A Fort Eisenhower wife pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder and felony murder in the death of her 11-month-old Monday.
April Short, wearing glasses and her hair now short, entered the not guilty pleas at her arraignment in U.S. District Court in Augusta.
Short, 31, is accused of killing her 11-month-old son at her home on post Nov. 15 by stabbing him in the neck. She’s in federal custody at the Jefferson County Jail.
Short allegedly said she was getting the child, identified in proceedings as “E.S.,” to “God and Jesus.” She then confessed what she did was “wrong” and evil,” according to prior reports.
The maximum sentence for either of the murder charges is death, or not less than life in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Syms said at the hearing.
Short, the wife of a drill sergeant, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps Monday she has no money to hire an attorney. Augusta lawyer Pete Theodocian remains her appointed lawyer.
Theodocian said they do not anticipate making a request for bond at this time. He said the complexity of the case will grow as the “mental health side develops.”
Last week, Epps determined Short was presently competent to stand trial. The ruling followed a two-month mental evaluation by experts at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.
According to the ruling, Short displayed “worrisome symptoms of psychosis” upon arrival at the medical center, but soon stabilized after she began regularly taking psychiatric medications.
Syms said prosecutors had turned over the “lion’s share” of discovery to Theodocian, some 1,200 pages of documents. In addition, they will turn over additional notes and evidence including Short’s jail calls and the contents of her digital devices.
Short allegedly barricaded herself, the infant and her two other children, ages 6 and 11, in the home’s master bathroom. She sent a disturbing text message to her husband, who came home.
Her husband found the 11-month-old wrapped in a shower curtain, while Short attempted to flee in a car with the two other children in the back seat.
Epps set a 90-day deadline for lawyers to file objections in the case.
