NATCHITOCHES, La. — A change in the planned location for jury selection prompted a delay in the trial for a Louisiana woman charged with murder in the burning death of her son.
Twenty-six-year-old Hanna Barker’s 6-month-old son died in 2018 after being found with severe burns in a ditch in northwest Louisiana's Natchitoches Parish. Barker and another woman were arrested in the case. Barker faces charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of a child.
Because of extensive publicity in the area, jury selection had been moved to St. Landry Parish in south Louisiana. However, news outlets reported Tuesday that attorneys agreed that facilities in Lake Charles in southwest Louisiana would be better suited for the task. That meant the April 25 start date had to be pushed back to June 6.
Once a jury is seated, the trial will move to Natchitoches Parish.
If convicted, Barker faces the death penalty in the July 2018 death of 6-month-old Levi Cole Ellerbe. The state alleges she convinced a woman she was in a relationship with, Felicia Marie-Nicole Smith, to help kill the child. Prosecutors said Smith set the child on fire in the ditch.
Smith pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and cruelty to a juvenile. She faces 80 years in prison and could be called to testify against Barker.
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