Fiske given 10-year term for murdering her newborn

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The terms of sentence were arranged as part of a plea bargain, which allowed Fiske, who was released on bail shortly after her arrest, to plead guilty to second-degree murder. She had originally been charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse after an attendant found the child's remains bundled with household waste at the Macon County Landfill on Feb. 28, 2000.

In summarizing the facts of the case against Fiske, District Attorney Charles Hipps and Assistant DAs Allen Leonard and Monica Leslie called two witnesses to testify - Detective Robert Holland with the Macon County Sheriff's Department and Detective Linda Sutton of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Holland described in graphic detail the condition of the infant when it was discovered at the landfill. The injuries he described were the result of the body going through the trash baler.

It was Sutton, said Jackson County Sheriff Jim Cruzan, who built the case against Fiske after the WCU sophomore lied to authorities about a friend named "Amanda" who'd had a baby. As law enforcement looked for "Amanda" on the WCU campus and talked with others who had heard Fiske's story, holes began to appear, Sutton said.

"Her story was changing each time she told it," said Sutton, who described Fiske as being "very pale with dark circles under her eyes" during her first interview with the woman. "'Amanda' went from someone who'd left a prank call on her answering machine to a friend of hers who was pregnant and living in Walker Dorm."

According to Sutton, Fiske confessed first to making up the "Amanda" story to her boyfriend, David Parlier, after he confronted her about things he'd been told by investigators. She then confessed to law enforcement during a follow-up interview, in which she described the birth, cutting the umbilical cord with a knife, the baby's condition and her effort to prevent the baby from crying by placing her hand on its mouth, neck and chest area and pushing with her full weight.

Fiske then put the baby in a black garbage bag, which she placed in the trunk of her car. She discarded her child in a Dumpster at Ruby Cinemas in Franklin, where she was employed.

After demonstrating for investigators the events of the birth using a Beanie Baby doll to represent the child, Fiske wrote and signed a confession dated March 2, 2000, Sutton said. She then went with her mother to Harris Regional Hospital. After her release from the hospital, Fiske was placed under arrest for first-degree murder, said Sutton.

In their effort to reduce their client's prison term, Fiske's attorneys, Randy Seago and Kimberly Lay, called the woman's family members, friends and a clinical psychologist to testify on her behalf. Jerry Nobel, a psychologist working in Winston-Salem, said several events in Fiske's life prior to the murder contributed to her developing a personality disorder. Some of these included her parents' divorce during her senior year in high school; her father's verbal abuse; her mother's battle with breast cancer; and her grandfather's death.

"It's my opinion that she did not understand the nature of the situation and that she had trouble controlling her actions," Nobel said. "She has a tendency to depend on primitive defense mechanisms to deal with life problems."

"To say she was my best friend would be very accurate," said Lenaire Harrison, Fiske's mother, when she took the stand. "She has tremendous family support, and she is very well loved in the community."

Harrison described for the court Fiske's achievements in Girl Scouts growing up in Franklin, her musical and academic endeavors, and her service as a page for both state and federal legislators. But her grades and finances began to slip as the family fell apart, her mother said.

Since her release on bail, Fiske never missed the weekly appointments with the Sheriff's Department, she said, driving from her home in Brevard, where she was required to live with her mother and grandmother. She continued to be active in the community while on bail, volunteering in the church and in a fourth-grade classroom with teacher Megan Fouche of Brevard.

"She is very reliable, very involved in the church and very responsible," Fouche said.

"There was disbelief for many in the community when we found out what had happened, but her support has continued," said Libby Lefler, a Franklin attorney and friend of the family. "Christina is a very intelligent girl, very quiet, with a very deep faith."

During his closing argument, DA Hipps described this as "the most troubling case" he'd been involved in during his time as a prosecutor. "Who speaks for this child?" he asked. "We need to remember that the child is the victim in this case, not the defendant. Her natural inclination should have been to aid her child. Instead, she killed her daughter by applying pressure, constant pressure."

During her closing, defense attorney Lay pointed out to Judge Baker that "Christina knew how to succeed in life, she didn't know how to fail." She asked for the judge's mercy and leniency and to "give Christina a second chance."

"The murder of your newborn child a year ago today has shocked this community," Judge Baker said. "To have a child's life snuffed out by her mother almost defies imagination.

"On the other hand, this courtroom is full of people who support you," he said, "and you'll need their support.

"Many people believe a prison term is inappropriate for you; others think that the negotiated term is not enough," he continued. "But I believe you have already started a life sentence. Every time you see a mother with a young child, every time you hear a child cry, you will relive what you did."

Before sentencing Fiske to a maximum of 10 years in prison, Judge Baker said, "the killing of a newborn by its mother is not something society can accept with just probation."

"I think its good that Christina has the support of the community, but all that support will never change the fact that she murdered her baby Feb. 26, 2000, and that baby would have been alive today," Sutton said. "As for the prison term, I think she deserved more, but I'm glad she got what she did."

Back to Archive: 03/01/01.