Campbell woman pleads not guilty in child's death

KENNETT, Mo. -- A 24-year-old Campbell, Mo., woman charged with murder in the May death of her infant daughter pleaded not guilty to the charge in court on Wednesday.

Joanna Faucett appeared with her attorney, public defender Charles Hirth, before Judge Stephen Sharp, as did the state, represented by Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen P. Sokoloff.

During the hearing, Faucett entered a plea of not guilty on the charge of second-degree murder.Faucett was arrested in May 2009 in connection with the death of her 1-month-old daughter after authorities discovered that the infant appeared to have been strangled. She remains in custody at the Dunklin County Justice Center on a $100,000 bond.

Assistant Dunklin County prosecuting attorney Jonce Chidister said the child was one of a set of triplets, however, the other infants were not at the home at the time of the incident.

In July 2008, Faucett had another infant who died at 16 days old, believed at the time to be due to a co-sleeping incident.