Victoria Eubanks
3 months old
Smothered to death
Victoria's death had originally
been attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but seven months after
she died, her mother, Sandra Porter, unexpectedly appeared at her stepfather's
house and before the door even could be completely opened, blurted out
she had smothered Victoria with a pillow. However, Porter's secret did
not reach police, until four months later when the stepfather confided
in his therapist, and the therapist telephoned a child abuse hot line,
and then the police were notified. Only then was a criminal investigation
begun, nearly a year after Victoria died in her own home in her mother's
own bed.
The youngest of Porter's
four children, all under the age of 5, Victoria spent her short life in
a cramped apartment. Inside the apartment, danger lurked.
Victoria's 2-year-old sister,
for instance, was sexually assaulted by one of Porter's boyfriends after
she rebuffed his sexual advances.
On the night Victoria died,
Porter came home late after a night of drinking with another boyfriend
and went to sleep with Victoria on a front room couch. When she awoke the
next morning Victoria was dead and she rushed her to the hospital wrapped
in a blanket. She told authorities she feared she had rolled over on her.
An autopsy did little to clear up the picture. There were no obvious signs
of injury to suggest foul play. Victoria had suffered no illness that would
indicate another cause and her death was ruled SIDS.
Victoria was a seemingly
healthy child, although small for her three months, weighing less then
eight pounds, she was otherwise normal. But distinguishing between a child
who has died of SIDS and one who has been suffocated is almost impossible,
even following an autopsy. Neither death leaves the telltale signs of illness
or injury.
After the therapist's tip,
detectives brought Porter in for questioning, less then two weeks shy of
the first anniversary of Victoria's death. At first, police said, she denied
that she had killed her and she denied too, that she had confessed to her
stepfather. Porter took a lie detector test and, according to police, failed.
Then, she offered a contrite confession. She smothered Victoria, she said,
because the girl would not stop crying, and the crying was keeping her
awake. After Victoria stopped breathing, Porter told the police, she went
back to sleep.
Porter pleaded guilty to
first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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