Letcher County teen pleads guilty to killing baby

A Letcher County teen admitted to killing an infant Tuesday in Pike County Circuit Court.

Keaston Taylor, 17, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of 2nd degree manslaughter.

In an indictment, prosecutors said Taylor murdered Blayze Alexander Smith on June 6, 2014 in Letcher County "...by throwing the infant off of and down an embankment where the severely injured and helpless infant died due to blunt force trauma of the head...and/or from the submersion of the infant in mud and water after being thrown."

Before Taylor could stand trial for murder, the court had to establish whether he was sufficiently competent to understand the charges against him and to assist his lawyers in his own defense.

If a person is incapable of that , prosecutors say there is no mechanism to hold them under Kentucky law.

"So there's a large hole that potentially someone who was indicted for murdering a four-month-old infant could walk out the door with no supervision," said Letcher County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Tyler Ward.

After consulting the victim's next of kin, the Commonwealth recommended a seven year prison sentence for Taylor, followed by five months of probation.

"The Commonwealth definitely would have been more pleased to have a larger amount of time for the defendant to serve, but under the circumstances, and particularly under Kentucky law, this was the best outcome out of a really, really horrible set of circumstances," Ward said.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the court could order additional psychiatric treatment if Taylor continues to pose a threat to himself or others at the end of his sentence.

Taylor is scheduled for sentencing February 19th.