The mother of murdered toddler D’onya “Bella” Walker was back in court yesterday for the penalty phase of her trial.
Ostonya Walker pleaded guilty to child cruelty and exposing a child to grievous harm after the four-year-old died as a result of blunt force trauma on November 5, 2021, after she was left in the care of her mother’s live-in boyfriend Darion Smith while Walker went to work.
Smith took a plea deal to the murder charge and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
However, Walker did not reach an agreement with prosecutors and it will be up to Justice Renae McKay to determine her punishment.
As such, public defender Dorsey McPhee requested the assistance of a probation report.
The probation officer said, “Unfortunately, she was not provided with the necessary nurturing and guidance she needed from her parents for positive growth and development as she was abandoned by them since infancy. However, she was reared in a seemingly stable environment by a guardian until the age 10.”
Walker was reportedly returned to a neglectful home environment with her mother at age 10 and she was later placed with other relatives until she turned 17.
Walker dropped out of high school when she became a teenage mother; however, she was reportedly enrolled in the law program at University of The Bahamas.
According to the probation officer, most people interviewed saw Walker as a good person and mother who was a victim of domestic abuse. They said that she should be given a second chance.
However, Walker’s twin sister and Bella’s paternal grandmother said that she deserved to be punished.
McPhee and the prosecutor Janet Munnings are scheduled to make sentencing submissions next month.
