MOTHER PLEADS GUILTY IN GIRL'S DEATH

JACKSON -- Gwendolyn Wims pleaded guilty Thursday to the misdemeanor charge of child endangerment in connection with the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

When Wims, 22, is sentenced March 23 by Judge Gary Kamp, the harshest sentence she could get is one year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine.

"It seems like a small price to pay for being involved in the death of a child," said Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecutor.

The child died last April from multiple injuries, including lacerations to the rectum, a hemorrhage to the posterior hymen, bruises over her body and blunt trauma to the head, medical examiners in Farmington and St. Louis said.

The girl's mother and Telly S. Caldwell, 23, were charged in the death with child endangerment. Swingle said there was insufficient evidence to prove homicide.

Wims' guilty plea means criminal charges can never be brought against her again in connection with her daughter's death, the prosecutor said.

"It's like if O.J. Simpson suddenly announced that he is guilty," Swingle said. "He could not be tried in criminal court twice for the same crime."

Caldwell is scheduled for a bench trial March 1.

Court records from police and medical examiners who investigated the girl's death say the death was caused by injuries received within a 24-hour period. Wims and Caldwell, who maintain they were the only ones taking care of Desire on April 22 and 23, profess scant knowledge about the causes of the child's injuries.

Caldwell told police he and Wims had known each other for a year before Desire's death, but only about four months earlier they began seeing each other regularly. Wims and her daughter would come from Sikeston and spend a night or two each week at his apartment at 2854 Whitener St.

Desire's natural father lives either in Mississippi or Alabama, Caldwell told investigators. The father's name is Eric, but Caldwell couldn't remember more.

He told police that Wims had suffered abuse from other men and at one point received psychological counseling.

Caldwell said he would occasionally drive Wims and Desire to Sikeston to visit Cleotha Washington, Wims' mother. He never liked the trips, saying he felt sorry that Desire had come from a bad environment in Sikeston. Caldwell said Wims' relatives teased him, calling him "college boy." Caldwell would wait in his car for Wims and Desire, he said.

Before moving to Cape Girardeau, Caldwell said he worked as a mentor with the Bootheel Counseling Center in Sikeston. At the time of Desire's death, he worked at the Cottonwood Treatment Center.

Caldwell mentioned to police that "Cottonwood stresses not hitting children."

At first, Caldwell told police he had never struck or spanked Desire. Her punishments would be standing in the corner for 10 minutes. He later said he had spanked her three weeks before her death.

Wims, whose address is listed as 840 Mary St. in Sikeston, told police it was common for children staying with her mother to have bumps and bruises.

When an investigator from the state Division of Family Services visited Washington's residence, he described the children as dirty, but not bruised.

Caldwell said during an interview that Desire had fallen from a bunk bed at her grandmother's not long before her death, and another child had pushed her off a tricycle.

Wims mentioned to police after her mother left the interview room that she had spanked Desire with a belt on the legs. When asked by police about bruises on Desire's back and face, Wims told police she didn't know the cause.

During the 24-hours before the child died, Caldwell described to police what he, Wims and Desire had done. He recalled waking up and getting Desire something to eat around 8:30 a.m. on April 22. The three watched television for a while, then went to visit a friend.

Later they drove to County Park. Caldwell remembered playing with a child's shovel and described Desire as less energetic than usual.

After a trip to the grocery store, the three returned to Caldwell's one-room apartment. They watched sports for a while before going to bed, he said.

At some point during the evening, Wims said, Desire held the right side of her head, saying "a head" two times. She explained that she gave Desire Motrin for children before putting her to sleep on a hide-a-bed.

The next morning, Caldwell got up to get ready for work at 5:30 a.m., Wims said. He left by 6. Desire was awake at the time, she told police. At 6:30 the child asked for "wa wa," and Wims got her a drink. Desire went back to sleep at 6:40, Wims said.

About 8:30, Caldwell called Wims during a break at work. He wondered if she wanted croissants. He said he asked Wims to check on Desire and give her a kiss from him.

When Wims went to see her baby, Desire was sleeping face down. When Wims rolled her over, she said she was not breathing. She yelled over the phone for Caldwell to get back to the apartment, and then called 911.

Caldwell reached the apartment first and attempted CPR on Desire. It didn't work. As he heard sirens from an ambulance, Caldwell picked up Desire and rushed her outside to the paramedics, he said.

Desire was taken to St. Francis Medical Center where emergency room staff attempted to revive her for about an hour. She died at 9:40.

An autopsy by Dr. Michael Zaricor of the Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington was inconclusive. He said the death was a likely homicide, but no evidence existed to prove who might have done it.

Zaricor was certain that Desire was physically abused.

A second autopsy by St. Louis medical examiner Dr. Mary Case was even less definite. Case, considered a national authority on child fatalities, could not say without a reasonable doubt that the death was a homicide.

"With these factors it's impossible to charge with homicide," Swingle said. "It's impossible to prove who caused the injuries."

In a written statement Wims gave police, she wrote "The day she died Telly told me that if anything comes up from the autopsy to tell them it was he's [sic] fault."

Most everyone involved in investigating Desire's death believes their work will remain unfinished.

"In spite of the guilty plea, there's a sense of frustration that we'll never know who killed the child," Swingle said.