ROCKINGHAM — Nearly six years following her arrest, a Richmond County mother was convicted of child abuse.
Whitney Kaenna Steen, now 26, was found guilty of child abuse inflicting serious injury during the July 12 session of Richmond County Superior Court, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s office.
The case, involving injuries to Steen’s 21-month-old special needs child, was investigated by detectives David Wall and Mitchell Watson of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Initially, Steen was also charged with attempted murder because of the severity of the injuries when she was arrested in 2015.
Resident Superior Court Judge Stephan R. Futrell presided over the case with Assistant District Attorneys Tracy Grimes and Michael Van Buren prosecuting.
The trial lasted more than a week and the jury returned a guilty verdict.
Futrell sentenced Steen to a minimum of 150 months and maximum of 192 months in the N.C. Division of Adult Correction.
“My office is committed to protecting and being the voice for the most vulnerable among us,” District Attorney Reece Saunders said in a statement released Tuesday. “This prosecution was a team effort and could not have succeeded without the assistance of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department, Richmond County Department of Social Services and the University of North Carolina BEACON Program.”
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Steen was convicted July 20 and admitted to the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women the following day.
