Huckleberries Online

Kyra Wine’s Mom Gets 10 Years, Too

Posted by DFO

July 24, 2009 1:32 p.m. • 9 comments

Testimony about Christina Haynes’ mental state didn’t sway a judge today from imposing a 10-year prison sentence on the St. Maries woman, whose child, Kyra Wine, almost died in one of the worst neglect cases in Benewah County. Haynes’ mental-health issues didn’t excuse her from seeking medical help for her 3-year-old daughter, who was discovered by police at Haynes’ home last summer covered in scabs and feces, First District Judge Fred Gibler said. The girl almost died as a result of injuries suffered at the hands of Haynes and her boyfriend Charles W. Smith, who Haynes met online and invited to live with her and her children at a farm north of St. Maries/Ralph Bartholdt, St. Maries Gazette-Record. More here.

Question: Should Kyra Wine’s mother have received a similar sentence as her abusive boyfriend, Charles W. Smith?

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Sisyphus on July 24 at 3:04 p.m.
C’mon Dave. Is that a fair comparison to make? If I recall that’s the max the Judge could impose. Each crime is unique as is the Defendant’s culpability. But no sense of justice can be derived from the comparison. I think the Judge indicated he wanted to impose more on her co-defendant.
JeanieSpokane on July 24 at 4:02 p.m.
“Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne said Haynes had a higher level of responsibility than her boyfriend.” (from the St. Maries article). Damn straight the mother was more culpable than the boyfriend. The lifelong damages to Kyra are so egregious – both mother and boyfriend should be held accountable. As should grandparents. Those injuries and Kyra’s deplorable condition did NOT happen overnight. It was not something that would have been missed by visiting relatives – surely the maternal grandmother checked on her granddaughters?????
Cindy_H on July 24 at 5:00 p.m.
I’d really hesitate in assigning blame or criminal charges to non-custodial relatives or grandparents. But to my mind, Haynes does bear a higher level of responsibility.
Carpenter59 on July 24 at 6:58 p.m.
Krya’s maternal grandmother lives an hour & half away from her and had visited with her 2 weeks earlier and she was fine.
The State’s Shrink laid it out in court pretty clearly today that Christina was having sever and chronic mental health issues and the boyfriend Charlie Smith took advantage of it. The media doesn’t tell the part where Christina was a victim.
lew2nl on July 24 at 8:11 p.m.
I won’t comment on the length of sentences given to the mother and the boy friend, but I will say that the little girl is sentenced to life without hair and with part of her feet and hands missing.
MeghannC on July 24 at 9:21 p.m.
The sentences aren’t exactly the same. According to this article, (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/mar/14/girls-abuser-gets-10-year-sentence/), Smith isn’t eligible for parole. He got a 10-year fixed sentence while, according to the article posted above, Haynes is eligible for parole after five years but could be kept in prison for as many as 10 years.
Frum Helen Back on July 24 at 9:30 p.m.
Too bad they can’t get life without parole. I feel the mother is guilty of the abuse because she allowed it to happen. Sorry, but if my husband had done anything like that to our children, the kids and I would have been long gone to some far away place. I would have gone to the police station on my way out of town. But maybe I wouldn’t have had to leave town because I’m sure my father would have beat him to death.
wheels on July 25 at 7:34 a.m.
This story is still so very disturbing.
ralph on July 25 at 8:25 a.m.
That’s correct Megs. Gibler’s sentence was for 5 years fixed and 5 years indeterminate as it says somewhere up near the top of the article, but not near enough (like in the first graf or two).
Basically he sentenced Christina to 5 to 10 years (just like Crazy Joe in the Dylan song).
Charlie Smith got 10 years without a chance for earlier release.

« Back to Huckleberries Online

You must be logged in to post comments.
Please create a profile or log in here.

About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.