The manslaughter trial of Miranda Hopkins, who is accused in the death of her 7-week-old baby, has been postponed until Tuesday due to the weather.
Initially Waldo County Superior Court delayed the start of proceedings until 10 a.m. Monday, but eventually the court closed until Tuesday morning and jurors were directed to report at 9 a.m.
Hopkins, 32, of Troy, was originally charged in January with knowing or depraved indifference murder, which carries a penalty of 25 years to life in prison, but a Waldo County grand jury indicted her in February on the lesser charge of manslaughter, a class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt but a determination by the grand jury that enough evidence exists for the case to go to trial.
Hopkins has been free on bail since her indictment.
Hopkins called 911 in January from her home in Troy, saying her infant son was unresponsive. The baby was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the baby’s death is listed as blunt force head injuries.
Hopkins told authorities she woke up to find her baby cold, white, and “beat to hell.” She said it was possible one of her two older boys, who are autistic, may have crawled into bed with her and the baby and crushed or suffocated him.
She also told authorities that she must have “blacked out” and was “so drunk that she did not remember” as she had drunk whiskey and had taken an antihistamine, according to a police affidavit.