WEST POINT — A bail hearing has been set for a Clay County woman accused of killing her baby by giving him a lethal overdose of cough syrup.
Brittania Smith, 24, will appear in Clay County Circuit Court on July 2, according to her attorney, Jim Waide.
Waide filed a motion for bail last week, noting Smith’s “substantial health problems.” According to the motion, Smith suffers from severe back pain and has surgery scheduled in Jackson on July 10.
The motion claims, “Clay County, Mississippi does not have the funds or facilities to provide for her adequate medical treatment.”
Smith was indicted on the capital murder charge by a grand jury in April after the Mississippi Crime Lab concluded that Smith gave her 2-month-old son, Brinston Smith, a lethal dose of codeine in December.
If convicted, Smith could face the death penalty.
To be charged with capital murder, the accused must have committed the murder while in the commission of another felony. According to Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott, poisoning a child constitutes felony child abuse and elevates the murder charge to capital murder.
Scott previously said he did not know whether Smith intentionally caused the infant’s death but said, “You don’t give a child that small any type of codeine to start with, not a 2-month-old.”
Authorities say the codeine allegedly used in the incident was obtained through a prescription. Scott has declined to comment on whose name was on the prescription.
Smith, who has two other young children, has a prior conviction for uttering forgery.
She is currently in custody at the Clay County jail.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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