Beaufort babysitter indicted in January homicide of 10-month-old, court records show

A Beaufort babysitter, charged with homicide by child abuse in the death of a 10-month-old in January, was indicted by a Beaufort County grand jury Thursday.

Twenty-two-year-old Alisha Marie Picone showed an “extreme indifference to human life” causing the death of the child, the indictment documents say.

The documents do not provide new details about the crime.

Picone’s right to a preliminary hearing was waived by her attorney, Jared Sullivan Newman, in July. Preliminary hearings are open to the public and often provide more details of criminal cases.

The child sustained fatal head trauma while Picone was babysitting in January, a July arrest warrant says.

Police reports show the child’s mother was at work about 3 p.m. on Jan. 4 when she received a call from Picone saying an ambulance was on the way to her home.

The baby had been sedated by the time both parents arrived at a local hospital, reports say. The child died later that night after being transferred to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Restrictions on Picone’s bond include bans on applying for a passport and working as a child care provider. She also is not allowed to have contact with children who are not her own.

A conviction of felony homicide by child abuse carries a sentence of 20 years to life imprisonment.

In an unrelated, high-profile Beaufort case involving the same charge, Roy White received a 25-year sentence that was reduced to 15 years for the death of 7-year-old Kimberly Slattery.

White served 12 years in prison and was released in December 2011. In October, White was charged with first-degree burglary.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 5:07 PM.