Defense seeks dismissal of murder charge for Athens woman whose infant died while left alone

Edna Bailey holds daughter Josie Marie Lester (Facebook)

By Joe Johnson

A defense attorney is seeking to have a murder charge dismissed against his client who was arrested after her infant daughter died last while left alone in their home in northern Athens-Clarke County.

The attorney argues in a motion recently filed in Superior Court that 36-year-old Edna Carolyn Bailey had committed no crime for which to have been arrested in the first place.

Bailey was indicted in November 2023 on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children.

Josie Marie Lester was six months old when she died in her home on Norwood Circle while left alone for 15 hours in a makeshift bed comprised of an open suitcase with blankets that suffocated her.

Bailey was charged with child cruelty because Josie suffered “cruel and excessive physical and mental pain” from having been left alone for an extended of time without anyone checking on her, the indictment alleges.

The cruelty charge is what second-degree murder is predicated upon.

Defense attorney Matthew Lester asserts in his motion to dismiss that “it is not unlawful for a person to leave a child who is younger than 18 years old alone for 15 hours.”

Without a finding of cruelty, there would be no basis on which to convict Bailey, the attorney reasons, and so the murder charge must be dismissed.

Presiding over the case is Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lisa Lott, who has yet to schedule a hearing on the matter.