In August, several months after 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell was found dead in her family’s home, her mother, Megan Boswell was indicted on murder charges, as well as several other types of charges. Evelyn was found deceased in March, over a month after Megan reported missing.
On August 19, Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus, alongside other officials, charged Megan with a total of 19 charges. Two of those 19 counts were counts of felony murder.
Evelyn Mae Boswell’s Mom Pleads Not Guilty
Among the other 17 counts, Megan was charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, one count of failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual, or unnatural circumstances, and more. She is now being held on a $1 million bond.
Now, Megan has entered a not guilty plea to the two murder counts against her, according to WYCB. During her arraignment, Staubus told the judge that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to seek the death penalty or life without parole yet. He was asked to come to a decision by December.
The charges against Megan were made under the belief that Evelyn’s death was the result of child abuse or that it was the result of child neglect, Knox News reports. It is still unclear exactly what Evelyn’s cause of death is. However, her time of death is listed as “on or about December 2019,” two months before she was ever reported missing.
The 18-year-old’s lawyer also motion for a change of location when it comes to her trial, claiming that the “pretrial publicity surrounding Evelyn’s disappearance and the subsequent investigation has poisoned potential jurors against her,” Knox news reports. Judge James Goodwin set a December 3 hearing on that motion.
Megan’s attorney, Brad Sproles, told the judge that “the state charged aggravated child neglect and aggravated child abuse, both of which is based on serious bodily injury. But we don’t know that that is. So I asked the court for them to clarify that” WYCB reports.
During the search for Evelyn, Megan told police that her daughter was with a babysitter when she disappeared, but told her now ex-boyfriend that her daughter was with her father, Investigators say of their findings. After not giving the name of the babysitter to authorities for fear that maybe the alleged babysitter would runaway with Evelyn, she eventually claimed that her babysitter was her own mother, Angela Boswell.
In the press conference where it was revealed that Megan was indicted on 19 charges, Jeff Cassidy of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office said that “after an extensive and thorough investigation, other individuals were eliminated as suspects and Megan Boswell became the sole suspect in this case.”
RELATED: After a Month-Long Search, 1-Year-Old Evelyn Boswell’s Body Has Been Found at Her Family Home
Megan is currently being held on a $1 million bond after pleading not guilty to the charges against her.
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.