Editor’s Note: This story contains mention of child abuse and mental health issues and could be upsetting to some readers.
A 32-year-old resident of Agnes Fancy, charged with the murder of her nine-year-old daughter, made an initial appearance in Superior Court on Tuesday on St. Thomas. Police submitted to the court an account of the wee hours of Saturday, March 16, when Anyah Smith allegedly drowned the child in the waters of Charlotte Amalie Harbor.
Court records detail a journey that left clues along the way. One witness described as a close relative told police she thought Smith was undergoing a mental health crisis. Investigators also described the courage of Ja’Qeada Isaac who, before she died, sent a text to a relative saying that her mother had destroyed all the devices in the home and was in the process of destroying the cell phone.
A witness who saw the pair leave the home in Agnes Fancy told authorities about an array of household items tossed outside. But by the time police arrived at the scene after 2 a.m., they said they could not find the mother and daughter.
A surveillance recording taken along Veterans Drive near the Department of Finance showed the mother and child sitting on the bulkhead facing the harbor and then entering the water a short while later. Two witnesses and police later found the mother with the child on her back close to two miles away near Vitraco Mall.
It was then, court records said, that Smith told one witness that the child was dead. Police on the scene removed the child from the mother’s grasp while friends and family tried to revive her. “While rendering CPR to the victim, water came out of the victim’s mouth,” investigators said.
She was pronounced dead by emergency medical technicians who arrived on the scene around 5:30 Sunday morning. Smith was taken to the Richard Callwood Police Command and later to the Roy L. Schneider Hospital to treat a cut on her foot and for psychiatric observation.
At the police station, Smith was described as barefoot and wearing wet clothes. When she was asked about her footwear, investigators recounted the defendant saying she left them on the waterfront.
When police visited the scene, they found the footwear near the Emil E. White Memorial plaque. A dive team also found the daughter’s public school identification card from the Jane E. Tuitt Elementary School.
They also found a cinder block with an electrical cord attached and a noose on the other end. “It is believed that the defendant tied one end of the white electric cord to the concrete block and looped the other end around the victim, and the defendant and the victim went into the water,” court documents said.
Superior Court Magistrate Judge Simone Van Holten-Turnbull found probable cause to charge Smith with murder, assault, reckless endangerment and child abuse. Bail was set at $750,000, payable by cash or property in spite of pleas from Smith’s lawyer for a lesser amount.
“This court is mindful that a minor child is no longer on this Earth,” Van Holten-Turnbull said, adding that, in good conscience, she could not grant the request.
“This is a very serious offense — her own child,” the magistrate judge said.
The defense also requested, and the judge agreed, to order a psychiatric evaluation for Smith. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 5 at 10 a.m.
A relative who appeared in court on Tuesday asked if Smith would be permitted to attend the child’s funeral. Van Holten-Turnbull directed the defense to file a motion to the judge who would be assigned to the case.
The March 16 incident marks the second time in a month that a domestic violence incident turned deadly. On March 5, Mohammed Salem, 34, was arrested and charged with a fatal knife attack on his father, Hakim Salem, 69.
Editor’s Note: This story has been changed to correct the name of Ja’Qeada Isaac. Initial reports incorrectly spelled her name as Jacqueda Issac.
