THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Amanda Porter
#6042369
photo courtesy Dreamin' Demon
Full Name: Amanda Kay Porter
DOB: January 10, 1985
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Story
City: Story City
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Date of Crime: June 24, 2008
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victim: Spencer Corson
DOB: January 10, 1985
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Story
City: Story City
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Date of Crime: June 24, 2008
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victim: Spencer Corson
Amanda Porter was charged with first-degree murder and felony child endangerment in the death of her fiance's 3-year-old son, Spencer Corson, on June 24, 2008.
Amanda has a daughter from a previous relationship, who was 3-years old in 2008. Amanda's paramour, Stuart Corson, had a son from a previous relationship, who was born in 2005. Stuart's child, Spencer, had several congenital abnormalities, had difficulty eating until doctors implanted a gastronomy feeding tube, and was delayed in his motor skills and intellectual skills. After Stuart and the mother separated, the mother cared for the child until September 2007 when she placed the child with Stuart.
Amanda has a daughter from a previous relationship, who was 3-years old in 2008. Amanda's paramour, Stuart Corson, had a son from a previous relationship, who was born in 2005. Stuart's child, Spencer, had several congenital abnormalities, had difficulty eating until doctors implanted a gastronomy feeding tube, and was delayed in his motor skills and intellectual skills. After Stuart and the mother separated, the mother cared for the child until September 2007 when she placed the child with Stuart.
Spenser Corson, courtesy Ames Tribune
Amanda and Stuart met in August 2007 and started living together a few months later. Amanda stayed home and cared for the children while Stuart worked from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Twice before the date the child died, he received medical care for suspicious injuries.
On April 16, Amanda sent a text message to Stuart at work telling him to come because something was wrong with Spencer. When Stuart arrived, Amanda told him she thought Spencer fell off the couch but she could not be certain because she was not in the room at the time. The child was screaming, his body was stiff and his eyes were fluttering. They took Spencer to the emergency room, which transferred him to a children's hospital in Des Moines because he had intracranial bleeding and was neurologically unstable and having seizures.
On May 28, Amanda took Spencer to a pediatrician. Amanda said he was bruised all over and he would cry out in pain when touched. Spencer was admitted to the hospital because he wasn't growing as expected and the doctors were concerned he might be developing seizures from his previous head trauma. There were also concerns of a possible bleeding problem.
On June 24, Amanda, who was then eight months pregnant, had been up much of the preceding night caring for the children and was up again around 9:30 AM with the children. Stuart had stayed out with friends until 4:00 AM. He spent much of the day sleeping on the couch. Around 5:00 or 6:00 PM, Amanda took the children to her mother's air conditioned trailer because it was so hot in their trailer. Amanda put Spencer down to sleep after they arrived. She fed him at around 6:30.
During the evening, Amanda's mother and daughter went out for pizza, leaving Amanda at home with Spencer for about a half hour. They also went for a walk, leaving Amanda home with Spencer for about 45 minutes. Amanda's mother and daughter went to bed around 9:00.
About 9:30, Amanda came into her mother's bedroom crying and carrying Spencer, saying something was wrong and he was not breathing. Amanda's mother called 911. The 911 operator dispatched EMTs and instructed Amanda and her mother to perform CPR. When EMT Gibson arrived, she found the child unresponsive with no pulse and not breathing. She observed bruises on the child's chest and below his armpits made by thumbs. She also observed bruises on both sides of Spencer's neck, which she reported to police.
When police asked Amanda about the bruises, she said her daughter caused the bruise on the left side of the Spencer's neck. Later, she suggested the bruises on Spencer's chest might have been caused when he scratched insect bites. After Spencer was flown to the children's hospital, doctors found no brain activity and Spencer died at the hospital.
The autopsy revealed that Spencer had a fresh subdural hemorrhage caused by movement of the brain within the skull tearing blood vessels, torn axons in the corpus callosum caused by the two hemispheres of the brain moving back-and-forth unevenly, injury to the neck in the upper cervical region caused by back-and-forth motion of his head, detached retinas in both eyes from violent movement of the eyes, and hemorrhages in both eyes and along the optic nerves. The medical examiner testified the child's death "was due to trauma to his brain and probably trauma to his upper cervical spinal cord." He said the injuries and bruises were consistent with someone holding the child and shaking him.