Provo mom gets 90 days in jail in baby's death


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Correction: The original story reported Julia Thomas was the prosecutor. That has been corrected to Sherry Ragan. PROVO — A Provo woman was ordered Tuesday to serve a total of 90 days in jail for drug abuse that had “devastating consequences” for her 3-month-old son, Paxton Stokes, who died in November 2012.

Brianna Brown, 30, pleaded guilty to three counts of endangerment of a child, a third-degree felony. A judge gave her credit for 22 days she had already served. Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan also ordered her to serve 120 days of home confinement on an ankle monitor.

“Ms. Brown’s decision to expose her children to marijuana and herself had devastating consequences to the child,” Pullan said.

On Nov. 27, 2012, Brown's boyfriend, Joshua Jay Harding, 31, was taking care of Paxton while Brown took other children to school and visited a methadone clinic. Brown said she saw the baby when she came home.

Later that day, officers responded to 1074 W. 860 North to investigate a baby who was not breathing. A medical examiner found that Paxton received “non-accidental injuries consistent with child abuse.” Investigators say the child had a bruise on his forehead, bruises and abrasions on his lower face and neck and red spots in his eye, bruises on his leg and hip abnormalities.

He later died from his injuries.

Brown and Harding were the only adults with Paxton during the time he received the injuries.

The baby’s injuries to his head were caused by “an extreme amount of force” from being hit or objects hitting him, according to prosecutors.

Paxton Stokes, 3 months old, died on Nov. 27, 2012, in Provo. His mother, Brianna Brown, and her boyfriend, Joshua Jay Harding, 30, of Pleasant Grove, were each charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony, in his death. Brown was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail as part of a plea bargain after pleading guilty to reduced charges. Harding is scheduled to stand trial in April. (Photo: Family photo)
Paxton Stokes, 3 months old, died on Nov. 27, 2012, in Provo. His mother, Brianna Brown, and her boyfriend, Joshua Jay Harding, 30, of Pleasant Grove, were each charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony, in his death. Brown was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail as part of a plea bargain after pleading guilty to reduced charges. Harding is scheduled to stand trial in April. (Photo: Family photo)

Brown and Harding were each charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony. That charge against Brown was dropped last month, however, because prosecutors felt they could not successfully prove Brown’s direct involvement. A 10-day jury trial is scheduled to begin April 27 for Harding.

When Paxton was born, Brown had been using controlled substances that were found in the baby’s system, court documents state. Two other children were also born to her with controlled substances in their systems.

Brown has completed substance abuse treatment and has weekly supervised visits with her four other children who are currently in foster care with relatives. She was on track to begin overnight visits with them in December.

Wearing a red shirt and long black skirt, Brown stayed straight-faced throughout Tuesday's sentencing hearing, her voice breaking when she said her children often ask when they can come home.

“I’m just trying to fix what I did wrong for my kids and for myself so I can get my kids back home, take care of them the way they deserve to be taken care of,” she said after asking the judge for leniency.

Pullan said the sentence “will hold you accountable, fairly accountable, for the negligence and reckless endangerment that you showed to your child and also to craft a sentence that will deter future misconduct and endangerment of these children.”

Prosecutor Sherry Ragan said Brown was “as uncooperative and unhelpful in this investigation as a person could be.”

Before the sentencing, the baby’s aunt asked for the judge to impose the maximum sentence, because she said Brown is unable to protect her baby because of her drug use.


I'm just trying to fix what I did wrong for my kids and for myself so I can get my kids back home, take care of them the way they deserve to be taken care of.

–Brianna Brown, mother


“One precious life has already been lost, and we are asking the court to protect the other four precious lives,” Emily Buttars said.

Paxton’s grandmother, the mother of the baby’s father, acknowledged Brown’s work in completing treatment, but said she is concerned that Brown does not seem to be remorseful about the baby’s death.

“Men have seemed to be disposable to her, and she has treated this death of Paxton as also … disposable,” said Kathryn Stokes, pausing as she collected herself. “I mean he was only 3 months old.”

Paxton’s father, Kendal Stokes, died in August.

Pullan ordered Brown to serve three consecutive terms of zero to five years in prison, but suspended the sentence pending her successful completion of probation.

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