Area woman pleads guilty in baby death case

A Brumley woman will be sentenced in July after entering guilty pleas this week in connection with the death of her child in January 2008.

According to Miller County Prosecutor Matt Howard, Roshell Dawn Johnson, 37, entered pleas of guilty this week to charges of voluntary manslaughter and abuse of a child.

The case was moved to Camden County on a change of venue.

Johnson was charged in the death of 20-month-old Ocean McCoy.

The infant girl suffered brain injuries from shaking and non-accidental head trauma, later determined to have occurred while the child was in Johnson's care at a Brumley area home shared by Johnson and the child's father.

The child was transported to the University Hospital in Columbia and died the next day.

Johnson was arrested and charged with the death a few days later.

Howard said there was a plea agreement with Johnson.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the court will determine the sentences to be imposed upon Johnson, which combined will range from a minimum of 10 up to 25 years in prison.

Johnson will remain in the Camden County jail pending her sentencing, where she has been in custody since the case was transferred from Miller County in 2009.