Woman accused of attempting to drown child pleads not guilty
With tearful eyes, a Missoula woman who is accused of trying to drown her 10-month-old child in the Clark Fork River in April pleaded not guilty at her appearance at the Mineral County Courthouse Wednesday.
According to a complaint filed by Mineral County Attorney Shaun Donovan, Sherri Renee Telnas immersed herself and her 10-month-old son Jackson in a river near Superior before taking him to the Mineral County Community Hospital for treatment.
Donovan filed the complaint after Telnas reportedly showed up at the Mineral County Hospital with her son.
According to an affidavit, when Mineral County Sheriff Hugh Hopwood arrived on the scene with Undersheriff Mike Johnson, Telnas told them, “I tried to drown my baby.”
Wednesday’s court appearance is the first time Telnas has appeared before a judge since her initial appearance in which her court-appointed attorney, Ed Sheehy, asked that Telnas spend 60 days at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs because he was concerned about her mental state.
Mental health professionals at the hospital conducted an analysis of Telnas that will be used in the investigation of the incident.
During questioning with Johnson and Hopwood, Telnas said that “bad thoughts or voices” told her to drown her child, according to the affidavit.
Donovan said that Telnas arrived back at the Mineral County Jail about three weeks prior to her appearance Wednesday and that the county has hired their own psychiatrist to conduct a separate analysis of Telnas.
“The psychological reports are really crucial here,” said Donovan in an interview Thursday.
During the course of the investigation, the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office has found what they believe to be where Telnas allegedly tried to drown her child.
“We can’t be positive but we’ve found a place that appears to be the scene of the incident,” Donovan said.
Donovan said that the police have searched the area surrounding the St. Regis Fishing Access because it matches both Telnas’s description of where she took her child as well as witness reports of seeing a woman matching Telnas’s description with a child near the area.
Telnas is still in custody at the Mineral County Jail in Superior on a $100,000 bond. Donovan said that she was screened for pretrial supervision but it was denied.
“What we’re interested in doing is finding out both what her mental status was when this took place and what it is now and doing something reasonable from there,” Donovan said.
According to Donovan, this case could become complicated because in Montana, in order to be convicted of a criminal offense, the defendant had to be able to act with purpose or intent.
He added that if the case becomes a matter of her mental health she may be acquitted of the charge and sent to the state hospital, convicted and sent to the state hospital, convicted and sent to the jail or just set free depending on the circumstances.
Telnas is facing charges of deliberate homicide for which the maximum penalty is death or life in prison.
According to court documents, x-rays taken of Telnas’ son at the hospital showed the infant had been submersed in water for an “appreciable period of time” and had water in his lungs. Patrick Tufts, the doctor who examined him, requested an advanced life support ambulance to transport the child to Missoula for further care.
Donovan said that, through his contact with social workers in Missoula, he learned that the child has made a full recovery and is living with his father in Missoula.