An Elegy for Emma Leigh Barker

On March 20, 2009, the dead body of a child was discovered in Sylmar, California, in tall grass near Interstate 5, also known as the Golden State Freeway. Investigators from the LA County Sheriff’s Department located the body with help from its mother, who had placed it there. Emma Leigh Barker had been all of 18 months old.

Now the mother, Stacey Barker, sits behind bars in lieu of a million dollars bail, charged with murder, assault on a child causing death, and child abuse. Emma Leigh showed no outward signs of trauma, and the autopsy results are being kept under wraps at the request of investigators. Yet the salient question is not how the tot was killed but why.

The Mother’s Kidnapping Story Quickly Falls Apart

Stacey Barker, a single mother in her early twenties, first spun a tale vaguely reminiscent of the Susan Smith case, except that Barker’s story had a shorter life span. According to Richard Winter of the LA Times, the Antelope Valley woman initially told investigators that on March 18, she and her child had spent that afternoon in Lancaster Park. As she was putting Emma in her car seat, Stacey claimed, she was struck from behind by an unseen assailant, knocking her unconscious. She came to at about 10:30 PM at a Palmdale parking lot miles from the park, ‘partially clothed,’ and her child was missing.

It is true that Stacey called her brother, who in turn called the Palmdale branch of the LA County Sheriff’s department at 11 PM. Stacey was treated at a hospital for some kind of head trauma. Then she was interviewed by investigators.

It is a common police interrogation practice to have a witness repeat his or her story, and Stacey’s tale folded under scrutiny. “Within a few hours, several inconsistencies developed,” said Lt. Pat Nelson. “After her third or fourth version of the events, we knew she wasn’t telling the truth, and we were able to determine what happened.” Stacey recanted the kidnapping story, admitted she was responsible for the girl’s death, but claimed it was an ’accident,’ and that thereafter she panicked, said investigator Sgt. Diane Hecht. Stacey then helped investigators locate the body.

Police Think Emma was Smothered

An autopsy of little Emma has been conducted, but the official cause of death “has been deferred pending further tests,” said Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the Coroner’s Office. Nonetheless, Lt. Nelson stated: “At this point, as best as we can determine, the infant died of suffocation at the hands of the mother.” Presently, the police believe she acted alone.

Stacey Barker is scheduled to be arraigned on May 11.

What Could Have Been Stacey’s Motive?

Motive is not an element required to make a case for murder; the prosecution need only prove an intent to kill. If Emma Leigh was smothered it was probably no accident. It takes several long minutes of oxygen deprivation for death to result. Yet all prosecutors want to show a motive for murder because absent one the picture they paint for a jury is incomplete and unsatisfying.

If the police or prosecutors have a motive they have yet to reveal it. If they don’t, that would explain the lesser charges of assault resulting in death and child abuse, either of which would circumvent an accidental homicide defense.

There is a paucity of information about Stacey at this time. Her father told the Associated Press that Stacey had been living with her parents and younger brother, who all took turns caring of his first and only grandchild. This would seem a workable arrangement that would not place undue stress on the jailed mother. Yet infanticide, if that is what this proves to be, is a tragic act that can seem to happen without warning.

It is distressing that the United States ranks high on the list of countries whose inhabitants kill their children. As to tots aged 1-4, in fact, it tops the list.

All Stacey’s family and others horrified by this crime can do is wait for the facts to unfold, and perhaps light a candle for Emma Leigh Barker, who left us all too soon.