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July 25, 2009 in City
Mother gets 10 years for daughter’s injuries
Kyra Wine, 3, lost both feet and one kidney as a result of abuse, neglect
Christina Haynes reacts upon hearing the judge hand down a decade-long prison sentence for her role in abusing her 3-year-old daughter, Kyra Wine, who was discovered near death in their St. Maries home last summer. Haynes’ boyfriend, Charles W. Smith, was sentenced to 10 years in prison this March for his role in the case. Pool photo
(Full-size photo)
ST. MARIES – Last summer, when police discovered her, Kyra Wine was covered with scars, bruises, feces and signs of horrible abuse. Sections of her scalp were torn away, and dead skin covered her hands and feet.
On Friday, the girl’s mother received the maximum sentence possible for felony injury to a child.
Testimony about Christina Haynes’ mental state didn’t sway a judge from imposing a 10-year prison sentence on the woman whose child 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, 1st 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. Kyra’s feet were amputated and she lost a kidney, part of a finger and has patches on her head where hair won’t grow back. Gibler said the 27-year-old Haynes probably wasn’t as culpable as Smith, who was sentenced earlier this spring to a maximum 10 years for child abuse. But Haynes is responsible for allowing Smith to care for her children, the judge said at Haynes’ sentencing. Haynes met Smith online and invited him to live with her and her children at a farm north of St. Maries.
Haynes’ 10-year sentence includes five years in prison and five years indeterminate time.
In arguing for the prison time, Benewah County Prosecutor Doug Payne said Haynes had a higher level of responsibility than her boyfriend.
“She is the child’s mother,” Payne said. “How can a child’s mother let this happen?”
Pamela Olsen, a psychologist for the state, testified that Haynes suffered from disassociation, a form of denial that prohibited her from understanding the severity of Kyra’s injuries or the charges against her.
“She didn’t have the capacity to address this situation in a problem-solving way and take action to do something,” Olsen said. Haynes’ lawyer, Benewah County public defender Dave Rodgers, said he postponed earlier arraignments because he couldn’t comprehend the actions of his client, who wouldn’t respond to his inquiries.
It was not until months after her arrest – when he and Christina’s mother, Linda Yarber, showed Haynes pictures of Kyra’s injuries – that the 27-year-old seemed to understand the extent of the charges.
Payne, the prosecutor, argued that the defendant knew how extreme her daughter’s injuries were because she prohibited neighbors, friends and relatives from seeing the girl before county deputies made a welfare check at the Hells Gulch home in June 2008.
After a lengthy psychological evaluation, Haynes pleaded guilty in May to felony injury to a child, which carries a maximum 10 years in prison.
She wept in court Friday.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I screwed up.”
After sentencing, her mother, who was accompanied by family members, cried quietly.
“It’s hard for us to understand that she is guilty of doing something she didn’t understand,” Yarber said. “She couldn’t believe that she had done something like that.”
Kyra, who has two prosthetic feet, was released from Sacred Heart Medical Center last autumn. She and her sister are living at their paternal grandparents’ St. Maries home.
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Bob_Knows on July 25 at 8:55 a.m.
Let’s see.
The mother, who is responsible for HER child, gets 5 years in prison plus some probation.
Her latest boyfriend, who has no actual responsibility for the woman’s child, gets sent to prison for 10 years without parole.
Yep, that’s “Equal Justice” under the law, feminist style.
The Agents of Satan in Black Robes of Hell should be run out of town on a rail for their blatant violation of law and justice.
scrappy1007 on August 17 at 11:50 p.m.
Bob,
The judge said he had no “actual ” responsibility meaning he isn’t the father. However, when you agree to watch another persons child you assume responsibility.If you have children and ever hired a babysitter you know that they are held responsible for the care of your child.
As for equal justice? He did the “actual” crime. So, why should he not pay the “actual” time? Christina didn’t cause the injuries to her child but she is guilty of not getting her treatment.That is why she received less time. If she had done the actual abuse she would have received the same.As a person from the same area and who knows Christina i can tell you that before Charles Smith she wouldn’t let the girls get more than a sniffle before running them to the doctor.
People make bad choices in life and this one unfortunately was a doozy. There really is no excuse for not getting her daughter help and for that she will go to prison. The circumstances surrounding her reasoning we may never know or understand. Just remember your own actions could come under scrutiny one day. May he without sin cast the first stone.