Mom pleads guilty to greatly reduced charge in toddler's death

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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Valley woman charged with murder last year in the death of her young son pleaded guilty to greatly reduced charges Thursday and has been released from jail.

Attorneys for Kim Hawkins, 25, say the mother maintains her innocence, but after the loss of her son, losing custody of another child while she was in jail and spending more than a year behind bars, she took a deal with prosecutors as a way to end the case.

"The state came back with this offer that was in the best interest of our client, but I personally feel this case never should have been filed," Nick Falcone, Hawkins' attorney, said.

Hawkins was charged in May 2015 with murder, a first-degree felony, in the killing of her 13-month-old son, Billy Hawkins. She pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, and having already served more than the maximum allowable 365-day sentence for that charge, was released from jail and the case was closed.

Deputy district attorney Rob Parrish attributed the drastic drop in the charge's severity to unspecified evidentiary problems. A jury trial had been scheduled for the end of the month.

"It's been a very hotly contested case, obviously," Parrish said. "We have to look at the evidentiary viability of the case at various times during a case, and that's really the ultimate reason why this resolution was agreed to."

Defense attorney Sherry Valdez said Friday that, had any convincing evidence existed that Hawkins had killed her baby, she wouldn't have been offered such a favorable plea deal from prosecutors.

Investigators said bruising around the child's mouth and a cut inside his mouth indicated he may have been suffocated when he died on Jan. 23, 2014.

Hawkins, however, told police she had heard the baby awake and playing in his crib that morning, but he was unresponsive and turning blue when she went to get him up about 15 minutes later. Her attorneys argue that reports from police and first responders indicate the marks on Billy's body were a result of valiant efforts to save the boy.

Kim Hawkins, 25. (Photo: Salt Lake County Jail)

"The lead detective actually wrote in his police report that one of the EMTs told him any injuries to Billy's lip were caused by them during a difficult intubation, because they tried really hard to save Billy's life," Valdez said. "It's a very sad situation and a very sad case."

Early on, a medical examiner indicated he couldn't rule out smothering in Billy's death, but didn't specify a cause or manner of death in the case, Falcone said. When that doctor left the medical examiner's office, his replacement reviewed the boy's autopsy. The doctor amended the report, still not identifying a specific manner or cause of death, but determining there were several possible natural causes of death.

Hawkins' attorneys say they believe investigators questioned the woman's explanation about her son's death because she was poor, uneducated and has been homeless off and on over the past several years.

"She was basically indigent taking care of child, had a boyfriend who wasn't helping, and it just wasn't a great circumstance," Falcone said. "The police, I think, kind of judged her situation and her lifestyle, and yes, her economic ability, and treated this case differently.

"I said this at the preliminary hearing: If she was a housewife from somewhere on the east side, she probably wouldn't have been prosecuted."

Hawkins was pregnant when she was arrested and delivered the baby while in jail. With Hawkins unable to fight for custody or care for the child, the infant was adopted by another family.

Falcone and Valdez described Hawkins as optimistic throughout her time behind bars and proud when she told the judge she had earned her high school diploma while behind bars. However, she is still grieving the death of her son, and with her second baby being put up for adoption, she has essentially lost two children.

"She's very positive today, she's glad to be out of jail, but there's a lot of sadness, too," Falcone said. "She's lost everything, she's going to have to start from scratch. She has plans to go to Salt Lake Community College and start some coursework there and is going to have to find a place to live, but overall she is very positive."