By Sheila Stogsdill
news@joplinglobe.com
MIAMI, Okla. - An Ottawa County woman charged with killing her 11-week-old daughter was ordered Thursday to undergo a mental-competency evaluation.
Kristine Grannis, 29, was ordered by District Judge Robert Haney to undergo an evaluation. She was remanded to the Ottawa County Jail, where she is being held in lieu of bail in connection with the 2001 death of Jacqueline Ann Vincilione.
Haney suspended the court's proceedings until after the evaluation and a competency hearing are conducted.
Grannis was charged in June with first-degree murder in the infant girl's death. District Attorney Eddie Wyant has said he is seeking the death penalty.
She is accused of pushing the baby's face into a couch cushion and keeping it there until the baby quit moving, according to a felony warrant.
Jacques Vincilione, 36, of Aurora, Mo., Grannis' husband, confessed to moving the baby from the couch to her crib, where authorities found the baby, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Vincilione pleaded guilty in October to a reduced charge of conspiracy to remove a dead body and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but all but a year in jail was suspended.
As part of his plea agreement, Vincilione agreed to testify against Grannis.
Wyant said earlier, as the case against Vincilione proceeded, that there was a problem with the case regarding the statute of limitations, and that is why he decided on a plea agreement.
Other case
Kristine Grannis has lost custody of her four living children. She pleaded guilty to assaulting another child, a 3-month-old son, in 2003, and has been serving time in a Missouri prison.
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