Attorney: Mom facing death penalty has low IQ
A woman charged in the killing of her 2-year-old daughter — who officials said was starved and tortured most of her life — "has the mentality of a child," her attorney said, which could affect whether she faces the death penalty.
Experts have determined that Andrea Bradley's IQ is in the mid-60s, her attorney Will Welsh said at a hearing Thursday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
An IQ below 75 is considered an intellectual disability, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
"This was someone with the mentality of a child raising children," Welsh told The Enquirer. "I think we can convincingly prove that she has critical developmental disabilities."
If Bradley is ruled to have an intellectual disability, she would no longer face the death penalty and instead would face up to life in prison without parole. A hearing surrounding the issue is set for Sept. 7 before Judge Robert Ruehlman.
Bradley, 30, is charged with aggravated murder in the 2015 death of 2-year-old Glenara Bates. The child's father, 34-year-old Glen Bates, also faces the death penalty. Glenara was beaten severely, starved and made to sleep in a bathtub containing feces and blood, according to prosecutors.
Bradley and Bates were in an abusive relationship where Bates had taken control, according to her attorneys. She has been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder, and has been under psychiatric care most of her life, Welsh has previously said.
The couple lived in East Walnut Hills with six of Bradley's children, including Glenara. The children ranged in age from 1 to 8. The other children are now in foster care. Only 2-year-old Glenara was severely mistreated, according to previous statements by prosecutors.
The pair were arrested March 29, 2015, the same day Bradley brought Glenara's cold and limp body to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Glenara had no body fat, no urine in her bladder, and no evidence of food in her system, officials said. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. She weighed 13 pounds and had bite marks, numerous lacerations as well as marks from being whipped with a belt.
Glenara's dad: I bit her, I dropped her
Prosecutors offered Bradley a plea deal in May that would have meant she faced the possibility of spending the rest of her life in prison, instead of the death penalty. She rejected that deal.
Bradley's attorneys on Thursday filed an "Atkins motion," which refers to a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Atkins v. Virginia, that determined legal guidelines for mental competence in death penalty cases.
According to statements in court, there are hundreds of pages of Bradley's records from Hamilton County Job and Family Services that her attorneys will have to sort through.