Pahrump woman charged with child abuse receives probation

The Pahrump woman arrested child abuse charges related to the death of a 6-month-old child last year, has received probation.

Amanda Ellyn Ramsey, 22 at the time, faced felony charges, including four counts of child abuse causing substantial bodily harm, along with four counts of child abuse, according to Nye County’s Fifth Judicial District Court records.

Ramsey, represented by defense attorney Nathan Gent, was a co-defendant with the child’s father, Mitchell Robinson, 22, of Pahrump, who entered into a guilty plea agreement before Judge Robert Lane back in September, during which time both prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed upon the deal.

Robinson agreed to plead guilty to child abuse causing substantial bodily harm, defense attorney Daniel Martinez told Lane.

Regarding Ramsey’s predicament, Nye County Deputy District Attorney Michael Vieta-Kabell suggested that the defendant basically dodged a bullet by also agreeing to assist prosecutors in the case.

“We were free to argue for any legal sentence in that case, and I personally did request that she be sentenced to imprisonment,” he said. “As it turned out, she was not the most culpable individual in this case. I think I even brought that up after hearing where I had to concede that we believe the co-defendant in the Ramsey case was the more culpable of the two. That being Mr. Mitchell Robinson.”

At least one of the stipulations for Ramsey to remain free on probation is to also remain drug and alcohol-free, Vieta-Kabell noted.

“Ultimately, the judge suspended quite a bit of time that was hanging over her head. I always hope that people succeed while they are on probation,” he said. “I hope that she does succeed on probation, but if she does not, she will be facing I believe eight to 20 years in prison. That was one of the reasons we had a structured negotiation where we would have been recommending probation in exchange for assistance in prosecution for the co-defendant. There were numerous clauses, but one of those clauses was no use of controlled substances, including alcohol and marijuana.”

A request for comment from Ramsey’s defense attorney regarding the case went unanswered as of press time, while attempts to contact Ramsey for comment were also unsuccessful.

As stated in a Nye County Sheriff’s Office news release, the case was opened last Sept. 4, when sheriff’s deputies and Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services crews were dispatched to a residence on the 2000 block of West Simkins Road after receiving a 911 call that an infant had stopped breathing.

The release went on to state that medical examinations subsequently identified that the child’s death on Sept. 8 was the result of intentional abuse and head trauma.

During an interview by detectives on Sept. 9, 2017, Robinson admitted to shaking the baby “too hard,” the news release noted.

“He admitted to shaking the baby several times on the day the infant stopped breathing,” according to the release. “Robinson was placed in custody and booked in at the Nye County Detention Center.”

Additionally, it was discovered that the child had allegedly suffered a previous choking incident back in June of 2017.

Medical examinations, according to the news release, also indicated that there were previous rib fractures on the infant, which went untreated.

Robinson, meanwhile, who remains in custody, is scheduled for his sentencing hearing at 9 a.m. on Dec. 17.

He faces eight to 20 years in prison.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, on Twitter: @pvtimes