RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Lawyers for a Catoosa County woman accused of killing a stranger to steal her baby say a spy approached the defendant in jail.
A court filing shows that the attorneys, Jerilyn Bell and Crystal Bice, believe Sasha Nichole Van Pelt asked Catherine Goins about her pending murder case while they were in jail together so that Van Pelt could give that information to the police or prosecutors.
During a pretrial hearing Tuesday, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin said he doesn't know anything about such a plan. He said his investigator questioned Van Pelt last week about her time in jail with Goins, and Van Pelt denied working with any law enforcement employees.
Catherine GoinsThe Catoosa County Sheriff's Office charged Goins with murder in September. Sheriff Gary Sisk said Goins killed Natalia Roberts to steal Roberts' baby.
Sisk said Goins' boyfriend had just left her because he found out she lied to him about being pregnant. After Roberts died, Sisk said, Goins drove away with her 3 year old and 3 week old. She came back after calling a friend and telling him what happened.
On May 1, Fort Oglethorpe police arrested Van Pelt on a shoplifting charge. She slept in the same jail dorm as Goins.
Goins' attorneys filed a separation order against Van Pelt on May 7. The order would have forced the sheriff's office to keep Van Pelt and Goins in separate parts of the jail.
But Van Pelt booked out on May 8.
On Tuesday, Judge Ralph Van Pelt - who said he doesn't know Sasha Van Pelt - ruled that Goins will be separated from her if police arrest Sasha Van Pelt again.