CORTLAND CASE Prosecution: Caregiver of child is a flight risk

The judge continued the defendant's bond at $1 million.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The caregiver for a 3-year-old girl who died of severe head trauma should be kept in jail with bond set at $1 million because she is a flight risk, an assistant county prosecutor says.
Ethel Wilbert-Bethea, 40, of Cortland, was in Pennsylvania heading east on Interstate 80 a day after Auntavia Atkins was admitted to Cleveland Metro Health Center, said assistant prosecutor Diane Barber.
"There is a child in a hospital bed on life support and she is in another state," Barber said. She noted that Wilbert-Bethea's van broke down and an officer with the Pennsylvania State Police took her to a local hotel. Family members then picked her up, Barber said.
Barber made the argument during Wilbert-Bethea's arraignment on two charges of child endangering. Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court continued Wilbert-Bethea's $1 million bond.
She has not been charged with the death of 3-year-old Auntavia, but authorities say the investigation is continuing.
The indictment says the child-endangering charges stem from two burns that were found on the child's body. Police said the girl had a burn mark on her hand and one on her arm.
What witness said
Detective Dave Morris stated in an affidavit for a search warrant that a witness saw Wilbert-Bethea kicking and punching Auntavia and hitting the girl with a spoon.
The witness, who is not identified, told police the beating took place at Wilbert-Bethea's North Bank Street home Aug. 27. Auntavia, who died Sept. 2, lived with Wilbert-Bethea.
The affidavit further notes that around the second week of August, the witness saw Wilbert-Bethea burn Auntavia's right hand by forcing the girl to hold her hand over a lighter.
The witness also observed Wilbert-Bethea pick up and shake Auntavia as well as other children in the house, the affidavit states.
Auntavia and two of her siblings were staying at the North Bank home while their mother, Angel Diggs, worked on getting a full-time job and a place to live. All the children at Wilbert-Bethea's home have since been removed, police said, and are now in the care of Trumbull County Children Services.
Diggs has said that she thought it was in her children's best interest to place them in Wilbert-Bethea's home. Diggs said her family knew Wilbert-Bethea for more than seven years.
Police were called to Wilbert-Bethea's home about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 29. Officials found Auntavia in serious condition and took her to a local hospital.
From there, she was taken to Cleveland Metro Health Center.