Hearing Postponed For W. Va. Woman Accused Of Suffocating Baby
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – For the second time in as many weeks, Shawn Nelson drove the 270 miles from Boone County, W. Va., to Pittsburgh with his now 5-month-old son Eli in his arms, hoping to hear a legal decision involving his wife Rachel, only to go back home with no such result.
Rachel Nelson is charged with smothering the boy often till he was nearly limp, as a 4-month-old, then resuscitating him.
It was discovered when the child was taken to Children's Hospital for what was then an unknown illness.
But investigators say they discovered the pattern of smothering after the child was transferred from a West Virginia hospital and investigators suspected it all began in the family home in Boone County.
But as Children's Hospital's Dr. Jennifer Wolford began her testimony about what happened at Children's, the defense objected because she did not generate the original report.
District Judge Kevin Cooper agreed and barred her testimony until the original doctor is available.
Prosecutors believed the testimony was admissible at a preliminary hearing, but the hearing was once again postponed.
Shawn Nelson was disappointed.
"Is it frustrating to drive all this way without a resolution?" KDKA's Harold Hayes asked.
"A little bit, a little bit," Nelson said.
When asked if he wants to see a resolution, Nelson replied, "oh yeah, oh yeah."
Nelson also said that the baby is doing well.
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