Other cases this year in which murder in the second degree was considered as a charge:
- Jan. 15: a northwest Georgia grandmother was charged with "Murder 2" after leaving her young grandson in a heated car for several hours, leading to his death. Barbara Michelle Pemberton's case has not yet been presented to a grand jury, a Walker County court clerk said Friday.
- June 28: A Clayton County teacher was charged with second-degree murder after his 11-year-old stepson, who had autism, drowned in the bathtub. Michael D. Smith told police he had placed the child in the bath and then left the bathroom to attend to other children in the house.
- Aug. 4: A Carroll County father accused of leaving his twin toddlers to die in a hot SUV on may also be charged with second-degree murder, District Attorney Pete Skandalakis has said. For now Asa North faces involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty charges. He remained in the Carroll County jail Friday.
Max Stephens was a happy, curious 3-year-old who loved to be around other people. But on the morning he found a piece of twine and wrapped it around his neck, Max was alone.
On July 8, 2014, the owner of an in-home daycare told police she had gone inside to attend to two infants and a toddler. Janna Thompson said she left Max and three children to play outside. When she went back outside, Max had a piece of twine around his neck and wasn’t breathing. Thompson gave the boy CPR and called 911, but Thomas Maxwell Stephens died the next day in his mother’s arms.
Alpharetta police did not immediately charge Thompson. But weeks later, a grand jury indicted her for second-degree murder. It was a new charge created by a law that went into effect July 1, 2014, days before Max's death. On Monday, jury selection begins for Thompson, believed to be the first to be tried in Georgia under the law, which carries a sentence of 10 to 30 years.
After her indictment, Thompson surrendered and was booked into the Fulton County jail on Oct. 2, 2014, on charges of murder in the second-degree and cruelty to children in the second degree. She was released on $75,000 bond the next day.
Thompson has not spoken publicly about Max’s death but released an email statement in the days following his death.
“I have cared for Max in my home for three years and he was loved as one of my own,” Thompson said. “My grief pales in comparison to that of his parents.”
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) began an investigation within hours of the incident and wound up closing the center and revoking Thompson’s license.
The morning Max was found outside, Thompson allegedly had seven children in her care, though she was allowed by state law to care for only six, according to DECAL. She also allegedly left two infants and a toddler inside her home while she took three toddlers and a preschool-age child outside, the court order to close the center stated.
The Roswell boy's death at the in-home daycare came less than six months after the home's playground was deemed unsafe during an inspection, DECAL records showed.
Prior to the second-degree murder law, those accused in similar crimes typically were charged with involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Rep. Christian Coomer (R-Cartersville) wrote the bill, which sets a sentence of 10 to 30 years, after seeing discrepancies in how cases were handled, he said. Coomer, a lawyer, has handled criminal and civil cases and has worked as a prosecutor.
“We had this system where, county to county, you were getting different treatment for people that committed the same exact act,” Coomer previously said.
In some previous cases, felony murder seemed too harsh a charge, but involuntary manslaughter seemed not harsh enough, Coomer said.
In January, Thompson's attorney argued that the case should be dropped, calling Max's death a horrible accident. Attorney John Garland said the second-degree murder law had been vaguely applied.
“This is not a case where a caretaker left small children unattended in a pool, or a similarly objectively dangerous circumstance,” Garland said. “A fenced-in backyard with freshly laid pine straw is not objectively dangerous.”
Judge Henry Newkirk denied the motion to dismiss the charge. Jury selection is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday.
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