1989-10-10

On the morning of October 11, 1989, an Amarillo police officer was dispatched to appellant's residence regarding the death of an infant. The officer found Stephen Loven lying dead in his crib with his right hand bandaged, a bloated stomach and small bruises on the right side of his face. The next day, appellant gave a written statement to police, the pertinent part of which read:

On Tuesday evening, 10-10-89, I was at home with my two children, Stephen Mathew Loven, 2 years old and Lonnie Donald Loven, 3 years old. My husband Lonnie Floyd Loven was at work. Stephen and I were both sick with the flu. I had taken both of us to the doctor earlier that day. Then that evening sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. I was rocking Stephen because he had been throwing up and real fussy. I was real sick and getting frustrated with everything. This is when Donnie, my 3 year old, came into the room wanting some water. It seemed like everything kind of exploded. I then threw Stephen down in [sic] the floor. He landed on the back of his head. I just left him there while I tended to Donnie. When I came back, I realized that Stephen was hurt. I held him and he cried for a short time. When he stopped crying, I put him to bed. I knew that he was hurt but I was scared to call for an ambulance or take him to the hospital. I was afraid of what they would do to me.

Dr. Ralph Erdmann, a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on Stephen's body. He discovered a subdural hemorrhage in the skull area and a skull fracture. Dr. Erdmann testified that the hemorrhage was the result of a recent injury while the fracture had occurred on a previous occasion. He concluded that blunt force trauma had caused the hemorrhage.

Dr. Erdmann also found that Stephen's bloated stomach had been caused by a hemorrhage due to a laceration of his liver. Segments of his bowel were also badly bruised. Stephen's hand had been bandaged because of a burn injury. Dr. Erdmann also discovered evidence of an old injury, a fractured rib.