La Plata, MD – Charles County assistant public defenders Allison Heldreth and Elizabeth Connell told Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West Friday, Dec. 18 that they are still waiting on a mental evaluation from the Charles County Health Department for Romechia Simms, 24 of Upper Marlboro.
A motions hearing has now been set for Dec. 30 to give attorneys the opportunity to review those findings once they are made available.
Simms is free on bond pending her Jan. 25 trial in the case involving her 3-year-old son who died while in a swing set at Wills Park in La Plata May 2015.
She is facing 25 years for child abuse first-degree, 10 years on manslaughter charges another 10 years for neglect of a minor child by a parent.
The mental evaluation was ordered by the court when she was arraigned earlier this summer.
“Dr. Grant said it was pretty complex,” Connell told West.
Charles County State’s Attorney Tony Covington said back in September that Simms took her 3-year-old son to Wills Park prior to May 22, 2015, where the child remained in the swing for 40 hours.
When Charles County Sheriff’s Office deputies cut the child out of the swing, he was determined to have been dead for eight-to-10 hours.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com