NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A women accused of removing her child from the Children’s Hospital of King’s Daughters, against doctors wishes, has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation.
Stephanie Campbell, 31, is facing a charge of felony child abuse for removing the child late on June 30.
Norfolk Police found Campbell and the child a short time later at a hotel in Chesapeake, and returned them to the hospital.
Medical staff told detectives that the child was receiving life sustaining care that they couldn’t survive more than two days without, according to court documents.
Thirty-one-year-old Stephanie Campbell, who also goes by the last name Wallace, was in court on Monday, July 8, for a bond hearing at 9 a.m.
During the hearing, however the topic of bail never came up. Instead, the public defender assigned to Campbell made the motion for a competency evaluation to be conducted.
At that moment, Campbell began to speak.
The bailiff told the public defender to “control” their client, as Campbell kept trying to talk to the judge, when she should only speak to her attorney.
“She isn’t saying what I want her to say though,” Campbell responded.
Days earlier when Campbell spoke with 10 On Your Side from jail, she wouldn’t speak much about what happened.
She did claim CHKD was medically abusing the child, she identified as a four-month-old named Samuel. She claimed Samuel was healthy.
“I foresaw a night of us like cuddling,” Campbell said. “That was like my first time, not having Samuel … just to myself. It was like I was bringing my baby home for the first time. They took that from me. I just want to be with him.”
Campbell is listed as homeless on here arrest warrent.
The reason its being recommended that Campbell remain in jail, is that she has a prior child abuse conviction.
In 2021, officers with the Portsmouth Police Department were called to Campbell’s apartment in Port Norfolk to reports of child endangerment multiple times according to court records.
In one case, officers found a four-year-old child of Campbell’s hanging from the balcony. On two calls, another four-year-old child of hers was found in the nearby river.
Campbell was sentenced to a year in jail in 2022.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
