I have spent the entirety of my professional career working within the media industry, though the majority of it—the better part of a decade, that is—has been specifically in newspapers.
I worked as a staff writer and later served as editor-in-chief at University of the Cumberlands’ student newspaper throughout my entire college tenure before landing a full-time gig with The Times-Tribune, where I spent approximately five years covering news across the Tri-County.
After a brief sabbatical, I returned to the industry in May 2022 when I accepted my current position here at the News Journal.
One of my primary beats while at the Times was crime and court reporting. When I say that I practically lived in the courtroom, it’s closer to reality than hyperbole. There wasn’t a week that went by when I wasn’t in one of the three county courthouses (and sometimes the federal courthouse, too) listening to a variety of cases that I had to report on.
Since coming on board at the News Journal, I found that I was able to easily transition back into that role. While I’m no longer in the courtroom as much as I used to be since I don’t typically have to worry as much about most cases outside of Whitley County, I still spend a decent amount of my time there.
Needless to say, I’ve spent an incalculable number of hours watching, listening to and reporting on court proceedings over the past decade.
I feel that’s an important qualifier for readers to understand before I get to the heart of this month’s column.
Of all the heinous, abhorrent things that I’ve encountered in a courtroom, nothing has ever shaken me quite like the case revolving around the death of Amoura Smallwood.
Over time, you get used to being regularly subjected to details involving murder, rape, assault, etc. You become kind of numb to it; you become kind of jaded. It gets easier to separate the human emotion from the details. In this line of work, that’s a good ability to be able to master.
Though there have been a few cases that have left me dwelling on them long after I left the courtroom and finished my reporting, none have been quite as bad as Smallwood’s.
For those who may not be aware of her story, there is a more-detailed article in this week’s paper regarding the man who was charged in her killing pleading guilty to multiple charges, but the short version is as follows:
Smallwood was a three-year-old child left in the care of Jordan Blake Taylor, the then-boyfriend of her mother Alexandra Ward. According to information from prosecutors, Ward only knew Taylor for a few weeks before allowing him to move into her home and begin babysitting Smallwood and another infant child. Taylor was increasingly violent toward Smallwood while she was in his care, which Ward was allegedly aware of and attempted to cover up, according to prosecutors. Smallwood later died in February 2023 from a series of blunt force and non-accidental injuries. Taylor and Ward were both later indicted in connection to the child’s death in April 2023.
I’ve covered the case against Taylor and Ward since the incident occurred early last year. For that reason, I’ve sat through a number of court proceedings in which testimony or evidentiary items have been presented. I’ve also discussed various details of the case with Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling both on and off the record during the last year and a half.
But nothing adequately prepared me for what Bowling showed during a bond hearing for Ward back in April.
A series of photos were shown over the weeks leading up to Smallwood’s death, which detailed an assortment of injuries to the child’s body that escalated in severity with each one. Eventually, post-mortem photos were also presented to show the state of Smallwood’s body during her autopsy. Much of her body was covered in bruises or cuts, especially her face and head.
As hard as that was to observe, it got worse. Bowling provided one more vital piece of evidence during that hearing, which was a video that was extracted from Taylor’s phone during a forensics analysis.
The video depicted Smallwood laying down in a prone position on her back. Shortly after the clip began, a hand entered the frame and was placed firmly over the child’s face, covering her mouth and nose. The hand, presumably, belonged to Taylor. The hand remained clamped over Smallwood’s face as she struggled to push it away and failed. Her eyes were wide with panic. Then the hand yielded and the clip ended.
That clip was maybe a minute long, but I promise it felt much, much longer. As I sat there in the courtroom watching what that child had to endure for weeks up until she just simply no longer could, I felt an overcoming wave of grief wash over me. And then I did something I’ve never once done in all my years of covering truly terrible human behavior: I dropped my head, covered my face and quietly wept.
I did not know Smallwood. To my knowledge, I do not know her family. My reaction was not one that was catalyzed by a personal connection. It was one of human emotion; the kind I have learned to separate while doing this job.
But in that moment, I couldn’t manage it. What was done to that young girl was genuinely despicable. I want to make sure that is as clear as possible.
On more than one occasion, Bowling has stated that this was the worst case he’s ever seen. That’s coming from someone with far more time and experience in a courtroom than myself.
I try to be cautious with my judgement of others and I often feel like individuals in the criminal justice system aren’t necessarily bad people, but merely people who have done something bad. As for Taylor, I’m not so sure that is the case.
Taylor serving the rest of his natural life in prison will never undo the harm that he has caused, but I hope that it at least provides some sort of solace to Smallwood’s family that he won’t be able to physically hurt another child ever again.
Of course, Smallwood’s story isn’t entirely finished yet. Ward, her mother, still has an active, ongoing case. Ward has continued to maintain her innocence in Smallwood’s death. Unless there is a new development, Ward is set to have her case presented to a jury in March.
Regardless of what that outcome is, I just hope that it is one that can help Smallwood’s family move toward finding peace.
