Jonathan Snow of Mountain Home, who was convicted by a Baxter County Circuit Court jury in 2017 for physically abusing his then 3-week-old son, Alyas, has been approved for parole.
The 22-year-old Snow was originally charged with first-degree battery and endangering the welfare of a minor.
The charges resulted from an investigation launched in late February 2016 when Mountain Home police received a report from Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock saying it was believed the baby had suffered serious abuse.
The staff at ACH said the infant — who was listed in critical condition while in the Little Rock pediatric hospital — had lost 2 pounds since his recent birth, suffered a fracture to the right clavicle, sustained numerous bruises, had bleeding and swelling of the brain, and was having seizures.
In the opinion of the ACH medical staff there was no scenario in which a single drop or fall would resulted in the extensive injuries the infant suffered.
Snow and the child’s mother, 33-year-old Alyssia Kirby Snow, were both arrested and charged in the incident. When the baby boy was born in late January 2016, they were living together in an apartment along State Highway 201 North. They were later married.
Jonathan Snow was found guilty of both charges against him in October 2017. He was sentenced to 35 years for first-degree battery and six years for endangering the welfare of a minor. The jury recommended — and the court accepted — that the sentences run consecutively, meaning Snow was facing 41 years in prison.
Snow filed an appeal in which it was alleged the state did not prove he had actually inflicted the life-threatening injuries on the baby. The attorney representing him during the appeal argued the Baxter County jury was not given enough evidence by the prosecution to exclude the “reasonable hypothesis” that the baby’s mother was the person responsible for the injuries, forcing the jurors to rely on “speculation and conjecture.”
The state countered the jury had sufficient evidence to make the finding it did and asked the Arkansas Court of Appeals to allow the jury’s decision to stand. In a 4-2 decision, the Court of Appeals dismissed the battery charge and allowed the endangering charge to stand.
In his dissenting opinion, Appeals Court Judge Mike Murphy said he believed the state had presented enough evidence to allow the jury to reach the verdict it did without relying on guesswork.
The state asked the Appeals Court to reconsider. The court said no.
The state went to the Arkansas Supreme Court asking for a review of the Appeals Court decision, but the state’s highest court also said no. The refusal for review allowed the decision of the Appeals Court to stand.
When the appeals process was completed, Jonathan Snow faced only the six-year sentence for endangering.
According to court records, Alyssia Kirby-Snow is indicating she will also appeal the jury decision in her case. Kirby-Snow was found guilty on two of three charges stemming from injuries to the couple’s son. She was found guilty of permitting child abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor and not guilty of second-degree battery.
She was sentenced to 26 years in prison and fined $13,000. Her appeal has not been formally filed. She has sought the appointment of an attorney to represent her in the appeals process.
Jonathan Snow is currently an inmate at the Delta Regional Unit of the state prison system, and Kirby-Snow is being held at the Wrightsville Women’s facility.
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