Horrific case may see plea change

COEUR d’ALENE — A woman who pleaded not guilty to a charge of beating a child so severely his pancreas burst is expected to change her plea today in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court.

Joy Tamika Anderson, 30, of Post Falls, who pleaded innocent to two felonies — injury to a child stemming from her alleged abuse of her 6-year-old stepson, and incest — will appear today at 1 p.m. before District Judge Scott Wayman.

In a reproach of prosecutors at an earlier hearing, Anderson’s defense attorney, Jerri Lynn Brooks, said her client had not been presented a plea offer.

Anderson was arrested in October along with her live-in boyfriend and brother — 37-year-old Melvin Bledsoe. Anderson is in the Kootenai County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

The state in an Aug. 2 plea bargain offered to dismiss some charges, including the incest charge, against Bledsoe in exchange for his testimony against Anderson.

Bledsoe’s agreement limits prosecutors to argue for a 45-year prison sentence for Bledsoe, instead of a 60-year maximum sentence, while defense attorneys can ask for a reduced sentence if Bledsoe provides “truthful testimony,” according to court records.

Prosecutors wouldn’t say Thursday what the plea arrangement for Anderson entails.

Both Bledsoe and Anderson are accused of beating Bledsoe’s 6-year-old son, tying him to a bed, stepping on him and starving him.

The boy sustained a split pancreas, an injury usually requiring a great amount of force, which caused bloating from fluids seeping into his body cavity.

When asked by police the couple said the boy fell down, or fell off his bicycle. He received “life saving” surgery at Sacred Heart Medical Center, according to prosecutors, and is in foster care.