A woman accused of causing the death of an 8-month-old baby in Centralia in December 2022 is now facing murder and manslaughter charges in addition to other felonies in Lewis County Superior Court.
Haylea A. Hutchings, 32, of Olympia, was initially arrested by the Centralia Police Department on Jan. 24, 2023, following an investigation.
The baby reportedly died at Providence Centralia Hospital after Centralia police officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a report that she was “unconscious and not breathing” at a residence in the 500 block of Girard Street at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2022, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
An autopsy conducted through the Lewis County Coroner’s Office later revealed the baby’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department. The baby “had also sustained multiple other injuries to her body,” according to the news release.
Hutchings was released from the Lewis County Jail the day after her initial arrest, Jan. 25, 2023, after the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office determined the case required investigation that would take longer than a 72-hour investigative hold would allow, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Court records indicate the prosecutor’s office filed charges against Hutchings on April 22, 2024, and an arrest warrant was issued that same day.
Lewis County Jail records indicate she was arrested and booked into the jail at 11:40 a.m. on May 6.
She faces one count each of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault of a child and first-degree rape of a child, domestic violence.
Bail is set at $500,000. Due to Hutchings’ lack of criminal history, Judge James Lawler agreed Tuesday with the defense’s request to lower the bail amount from the $1 million set in the arrest warrant, but said “it still needs to be substantial based on what (the allegation) is.”
Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, May 9.
Charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on April 22 detail the initial Centralia Police Department response and investigation, as well as the subsequent investigative work conducted since Hutchings’ initial release from jail in January 2023.
Hutchings, who court documents indicate is the child’s biological mother, reportedly gave the child to a babysitter at the Girard Street residence at about 11 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2022. The babysitter told investigators she watched the child several times between Oct. 31 and Dec. 19, 2022, with the most-recent visit before the December incident occurring in mid-November.
The babysitter reported seeing a “bump on (the child)’s forehead” when Hutchings dropped her off on Dec. 19, which she pointed out to Hutchings. Hutchings also reportedly told the babysitter the child had “a bad diaper rash” and left rash cream for the babysitter to apply.
The babysitter noted the baby “was sedentary while she was with her when she had normally been very active” and had a cough, according to court documents.
Hutchings was reportedly supposed to pick up the child at 3 p.m. on Dec. 19, but sent the babysitter a text message asking her to watch the child for the rest of the day, according to court documents.
Hutchings reportedly told investigators the child was “normal and happy” before she was dropped off with the babysitter. When asked if the child, who was just starting to walk with support, had fallen recently, Hutchings reportedly referenced a bruise on the child’s body and said, “it was not there when I dropped her off.” She reportedly said the child came down with a cold on Dec. 16 and was still sick when she was dropped off with the babysitter.
When asked about the need for child care, Hutchings reportedly said, “I am with my child 24/7, which I (am) never complaining about. You know I love her, but I was tired, you know. Everybody needs a break once in a while,” according to court documents.
The child reportedly fell asleep at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 19 and woke up between 10 and 11 a.m. on Dec. 20, at which time the babysitter noted the child’s cough had gotten worse.
Hutchings reportedly told the babysitter the child “had a sinus infection and she had been giving her medicine that she forgot to put in the bag.”
The babysitter reportedly told Hutchings she was going to call an ambulance, but Hutchings allegedly “told her to wait, saying she would be at the residence in five minutes,” according to court documents.
When asked why she asked the babysitter to wait to call an ambulance, Hutchings reportedly said she “wanted to see it for herself,” according to court documents.
In the 20 minutes it took Hutchings to arrive, the child reportedly fell asleep and made “snoring-like breathing sounds.” The babysitter reportedly tried to wake the child, without success.
An ambulance was immediately called when Hutchings arrived, according to court documents. The babysitter said she performed CPR on the child until medical aid arrived.
Lifesaving measures were ultimately unsuccessful, and the child died at Providence Centralia Hospital.
An examination by a deputy coroner with the Lewis County Coroner’s Office at the hospital reportedly revealed multiple bruises across the child’s body, including her neck, face and genitals, according to court documents. X-rays later found fractures to her arm, leg and spine and multiple internal lacerations.
On Dec. 22, 2022, a doctor conducted an autopsy and determined the baby’s cause of death was “blunt force trauma to the head causing a hematoma on the brain.”
The doctor determined the trauma to the head “was not from an accident or fall and was intentionally caused,” and noted there was “an older, healed hematoma located on (the child’s) brain, which was indicative of an older head injury.”
In an addendum to the autopsy report delivered to investigators on Feb. 27, 2023, the doctor who conducted the initial autopsy noted several injuries on the child were “inflicted earlier than 24 hours prior to death.”
A medical professional with the Providence Sexual Assault Clinic and Maltreatment Center later examined the child’s injuries and indicated several of them, including the leg fracture and spinal fracture, were “commonly seen in child abuse cases” and stemmed from the cargiver twisting the child during diaper changes and slamming the child down onto a surface.
Both doctors determined the injuries to the child’s genitals “likely occurred with a rigid object” and were indicative of sexual assault, according to court documents.
A second autopsy completed at the Thurston County Coroner’s Office on March 10, 2023, found deep bruising on the child’s rear end and found that the fracture to the child’s femur was “violent,” according to court documents.
Those autopsy findings, delivered on Nov. 13, 2023, found the child died from “multiple blunt force injuries, including abusive head trauma, anogenital trauma and right femur fracture,” according to court documents. The report stated the injuries occurred at least four to five days before the child’s death.
“Given the injuries that were documented and the medical evidence which supports the timeframe of the blunt force injuries to the head being at least 4-5 days prior to death, the only person who had unfettered access to the child during this time was the mother, Haylea Hutchings,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office states in charging documents filed April 22, 2024.
Over the course of the investigation, investigators learned that Hutchings and her boyfriend had “a lot of stress in the home due to financial issues,” with Hutchings reportedly complaining about her boyfriend being absent for long periods of time while looking for work and complaining about having to care for the child.
Hutchings’ boyfriend reportedly told investigators he was not the child’s biological father, “but he was present at her birth and had been helping raise her,” according to court documents.
Text messages recovered from Hutchings’ phone, interviews with witnesses and surveillance footage from a venue in Thurston County indicate that Hutchings’ boyfriend left the home on Dec. 16, 2022, and was gone for at least “four days straight,” according to court documents. He reportedly told investigators “he was hardly at the residence at all for the three weeks leading up to (the child’s) death” and said “when he did go home, it was for short stretches.”
Hutchings’ boyfriend reportedly recounted a conversation he had with Hutchings before the child’s death where Hutchings allegedly said, “what if I did do something to the baby? What if I did say something?” When the boyfriend asked her what she meant, Hutchings reportedly said, “What if I can’t remember? What if I’m just tired?”
Hutchings was reportedly seen yelling at the child to go to sleep at least once, according to court documents.
According to investigators, she initially told them she was not a drug user, but allegedly admitted later in the investigation to regularly using meth.
The child’s medical records from a Aug. 15, 2022 doctor’s visit, the most-recent doctor’s visit before her death, reportedly noted she was in the 59th percentile of children her age and was underweight at 15 pounds. The records showed she weighed just 16 pounds at the time of her autopsy on Dec. 22, according to court documents. Investigators noted the baby “only gained approximately one pound of weight in four months,” which is abnormal.
Hutchings’ internet history reportedly showed she searched the phrases “shaken baby syndrome,” “shaken baby syndrome eyes” and “shaken baby syndrome victims” on Jan. 22, 2023.
“The investigative timeline indicates that (the child) was at the babysitter’s residence for approximately 26 hours prior to death. Haylea Hutchings’ statements also indicate that (her boyfriend) was not around for four days prior to (the child’s) death and the investigation shows Haylea’s stress regarding (her boyfriend’s) absence and the care of (the child,)” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office states in charging documents.
The prosecutor’s office also noted Hutchings had said the child “was in good condition in the days leading up to her death, which contradicts the medical evidence.”
