Woman charged in intentional wreck with three-month old baby
Dempsey
March 9, 2016
Charlea Estes
A Kimberling City woman is in jail in Barry County on charges for intentionally crashing her car with her three-month old baby as a passenger. The wreck occurred on Missouri 112 about five miles east of Seligman on Saturday, February 20.
According to the affidavit of probable cause by Missouri State Trooper T. Coffey, Rebecca Rae Dempsey, 30, wrecked her car on purpose and her baby flew out of the vehicle onto the road. She is being charged with three felonies: abuse of a child, assault in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child, and two misdemeanors, careless and imprudent driving and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway.
Trooper Coffey interviewed witnesses at the scene who said that Dempsey was not caring for the child when they arrived or at any point after the crash. The witnesses on the scene picked the baby up off the ground and wrapped her in a coat to keep her warm.
When Trooper Coffey interviewed Dempsey, she claimed that she has “lost her mind.” The wreck had been intentional and Dempsey told Coffey, “I wanted to die and I was like aggravated I didn’t die.” Upon inspection, the speedometer’s needle was stuck at 92 miles per hour after the crash, indicating that Dempsey was going 92 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone at the time of the crash.
When Coffey informed Dempsey that she might not be able to have further contact with her baby, Dempsey seemed to be indifferent.
The baby was transported to Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Ark., by ambulance before being flown to Mercy Hospital in Springfield. The baby suffered from two lateral skull fractures.
Dempsey was placed on a 96-hour psychiatric hold by Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Ark. Dempsey was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, and she said that she was on medication for being bipolar at the scene.
In an interview with Dempsey’s father, he told Coffey that she had some “mental” problems and that she had never wanted the child. According to her father, she had been impregnated as a result of rape but had to keep the child and not have an abortion in order to continue to live at her mother’s house. According to the report, “Rebecca decided to keep the baby in exchange for a place to live.”
Demsey’s baby was to be placed in alternative care according to her Barry County case worker.
Dempsey is being held on a $75,000 cash-only bond.
Charlea Estes
A Kimberling City woman is in jail in Barry County on charges for intentionally crashing her car with her three-month old baby as a passenger. The wreck occurred on Missouri 112 about five miles east of Seligman on Saturday, February 20.
According to the affidavit of probable cause by Missouri State Trooper T. Coffey, Rebecca Rae Dempsey, 30, wrecked her car on purpose and her baby flew out of the vehicle onto the road. She is being charged with three felonies: abuse of a child, assault in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child, and two misdemeanors, careless and imprudent driving and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway.
Trooper Coffey interviewed witnesses at the scene who said that Dempsey was not caring for the child when they arrived or at any point after the crash. The witnesses on the scene picked the baby up off the ground and wrapped her in a coat to keep her warm.
When Trooper Coffey interviewed Dempsey, she claimed that she has “lost her mind.” The wreck had been intentional and Dempsey told Coffey, “I wanted to die and I was like aggravated I didn’t die.” Upon inspection, the speedometer’s needle was stuck at 92 miles per hour after the crash, indicating that Dempsey was going 92 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone at the time of the crash.
When Coffey informed Dempsey that she might not be able to have further contact with her baby, Dempsey seemed to be indifferent.
The baby was transported to Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Ark., by ambulance before being flown to Mercy Hospital in Springfield. The baby suffered from two lateral skull fractures.
Dempsey was placed on a 96-hour psychiatric hold by Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Ark. Dempsey was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, and she said that she was on medication for being bipolar at the scene.
In an interview with Dempsey’s father, he told Coffey that she had some “mental” problems and that she had never wanted the child. According to her father, she had been impregnated as a result of rape but had to keep the child and not have an abortion in order to continue to live at her mother’s house. According to the report, “Rebecca decided to keep the baby in exchange for a place to live.”
Demsey’s baby was to be placed in alternative care according to her Barry County case worker.
Dempsey is being held on a $75,000 cash-only bond.
