UPDATE: The jury deliberated for approximately 30 minutes before rendering a verdict regarding Alexandra Ward’s punishment, in which they sentenced her to life in prison for the count of complicity to commit murder and five years for the count of complicity to commit first-degree strangulation.
The jury recommended those sentences be served consecutively—or one after the other. However, state law requires a life sentence to run concurrently—or at the same time—as any other sentence. Judge Paul Winchester, who presided over the case, is expected to rectify that issue during a formal sentencing
Ward will be parole eligible after serving 85 percent of her sentence or after serving 20 years, whichever comes first. With a life sentence, Ward would still be required to be under the supervision of a probation and parole officer for the remainder of her life.
A formal sentencing has been scheduled for April 21 at 1 p.m.
ORIGINAL STORY: Alexandra Ward, the mother of three-year-old Amoura Smallwood who died in February 2023 after being brutally beaten by Ward’s then-boyfriend, has been found guilty in connection to her daughter’s death following a weeklong jury trial.
Ward, 22, faced charges of complicity to commit murder and complicity to commit first-degree strangulation in connection to Smallwood’s death. She was convicted her on both counts Tuesday morning in Whitley Circuit Court.
The jury—consisting of seven women and five men—handed down the decision after deliberating for approximately 50 minutes.
The jury’s list of possible convictions in regard to Smallwood’s death included: complicity to commit murder, complicity to commit second-degree manslaughter, and complicity to commit reckless homicide.
A complicity to commit murder conviction carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. A complicity to commit second-degree manslaughter conviction carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison. A complicity to commit reckless homicide conviction carries a possible sentence of one to five years in prison.
For the count of complicity to commit first-degree strangulation, the jury was just asked to find Ward guilty or not guilty.
That count carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison.
This story will be updated once a decision has been made regarding Ward’s sentencing.
Smallwood died on Feb. 19, 2023, from blunt force injuries to the head and body due to non-accidental injuries. Those injuries were inflicted upon Smallwood by Jordan Taylor, 24, of Corbin, who Ward left in care of Smallwood and another infant child despite only knowing him for just a few weeks.
On the day she died, Smallwood had been in the sole care of Taylor since approximately 8:30 a.m.
Taylor entered a guilty plea to charges of murder, first-degree sodomy and first-degree strangulation in October 2024. He has since been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
For more information regarding the trial, including coverage on Ward’s testimony as she took the stand in her own defense, see the April 2 edition of the News Journal.
