Gardipee trial in baby death moved to April

The trial of a woman accused of brutally beating an 11-month-old baby to death in October has been moved back two months.

Cecilia Rose Gardipee, 22, had been scheduled to go on trial Feb. 11 on charges of assault and second-degree murder in the death of Kaidynce Small, who died Oct. 21, 11 days before his first birthday.

Gardipee filed an unopposed motion to delay the trial, saying X-rays associated with an autopsy of the baby had not yet been received.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris reset the trial to April 29 in the Missouri River Federal Courthouse in Great Falls.

Garrett “Kirby” LaFromboise, 21, entered a guilty plea to assault Jan. 21 in a deal where the prosecution will recommend the second-degree murder charge alleging he killed Kaidynce, his own son, that is filed against him be dropped.

The victim is not identified in federal court documents; the baby is listed as “K.S.” in the charges.

He is scheduled for sentencing, if Morris accepts the plea agreement, April 25. The sentence for assault resulting in serious bodily injury is 10 years to life.

A group that started a Facebook page in support for the baby’s family and friends, Justice4kaidynce, has posted that it will protest the plea agreement, including planning to picket the trial that had been scheduled for Feb. 11.

The Facebook page, which had 2,559 “likes” as of this morning, had not had any postings about the rescheduling of the trial as of this morning.

During the hearing after which Magistrate Judge Keith Strong recommended Morris accept Lafromboise’s plea, U.S. Attorney Danna Jackson said the prosecution was prepared to prove that Lafromboise had become frustrated that Kaidynce would not stop crying, sticking his finger down the baby’s throat and hitting him in the stomach.

She said the infant died from injuries sustained that day including skull fractures, hemorrhages and bruising to the brain, hemorrhages to the child’s spinal cord, a broken nose, rib fractures, bruises and lacerations on the extremities and face, and internal injuries. The medical expert who performed the report would have testified that the child died as the result of homicidal violence including possible suffocation, Jackson said.