MURDERER: Stephanie D. Smith

A woman confessed to smothering her four-year-old daughter with a pillow in an episode of not taking medication.

Zadie Wren Cooper was only four years old when she passed away on July 7th 2016, she had spent three days on life support before tests came back that she had no brain activity. It was after these tests that her family decided it would be best for Zadie to remove life support.

It had been a freak accident on July 4th, Zadie somehow getting stuck between her bedframe and wall, unable to breathe. Her mother, Stephanie Smith, heard a noise on the baby monitor and rushed to help her child. When she got there, Zadie wasn’t breathing and Stephanie called emergency services for help. A dispatcher helped her perform CPR while they waited for first responders.

Of course, the death of the young child caused investigators to look into the case. They had to make sure that the story that Smith had given them was the truth of what happened. Investigators were waiting for medical and forensic reports when Smith walked into the police station on April 13th 2017 and asked to speak with an investigator.

She confessed to murdering her daughter.
Smith stated that she had a history of mental health struggles which she was medicated for. All of which was later confirmed by her family.
She described one of the manifestations of her mental health as she “sees red” and that she “doesn’t know what happens until it goes away”.

At the time of Zadie’s murder, Smith claimed she hadn’t taken any of her medication in the past three days.
She told the police that she smothered Zadie with her pillow before realising what she was doing and calling 911.

Smith claimed that she lied to the police and maintained her fabricated story for nine months out of fear of what would happen to her. From posts on her Instagram, Smith seems remorseful of her actions against her daughter.

She pleaded guilty to felony murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

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