The People of the State of Colorado v.Kaylee Ann Messerly

Craig, Colorado criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and child abuse resulting in death.



In the early morning of March 11, 2021, an individual reported an abandoned car and stroller on a private road off County Road 54. When Deputy Leanna Dennis arrived, the snow was beginning to melt, and the road was muddy and slick. She was concerned her car would get stuck, so she stopped when she was near enough to read the car's license plate. After running the plate number, she learned that the car was registered to Messerly. Dennis called the associated phone number and Messerly's sister, Amy, answered.



She said that Messerly had left her phone at home and that she had not seen Messerly for a couple of days.



Dennis called her partner, Corporal Nathan Baker and asked him to bring the sheriff's office utility vehicle to conduct a search. When Baker arrived, they drove up to the car and saw no one was inside it. They walked a quarter of a mile down the private road and found a stroller stuck in the mud.



Back at the station, Lieutenant Chip McIntyre followed up with Amy. Amy had not heard from Messerly since March 9 and

said Messerly often left without her phone and without telling her family where she was going. Amy said Messerly's one-year-old daughter, E.S., and two-year-old daughter, A.S., were likely with her.



After a ground and aerial search, Baker found Messerly holding A.S. approximately one mile from the car. Messerly was

wearing a T-shirt, black stretchy pants, and leather boots. A.S. was wrapped in a black coat but had no socks or shoes. As Baker approached, Messerly said that her other baby was up the hill.



Approximately one hundred yards away, E.S. was lying in a pile of sage brush. She wore leopard print leggings and a light jacket but had no hat, gloves, shoes, or socks. E.S. had died of hypothermia.



Messerly and A.S. were taken to the hospital where Detective Gary L. Nichols interviewed Messerly. Messerly said she and her children spent two nights in the snow. On March 9, around 1 p.m., she brought A.S. and E.S. to the private road to look for sticks and stones to paint. When they arrived, it was a nice day.



Messerly did not check the weather, so she did not know a blizzard was expected that night, and she did not bring winter clothing.



After collecting stones, Messerly's car got stuck in the mud and would not start. Messerly sat in her car for four hours until she thought she saw house lights in the distance. With both children in the stroller, Messerly started walking towards the lights.



When the stroller got stuck in the mud, she continued down the road holding both children. When she reached the lights, she realized it was an oil rig, not a house. It was dark, and when Messerly looked back

she did not see her car. She continued to walk away from the car, calling out for help. As it began snowing, Messerly and her children sat in the sage brush.



A.S. and E.S. lost their shoes and socks.



The next day, they slept in the trees as it continued to snow. When Messerly tried to walk she could only travel a distance of around six.



According to a report from the National Weather Service, at 1:53 p.m. the temperature was 50 degrees and conditions were fair.



During the search of Messerly's car, officers found clothing, jackets, shoes, and a comforter.



At 4:53 p.m. the temperature was 50 degrees, and it was slightly cloudy.



At 11:53 p.m. the temperature was 33 degrees, and it was snowing heavily.



feet before having to sit down. During the second night, Messerly fell asleep for twenty minutes, and when she awoke, E.S. was "not ok.” She then wrapped her black coat around A.S. to keep her warm.



When A.S. arrived at the emergency room, she had fourth-degree frostbite, the most severe level of frostbite, causing

irreversible injury to her lower extremities. A.S.'s left foot required amputation above the ankle, and her right leg required amputation below the knee.



Messerly admitted to previously smoking methamphetamine but said that she was trying to get clean. Messerly said that if methamphetamine was found in her system it was because she and E.S. consumed snow that was next to a methane gas plant. A.S. did not eat the snow because she was "the smart one of us.” Messerly and A.S. tested positive for methamphetamine. During a follow up interview, Messerly said that she did a "hot rail” on March 8 or 9.



A "hot rail” refers to when an individual heats up the end of a glass pipe/stem and inhales the vapor of methamphetamine up their nose.



The State charged Messerly with one count of child abuse resulting in death (E.S.) and one count of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury (A.S.).

The jury convicted Messerly on both counts. The trial court sentenced her to sixteen years in the custody of the Department of Corrections for E.S.’s death and imposed a consecutive sentence of ten years for A.S.’s serious bodily

injury.



Affirmed