An Athens woman serving a life sentence for killing her newborn son immediately after giving birth four years ago is back at the local jail as she awaits a hearing on her motion for a new trial.
In May 2014, a Clarke County Superior Court jury found 25-year-old Cassandra Elyse Norwood guilty of murder for the stabbing death of the child posthumously named Josiah Lucas Norwood by his surviving family.
During the weeklong trial, witnesses testified about how Norwood hid her pregnancy, with prosecutors arguing her killing the infant in 2012 was premeditated murder nine months in the making.
Western Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney David Lock told jurors prior to giving birth in a bedroom of her parents’ home on Great Oak Drive, Norwood showed planning by getting a butcher knife from the kitchen along with a trash bag, which Lock called Josiah Norwood’s “casket.”
“Her choice to willfully and wantonly kill her newborn baby in this manner deserves no less than life without parole,” the prosecutor said.
But prior to passing sentence, Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard heard testimony from Norwood’s parents, her sisters and several supporters who said the killing was out of character for someone they described as being compassionate and without violent tendencies.
Norwood was convicted of malice murder, and Haggard sentenced her to a life sentence. She will eligible parole once she has served 30 years in prison.
The death of Josiah Norwood culminated what authorities said was a pregnancy Norwood kept hidden throughout its duration.
Norwood’s father once took her to be examined by a gynecologist, who later told police the pregnancy was confirmed. But at the time, authorities said Norwood signed a form requesting information concerning her exam remain confidential, even from family members.
Sometime after the pregnancy exam, a woman purporting to be Norwood’s mother called the doctor’s office to inform them their services were no longer needed since the family planned to move out of state, authorities said.
After killing the infant, authorities said Norwood cleaned up the blood and placed the baby with bloody towels in a trash bag.
When Norwood’s family members noticed blood on the floor, the woman explained it was from an unusually heavy menstrual cycle, said authorities. Norwood’s parents were concerned about the amount of blood they found, so they took her to the hospital.
After her parents left for the hospital, authorities said one of Norwood’s sisters found the lifeless newborn and called 911. The parents were at the hospital with Norwood when police informed them there was a dead infant in their home.
Despite Norwood’s defense that the death was accidental, caused when she tried cutting the umbilical cord, a medical examiner determined a number of the 19 wounds the newborn suffered could have been fatal.
Almost immediately upon being convicted and sentenced in May 2014, Norwood filed a motion for a new trial. On Monday, she was transferred from Pulaski State Prison to the Clark County Jail to await a hearing on the motion scheduled for Thursday.
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