Child neglect trial set for Nov. 15

A woman charged in connection with the death of her young daughter will face trial in November, court officials said.

Traci Carpenter faces a charge of aggravated child neglect stemming from the death of her 18-month-old daughter Sierra. Her trial date is Nov. 15, but attorneys on both sides will meet Oct. 3 to debate pretrial motions.

Prosecutors first went after Carpenter and her ex-boyfriend, Brian Rutherford, in connection with Sierra's 2006 death. But a jury acquitted Rutherford, and the focus turned to Carpenter.

At Rutherford's 2008 trial, a medical examiner testified that repeated poking to Sierra's head could have led to the child's death.

Several witnesses said they'd seen Carpenter poke the child, but Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole ruled that information about Carpenter's parenting that came out at Rutherford's trial cannot be presented to jurors at her trial.

Carpenter's attorney, Lee Davis, recently filed court documents showing that police promised not to charge Carpenter if she passed a polygraph test, which she did.

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