Defendant Receives Life Sentence In Baby's Murder

WOODSTOCK, GA — A Cherokee County man has entered a guilty plea to a murder charge in the 2015 death of his girlfriend's 24-day-old baby. Nicholas Charles Campbell on March 21 pleaded guilty to one count each of felony murder and possession of methamphetamine, court records show.

As part of the negotiated plea, Campbell was sentenced to life in prison in the death of Ciara Campbell, Alyssa Kincaid's newborn baby. Prosecutors elected not to charge him with the other counts brought forth in an indictment issued by a Cherokee County grand jury: malice murder and seven counts each of aggravated battery and cruelty to children in the first degree.

If Campbell is granted parole, he is also barred from having contact with Kincaid or her family and children under the age of 18. He's also required to submit to a search without a warrant if he is suspected to be in violation of probation or the law, and provide verification that he's completed a substance abuse treatment program. Campbell is also prohibited from consuming alcoholic beverages or narcotics or dangerous drugs unless prescribed; occupying a home or vehicle where alcohol, drugs or firearms are present; and consuming alcohol and operating a motor vehicle.

For her part in her child's death, Alyssa Kincaid in November 2017 entered a guilty plea to two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree and possession of methamphetamine. Cherokee County Superior Court Judge Ellen McElyea sentenced Kincaid to a total of 15 years, seven of which to be served in confinement and the rest on probation.

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The investigation into Ciara's death started when deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office responded to a call on Dec. 10, 2015, of a child not breathing at a home located on Magnolia Springs Drive near Holly Springs.

Ciara was transported to Northside Hospital Cherokee by Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services crews. She was moved to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta where she died three days later. The sheriff's office previously told Patch that "multiple injuries" to Ciara were discovered and after conducting interviews with Campbell, his mother and grandmother, he was arrested.

Campbell, who the sheriff's office said was not Ciara's biological father, was initially charged with four counts each of cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated assault, battery and possession of methamphetamine while Kincaid's initial arrest was on charges of cruelty to children in the second degree, possession of meth and probation violation.

However, those charges were upgraded once the official autopsy findings on the baby were released in June 2016. The medical examiner "reported the manner of death to be homicide and cause of death as "craniocerebral trauma," the sheriff's office previously told Patch.

A Cherokee County grand jury in November 2016 indicted Campbell on one count each of malice murder and felony murder, seven counts each of aggravated battery and cruelty to children in the first degree and possession of methamphetamine. Kincaid was initially indicted on one count of murder in the second degree, two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree and possession of methamphetamine.

According to the indictment, Campbell caused the death of Ciara by inflicting a "traumatic brain injury" on the baby. He's also accused of harming Ciara by causing fractures to her right clavicle, ribs, left arm and leg, right thigh and the right orbital plate of her skull.

Image via Cherokee Sheriff's Office