She was convicted of murdering her newborn. But in February 2022, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled there was no evidence Cortney Marie Bell had killed baby Caliyah.
Bell was released from state prison, but she didn’t stay out of trouble for long. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office in Monticello said Monday that Bell is wanted on multiple charges.
According to the Jasper magistrate clerk, Bell is accused of possession of methamphetamine along with possession of drug-related objects. The sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for more details Tuesday. Anyone with information on Bell’s whereabouts is asked to contact police.
Both Bell and Caliyah’s father, Christopher Michael McNabb, were convicted in the baby’s death in their Newton County trial in May 2019. McNabb is serving a life sentence for murdering the 15-day-old.
In October 2017, Bell reported the baby missing from the family’s mobile home, launching a massive search. That night, McNabb angrily demanded the child’s return in front of television cameras. It’s likely that the newborn was already dead by the time McNabb pleaded for the community’s help in finding her, according to investigators.
The following day, Caliyah’s body was found in a drawstring Nike bag in a wooded area not far from the family’s home. The newborn died from blunt force trauma to the head. She had multiple skull fractures and her teeth poked through her gums, a GBI investigator testified at the trial.
McNabb was the first to be arrested and charged in Caliyah’s death. Months later, Bell was also arrested. During their trial, prosecutors told the jury the two used drugs and were unfit parents.
McNabb, convicted of eight charges including felony murder, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Bell was sentenced to 30 years with 15 to serve for her convictions for second-degree murder, cruelty to children and contributing to the deprivation of a minor.
In February 2022, the Court of Appeals found that the evidence was insufficient to support the murder or child cruelty charges for Bell, but found that the third charge, contributing to the deprivation of a minor, still stood.
The district attorney then appealed the dismissal of the murder and child cruelty charge to the Supreme Court, and Bell’s attorney cross-appealed on the deprivation charge. The state’s top court dismissed the DA’s appeal, but agreed to hear Bell’s.
Credit: WSB-TV McNabb family
Credit: WSB-TV McNabb family
In its ruling reversing Bell’s conviction, the court said there was no evidence that she contributed to her child’s death, despite a pattern of drug use in the home.
“In summary, the evidence here showed that Bell went to sleep one night, checked on Caliyah early the next morning, and went back to sleep for four and one-half hours,” the ruling states. “The evidence further showed that while Bell slept, McNabb committed a violent crime that the State conceded was the direct and immediate cause of Caliyah’s death. There was no evidence that Caliyah’s death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of Bell’s drug use or drug use in the home by McNabb or others or that it was reasonably foreseeable that McNabb would commit the horrific crimes that resulted in Caliyah’s death.”
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