Bartlesville Woman To Stand Trial In Death Of Her Ten-Day-Old Baby

NewsOn6.com

BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma – A Bartlesville woman charged in the death of her ten-day-old infant will stand trial, a Washington County judge ruled Thursday.

Lyndsey Fiddler, 26, will stand trial on charges of first degree murder and child neglect in the death of Maggie Mae Trammel.

3/2/2011 Related Story: Bartlesville Mother Accused In Infant's Death Charged With Murder

The infant was found dead in a washing machine on November 4, 2010, in Fiddler's apartment in the 500 block of South Shawnee in Bartlesville.

According to court records, Fiddler told police she has no idea how the infant ended up in the washing machine.

Lyndsey Fiddler did not testify at Thursday's preliminary hearing and did not comment as she was being escorted back to the jail.

Nine witnesses, including the baby's father, police officers who investigated the case, a doctor and the relative who discovered the baby in the washing machine, did testify.

Fiddler's aunt told the court that Fiddler gave Maggie Mae a bottle around 6:15 p.m. that evening. Rhonda Coshatt said Fiddler told her she was going to put the baby in the basinet.

After she returned to the living room, Coshatt said that Fiddler passed out on a chair.

A few minutes later, Coshatt went to check on Maggie Mae but couldn't find her.

Coshatt said it took her several minutes to wake Fiddler to help look for Maggie Mae. When Fiddler did wake up, Coshatt says, she was more interested in eating a bologna sandwich than trying to find her ten-day-old daughter.

Coshatt said she then heard the washing machine begin thumping and found Maggie Mae's dead body inside.

Fiddler's attorney pointed out that Coshatt was taking several medications for pain, a muscle relaxant, and an antidepressant and never actually witnessed Fiddler putting the baby in the washing machine.

"No one knows who put the child in the washing machine. Secondly, you heard the testimony that they can't prove that it was willfully malicious. So the state has a real problem proving this in front of a jury," Mark Kane said.

The prosecuting attorney's declined to comment.

The medical examiner ruled Maggie Mae's cause of death as drowning. Tests found methamphetamine and hydrocodone in Fiddler's system.