Mother Enters Not Guilty Plea

HENDERSON — Jessica Carson entered a not guilty plea Monday morning in a Rusk County District courtroom. Carson is charged with capital murder in connection with the December 2, 2008 beating death of her 13-month-old daughter, Amora Bain Carson. Her boyfriend, Blaine Milam, also was charged in the child’s death. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection almost a year ago by a Conroe jury after being found guilty of capital murder. Rusk County prosecutors said they are not seeking the death penalty for Carson, but will seek life in prison if she is convicted.

Sheriff officials received a 911 call that morning from the couple’s home in the 13000 block of County Road 2125 saying that Amora was not breathing, according to Lt. Reynold Humber, chief criminal investigator with the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office. Once the first deputy arrived, paramedics told him the child was dead under suspicious circumstances, he said. Humber said deputies found the child on a bedroom floor; she had several injuries, including severe trauma that appear to have been caused by a heavy object.

Humber said the couple gave several explanations about the child’s injuries; including they had left the child unattended and someone broke in and bludgeoned her. In Milam’s trial, authorities said they found more than 20 bite marks on Amora and said she was hit with a hammer. Neither Milam nor Carson testified in Milam’s trial.