In Des Moines, Iowa, a
little girl suffered terribly at the hands of her fathers girlfriend.
Kara Crasper, who was only
20 years old at the time lied and told the police that Mkiayla
Valentine had fallen down the stairs which was the
cause of her injuries that would result in her death. On January 7,
2011, Mikayla would be lifted by air to the
University Of Iowa Hospital after a call was made saying that a child
was unresponsive. The next day, January 8,
Mikayla would die.
Living with her father, Robert Valentine and his girlfriend Kara were
Mikayla, her brother Robert and two children
who were the biological children of Kara. On January 7, Kara called to
report an unresponsive child and would
claim that Mikayla had suffered a brain aneurysm and fallen down 20
hardwood stairs landing at the bottom on a
hardwood floor:
"She was walking up the
stairs and just went stiff and fell backwards down the stairs. I was
sitting
on the couch and she was going upstairs to get her socks. Now I feel
like I'm being
punished
for an accident"
Kara
Crasper
Robert Valentine
had left Mikayla in the care of Kara and received a call later in the
day:
"At 10:30am I got a
call from kara. She said Mikayla was unresponsive and en route
to the
Clarion Hospital"
Robert
Valentine
Robert added that the staff
at the hospital had been great when treating Mikayla, but that they
didn't have the kind
of technology needed to deal with the brain trauma that she had
suffered. The autopsy report lists the cause of
death as abusive head trauma. The remaining children in the home were
taken into custody by the Department Of Human Services after Mikayla
died.
On
April 26, 2011, Charges of first degree murder were filed against Kara
Crasper. The charge of first degree
murder is a class A felony which can carry a sentence of life in
prison.
Mikayla's paternal grandmother, Georgia Valentine, said that she didn't
believe that Mikayla had fallen down the
stairs and her mother, Michele Movall had this to say:
"My kids tell me all
the time that she didn't like them and she would hit them"
The case was under
investigation by the Iowa Division Of Criminal Investigation, Eagle
Grove Police Department,
Wright County Sheriff's Office and the Iowa Attorney Generals Office.
There were going to be more charges
filed and Kara was being held on $500.000. bail.
On May 27, 2011, Kara
Crapser entered a not guilty plea her trial date was set for August 9.
Kara also filed a
petition for a reduction in her bond and that trial date was set for
August 8, 2011. Kara's attorney is Susan
Flander of Mason City.
Kara waved her right to a speedy trial and in July of 2011, there was
to be a confernce call that would set up a
new date for her trial. Kara's request for bail reduction was denied.
District Judge James Drew gave attorneys
an extension into October of 2011 to take depositions and will allow
them to file montions up until November.
Wright County Attorney, Eric Simonson said he didn't think the case
would go to trial until the beginning of the
year 2012.
Kara's attorney had asked for a bond reduction down to $5,000. and askd
that she be placed on pretrial
supervision. During the bond reduction hearing Kara took the stand and
said:
"I'm willing to do anything,
I just want to spend some time with my family"
Kara also said that she
would be able to live with her parents if she was released on a lower
bond. Representing
the state were Assistant Attoreny General Becky Goettsch and Wright
County Attorney Eric Simonson. Becky
Goettsch commented:
"I'm
concerned about the integrity of the testimony"
Kara's
mother made comments about allegations of abuse in the home:
"I didn't see signs of
abuse. If I did I would've reported it. As far as prior abuse in
the
home, it had been investigated and was unfounded"
Kendra
Crasper
William Pischke, who is a supervisor with the Webster County DHS office
said that he could not comment on any
investigations the department had done in connection with the case.
William did say that the department does
handled about 100 cases each month and that reports can be in excess of
ten pages long:
"The caseloads are
supposed to be 12 per person, but it's more like 25 right now. It's a
real
problem
because we're so understaffed. When we're down from seven staff to
five, I get worried"
William
said that even with the Legislature working on a new budge, he doesn't
think his department will receive
any more money and that they do the best they can with
the time and resources they are given.
