Bond denied for Va. Beach mother in son's death

VIRGINIA BEACH

A Circuit Court judge on Monday denied bond for a woman accused in the April death of her 5-year-old son, Macie Pridgen, spokeswoman for the commonwealth's attorney's office, said.

A grand jury indicted Christy Ronsha Lamour, 30, this month on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, cruelty or injury to children, and child cruelty, neglect or abuse.

Lamour's boyfriend, Che Ernest Hazell, also 30, faces the same charges. They lived in the 600 block of Arthur Ave.

Christian Lamour died of infection from a lacerated small intestine, which was the result of blunt force trauma to his abdomen, a medical examiner testified at Hazell's preliminary hearing in July.

Hazell told police he spanked Christian with a belt and pushed him forward onto the floor a day before his death because the boy was playing with his hands while in timeout for dropping a dish, Detective Donald Swasey testified.

Christian complained of an aching stomach and vomited several times during the day, Swasey testified. He was in pain throughout the night and awoke with a swollen belly, he said.

Lamour took Christian to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, where the boy later died.

Hazell will stand trial Jan. 11, online court records show.

Lamour's trial is scheduled for Feb. 13, Pridgen said.