had been reported missing. He died of strangulation.

    A jury sentenced Follis to life without parole but did not sentence him to death, although jurors said prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing of Adams was especially, heinous, atrocious, or cruel, and that Adams was 70 or older, two of the four aggravating factors the jury was able to consider.

    That was reported to be the first death penalty trial in Anderson County since 1991, according to defense attorney Mart Cizek, who represented Follis and was, at the time, one of only three defense attorneys in Anderson County qualified to handle death penalty cases.

    Cizek, lead counsel in the death penalty case against Stenson, was relieved from her case two months ago. Stenson is no longer entitled to two attorneys since the state has withdrawn its death penalty notice, Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Donald R. Elledge said in an order filed May 4. Also, Cizek was recently hired by the Public Defenders Office in the Ninth Judicial District, Elledge said. The Ninth Judicial District serves Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties.

    Tom Slaughter, co-counsel on the case, will be Stenson’s attorney, Elledge said.

    https://oakridgetoday.com/2018/07/26...s-murder-case/

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    Grandmother sentenced to 30 years in murder plea deal

    By John Huotari
    Oak Ridge Today

    A grandmother pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the death of her young granddaughter in Oak Ridge eight years ago, and she was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

    Valerie Stenson, 54, who has an address listed in Knoxville, was ordered to serve 100 percent of her sentence.

    Stenson had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of her granddaughter, Manhattan Inman, who was 18 months old when she was found dead in a home on Teller Village Lane on April 17, 2011.

    The first-degree murder charge was reduced to second-degree murder as part of the plea deal entered in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday.

    Prosecutors had once sought the death penalty against Stenson, but it was withdrawn in March 2018. Prosecutors cited mental health issues, expense, and the strain put on the local court system in death penalty cases.

    Besides second-degree murder, Stenson also pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and neglect on Tuesday, and she received a 30-year sentence on that count, also to be served at 100 percent.

    The two sentences are concurrent, meaning they will be served at the same time. The result was an effective 30-year sentence for Stenson.

    As part of the plea deal, three counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect were dismissed. So were nine counts of aggravated child abuse or neglect (three of those charges are listed as aggravated child endangerment in court records).

    The 100 percent sentence is unusual, compared to many sentences. Standard offenders often have a release eligibility date set at 35 percent of their sentences.

    In February, a trial had been scheduled for Stenson for May 14-16.

    Seventh Judicial District Deputy Attorney General Anthony J. Craighead was the prosecutor in the case. Thomas Slaughter was the defense attorney. Court records also list a co-counsel for Stenson, R. Alexander Brown. Donald R. Elledge was the judge.

    The Anderson County Grand Jury indicted Stenson for first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect on March 6, 2012.

    The next year, she was indicted on nine counts of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment in cases involving three other children. Those charges were filed September 3, 2013. They included three counts each of aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and aggravated child endangerment.

    Those offenses allegedly occurred between April 15, 2010, and April 15, 2011, and all three victims were under 18, the indictments said. The indictments said the abuse caused serious bodily injury to the children, or caused injury and the abuse was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, or involved the affliction of torture.”

    https://oakridgetoday.com/2019/05/07...der-plea-deal/

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