Lebanon, MO. —Friday afternoon, January 13, 2013, 26 th Judicial Circuit Judge Stan Moore sentenced a Miller County woman to serve 40 years in prison in connection with the 2008 death of 28 month old Alexis Ward. The defendant, Cheryl A. Patrick, age 23, was convicted by a jury in September, 2012, of charges of the second degree murder and felony child abuse of the two year old Miller County infant. Patrick had been the regular caretaker of Alexis Ward and her four year old sibling, both children of Patrick’s boyfriend. On February 8, 2008, the child was transported by Miller County paramedics to University Hospital at Columbia, Missouri, where she died from severe brain trauma believed caused by shaking and blunt trauma. Because of the suspicious nature of the child’s injuries, the case was immediately investigated by the Miller County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance from the Missouri Department of Social Services State Technical Assistance Team, aided by technical support from the Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Office, the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. On May 28, 2008, Patrick was charged with second degree murder and abuse of a child by Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Howard. Howard noted that the law enforcement investigation involved hundreds of man hours of work and analysis because of the difficulty making sure police were focused on the correct suspect, due in large part to misleading information given by the defendant.
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