Mother found, arrested in toddler’s death at coast
Police said Sunday night that Jessica Smith of Goldendale, Wash., had been arrested on a murder charge in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, found at a Cannon Beach hotel on Friday.
They said a Coast Guard helicopter spotted Smith’s SUV off a logging road. Ground teams went in to find her, and she was arrested without incident.
Earlier on Sunday, an arrestwarrant was issued for Smith, 40, after an autopsy showed her 2-year-old daughter Isabella’s death was a homicide.
KGW reports that on Friday morning, a housekeeper at the Surfsand Resort in Cannon Beach discovered the 2-year-old girl dead and 13-year-old girl critically injured cut inside a hotel room, according to Cannon Beach Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn.
Police had been searching for the mother and the SUV she was driving.
According to The Oregonian, the attorney for Jessica Smith’s husband said Friday was the day Smith was court-ordered to turn her children over to their father, Gregory Smith, who she was separated from.
Jessica Smith was named a person of interest in connection with the incident.
On Sunday, an autopsy revealed the toddler, Isabella Smith, died in a homicide. Police were still waiting on the results of a toxicology report.
Police said Smith’s husband, Gregory Smith, was cooperating fully with the investigation
Anyone with information about Jessica Smith or her 2007 gold Chevy Suburban with Washington license plate APX3141 had been asked to call Cannon Beach police immediately at 503-436-2811.
The teen was being treated at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University, and although cut and seriously injured was expected to survive.
