Day 2: Trial of bereaved mother continues
The prosecution today in the trial of Raelyn Balfour, 36, called witnesses who described a woman who excelled in her job as a transportation coordinator at the Judge Advocate General’s School, was stressed out from the demands of the job and sleep deprived from helping out a friend the night before, to prove its case that Balfour was guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her nine-month-old son, Bryce, whom Balfour forgot to drop off at the babysitter’s March 30, 2006. The infant was left in the backseat of her Honda Pilot all day in the JAG School parking lot.
Whitney Huff, Bryce’s babysitter, was in court with her own attorney, Bud Treakle, and testified that she’d hired him on the advice of Balfour, and that Balfour’s sister paid for his services.
Huff had expected Bryce that March 30, a Friday morning, and when he didn’t arrive, she’d called Balfour on her personal cell phone around 9:45am. Balfour returned the call at 3:11pm and left a message. Huff spoke to Balfour around 4pm, and says Balfour told her, “What do you mean? No, you’ve got him. Oh my god.”
Detective David Roach with the University Police interviewed Balfour at the UVA Medical Center shortly after the staff there was unable to resuscitate the child. He read the sobbing mother her Miranda rights before taping her statement that she’d left the child in the car. He also denied telling three witnesses that he was going to charge Balfour because he had a “confession.”
Roach said he had multiple meetings with the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Office before taking out a warrant for Balfour’s arrest April 5, the same day she buried her child. Balfour turned herself in April 6.
A coworker at the JAG School testified that Balfour had arrived at March 30 distracted by a call from the family member that she’d received on the way in to work.
“Mrs. Balfour had a lot of responsibility,” said her boss, Major Kevin Anderson. “Stressed out is the best way to describe it.” He’d discussed time management with Balfour, who often arrived at work early and stayed late, and used her comp time to take Bryce to doctor appointments. He also noted that in her performance review, Balfour received the highest ratings.
The woman Balfour had helped out by babysitting the night before Bryce died, Erika Conely, was called to show, said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth Killeen, “Balfour’s tendency to overextend herself.”
Conely, who admitted she was no longer a friend and had called Balfour a “baby killer,” said she’d called three other people on March 29 to looking for a babysitter so she could take her sick dog to the vet before calling Balfour, who agreed to stay with Conely’s daughter.
According to Conely, Balfour had a beer or two while she was babysitting, and had asked Conely not to mention that to the police.
Medical examiner Kevin Whaley performed the autopsy on Bryce, and said the baby most likely died within the first half of the day, and that when the temperature is in the mid 50s to lower 70s, a car parked on asphalt “is going to reach 115 degrees in 30 to 45 minutes.” The high on March 30 was 66 degrees.
Jarrett Balfour, who was called as a prosecution witness yesterday, flew in from Iraq last week. “I came here to support my wife,” he said.
On March 30, Jarrett had dressed Bryce, who’d had a cold and awakened around 3am. Normally Bryce rode in a carseat behind the passenger seat in the Honda Pilot, but because of problems with a new carseat, that morning, he put Bryce in the car behind Raelyn’s driver’s seat.
“He seemed tired,” Jarrett Balfour remembered about his son.
– with additional reporting by Laura Burns
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Who cares about a couple beers and what does that have to do with what happened next? she wasn’t in a drunk driving accident and i’m sure when she asked Erica not to mention it to the police it was only because she knew it would get blown out of proportion. she is a good person and she cares deeply about her children. have a heart!
You know what - its interesting the Hook calls her “bereaved” (opinion!) and shows a picture of her with a family member (husband? brother?) comforting her (heart strings?)- how about some un-slanted journalism there Hook! I am a do or die Hoo, and a long time Hook reader, but I am very disappointed. Just for this I may even have to switch entirely to the C’Ville!
bereaved: –adjective
1. (of a person) greatly saddened at being deprived by death of a loved one.
Sounds like a fact to me, not an opinion. All the testimony in this trial so far seems to suggest that she is greatly saddened by his death.
And what kind of photo do you want them to put up? They can’t photograph inside the courtroom. If she is with her husband whenever she’s not inside, then that’s the only photo they’re going to be able to get.
By the way, that definition came from dictionary.com
quote > “Detective David Roach….. also denied telling three witnesses that he was going to charge Balfour because he had a confession.”
Who are we suppose to believe? The word of one cop, or that of three witnesses.
The nerve of 3 people to say a cop lied! :)
Andrew and Erika Conely are being ostracized because she had to go to court and tell the truth. She is a wonderful wife and mother who has nothing but compassion for others. I have known her closely for about five years and have nothing but good things to say about her. I have known Andrew since he was a child in Elemntary school. Anyone who would spread lies about these good people need to take a good look at themselves. Because she had the strength of character to tell the truth, no matter how hard it was, and you know it was hard, she is being critcized. Shame on all who are putting her down.
LPH
My heartfelt prayers go out for this family. I cannot imagine the anguish they must suffer. This is a tragedy, not a crime. Nothing the city does will alleviate the tragedy, bring about justice, impose any additional punishment, or provide any deterrence of future such “crimes”. Where is the wisdom in this prosecution? We do still desire wisdom in the justice system, don’t we? Perhaps now, it’s more “system” than it is “justice”.
Maybe Erika Conely is being ostracized because she chose to call a woman who _accidentally_ killed her child a “baby killer.” That’s enough for me — that’s all I need to know about Erika Conely.
have you never said anything you regreted before?
[...] a three-day trial, an Albemarle County jury has found Raelyn Balfour not guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her [...]
Not guilty. That was quick. Thank you, jury, for being sensible.
Let’s think about how much money the state wasted on prosecuting this case.
Elf, who says she regrets it? Maybe she just regrets having it brought up in court under cross-examination so that everyone knows she said it. I’ve said things I regret, but nothing so cold-hearted as that.
Largesse, the taxpayers, you and I, foot the commonwealth’s bill. Just think of the attorney bill the Balfours now have to pay. I suspect they are in debt up to at least $50,000+ now. Zwerling and a manslaughter charge could easily be $50,000+ most likely.
Good point, SOTLR–I’m peeved that I contributed to the prosecution via my tax dollars, but that’s nothing compared to what the Balfours had to pay for her defense. Thank goodness the lawyers did a good job.
For accuracy: it was a City of Charlottesville jury, not an Albemarle County jury.
It really erks me that wonderful parents like the Conleys were made to look bad by the high priced lawyer just to pull his client out of the mess she got herself into. Did they mention Erica needed a babysitter because Mr. Conley was in Iraq.
When your baby is not number one on your list something is wrong.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the Charlottesville and Greene county communities for supporting us when our son passed away and before during and after the trial. My husband and I can now grieve for our son and this has certainly brought closure. We thank God for this decision and want to personally thank all of our true friends and family for being there for us everyday.
Mrs. Balfour,
You should know that many, many local citizens feel deep sympathy and sorrow for your terrible loss. As a mother, I understand that every single day brings the risk that I could easily make some terrible mistake, out of normal everyday carelessness or forgetfulness or any of those very human errors we all fall prey to–but as a parent, so much could be riding on the balance. I don’t think anything separates you from a thousand other parents except that luck and events conspired against you and didn’t conspire against me. “There but for the grace of God go I” is a phrase that seems tailor-made for your tragedy.
I wish you peace as you go on in life, and I hope you find some way eventually to forgive yourself.
take it up with the jury, Seeker–they are the ones who heard ALL the facts, and you did not, and they concluded NOT GUILTY. Twelve people, and they decided that this was more a case of human frailty than criminal behavior.
Not all tragic accidents are criminal. Seeker, you don’t seem to see yourself in the mirror of “there but for the grace of god”: may god mercifully never make you see your own frailty in this way.
What the hell are you talking about? In fact, what the hell are any of you talking about? A child is gone. Who cares who said what or how it went down. That’s not going to bring Bryce back. Some of you may have forgotten, in this High School finger pointing game your playing, that’s who this is all about. One last thing, why did the baby sitter need an attorney? Wasn’t SHE the only one looking for him. Who came up with that?
Seeker,
I am sorry to inform you that this is NOT Raelyn Balfour, I CLEARLY put my name on this blog!! Raelyn did not GET AWAY with MURDER but her sentence was reduced by a Grand Jury because they could not warrant an idictment of murder, AND she was found NOT GUILTY of Involuntary Manslaughter! I admit that her one issue was trying to help ungrateful, backstabbing people. The jury saw right through her testimony and that’s why after she testified the prosecution not once mentioned the negative part of her testimony!!
Where’s my cange?!? You need to go back to school and learn how to spell.
Nice work with the spell check.
There is one last thing, if you would like to read your opening statement out loud to the class feel free.
Wow! THAT WAS HAD GOOD?!?
Thanks for my change!
I think I’ll call you no Cents.
That’s a pun. Can you say P U N?
Anyone using this forum to comment should adhere to the standards of civil discourse. That includes not making ad hominem attacks or placing unverified allegations. If such inappropriate commenting persists, I may be forced to ban certain users or turn off all comments.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Lisa Provence
LOL Largesse “I killed my baby” guess who said that? Lynn Balfour in court. did you read what you were posting about
So the defendant agreed with the witness u wer talkin bout and even said it. Uh, so where were ya goin with that - you r cool with the woman who did it, and her sayin it, but not cool with someone else sayin it - so fer like a rapist sayin “I raped her” is cool em all - but fur the victim to say “he raped me” to a friend, to say that is like BAD BAD BAD!
LOL - tooooo funny!!! ur prettie dum Lar(and fer the smart folk abov I know I spelt wrong tooo)
Before we celebrate (which I wanted to do) on the day the trial ended “Zwerling says Balfour is working as a volunteer with an organization called Kids In Cars, which alerts parents to the dangers of leaving children in vehicles.” This was also mentioned several times in other media and by the defendant herself. Being a mother of two young boys myself (18 mos and 4) and having followed this tragedy, I found this very interesting, until I looked for the group. It turns out that I found something very troubling. Kids in Cars changed its name some time ago, to Harrisons Hope, and as of today they have no record on their site of the baby, Bryce, or what happened to him. Looking back in the news he has been dead for almost a year? Assuming this was a mistake of some kind, I tried KidsandCars.org, a similar group. This troubled me even more, nothing. After searching the internet, despite the family statements, I found that Bryce is not mentioned on any site dealing specifically with what happened to him except the news. I am sure the family will jump on it now, but its too late. The lawyers didn’t do their home work, they made the whole thing up and didn’t even realize the group changed its name before they spoke. She tricked us all, and I have a stomach ache.
What is this??? Baby Brice is gone and the people who really are involved in this still suffer the lose, still cry, still loose sleep and will for a long time. You can’t even imagine the pain. For some reason others who were not involved need to keep the digs going and they don’t even know these people or the facts.
Let it go! It’s over. Leave them alone. They have enough greif. Let precious baby Brice rest in peace. Get a new hobby.
Ms. Provence I assume you were talking about the comments about Erika Conely….I don’t think anyone would have said anything about her had people not posted what a wonderful person she is….and people who know her PERSONALLY know what really happened and why she was the one that WENT to the prosecution and testified. Obviously her credibility was in question in court as well as nothing was mentioned in closing arguments by the prosecution either. Nice try, but her attempt to sabatoge a wonderful person only brought out how Erika really is. Kudos to the news media for seeing this as well.
Oh my God, the website that you stated is incorrect. The organization that the Balfour family works with is kids and cars not kids in cars. The website I found that had all the information is: kidsandcars.org
Avoiding all the above comments, I just can’t understand how anyone could leave their child in a car. When she got out didn’t she walk pass the car? Yes, you can be distracted, but that much too forget? AND….
Is she pregnant? Is that what I observed in the photo with the “NOT GUILTY”???
Granted this incident happened a while ago, but wouldn’t it be too soon to have yet another baby? Just wondering. Anyone else wondering this too?
Lady….If you read the articles and heard the news interview, the family was already trying to have a baby before their son died. As for passing the car, the pictures that were shown on the news looked as though she went to the front of the car to get to her work bldg not towards the back of the vehicle so she would have never passed by the back seat.
I have known the Conelys since they met in 1999; I am unending respect for them as our lives have become geographically separate but we have continued a deep friendship as we have started our families. Erika is one of the most thoughtful and giving individuals I have ever known, she and her husband Andrew lead simple lives and have had irrevocable harm thrown at them in a small town they cherish as their own safe haven. I am so deeply sorry that this happened them, a strong woman is having deal with public outcry because she is entangled in a situation by virtue of daily interaction with a neighbor and the resulting requirements of state law in prosecuting this stomach-churning event that is so very complicated in its nature. I know that Mrs Erika Conely is a wonderful person, I hate to see her family go through such unbelievable heartache. My wife and I consider the Conely’s extended family and our hearts go out to them. My wife and I will keep them in our thoughts and prayers for this strong couple and their beautiful daughter, we know they are strong but this is an unbelievably taxing. People can be so outright ruthless when they blindly rally around something they refuse to look at objectively, I can only imagine what they’re going through. I am sorry for this turmoil, I am sure the end is within sight after this patch, how illogical it is that karmah or God’s will or anything one would believe is could allow such evil upon good people, thank you for reaching out to Sarah & I after these years of friendship during this dark time, we support them 100% and pray for the reconciliation of neighbors as the community heals.