COVINGTON, Ga. — A judge says she reviewed testimony from an Oct. 15 hearing and listened to a recorded jail phone call before ordering that a Covington woman should be denied bond as she awaits trial on charges she murdered her 5-month-old daughter in September.
Superior Court Judge Layla Zon recently entered an order denying Lakristy Jdeon White’s request that a bond be set to allow for her release from Newton County Jail where she has been held since Sept. 21 on charges of Felony Murder and Cruelty to Children following the death of Aryan White Sept. 13.
In her order, Zon referred to testimony at the bond hearing that alleged White “attempted to tamper with potential evidence” by asking her father during a recorded jail phone call to keep one of her cell phones and hide it from investigators.
Zon said in the order she reviewed the hearing transcript and a recording of the jail phone call between White and her father, Ronnie White.
“The Court finds that if the defendant were to be released on bond pending trial, she poses a significant risk of intimidating and/or influencing witnesses and/or interfering with the administration of justice,” Zon wrote in her Oct. 26 order.
“The Court further finds that the defendant poses a significant risk of committing additional felonies if she were to be released on bond,” the judge wrote.
The case stems from White’s arrest after emergency workers responded to a call and found her infant daughter in cardiac arrest at White's Edgefield Lane home Sept. 13.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene and deputies arrested White Sept. 21 after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation autopsy.
A medical examiner stated there was evidence of blunt force trauma to the child's head and torso, as well as other injuries that had healed, according to testimony at the Oct. 15 hearing.
A warrant for White's arrest states she had punched her daughter, Aryan, in the stomach. She also pushed the 4-month-old, causing her to hit her head on the floor and die Sept. 13, a warrant states.
The child died after suffering a subdural hemorrhage and head trauma when she hit the floor, the warrant states.
Zon had said Oct. 15 she would consider granting a $100,000 bond for White, 22, if either of her parents could show they were capable of holding White under house arrest until her case moved to trial.
The conditions included such requirements as wearing an ankle monitor, having no access to a cell phone or computer, and having no contact with children.
White's attorney, Brian Steel, said her parents, Ronnie White and Princess Williams, agreed to guarantee a bond by putting up the value of their homes as collateral.
Ronnie White testified on Oct. 15 he believed the phone his daughter asked him to hold contained information that could be used to pay her bills. He said he never turned on the phone's power before giving it to investigators.
