Mayor's daughter, son-in-law arraigned in death of toddler son in Gatlinburg

The parents of a 2-year-old boy who died after being left in a vehicle overnight at the Gatlinburg home of a Middle Tennessee mayor were arraigned Monday on felony murder charges.

Sevier County Criminal Court Judge Rex Henry Ogle on Monday arraigned Jade Elizabeth Phillips, 24, and her husband, Anthony Dyllan Phillips, 26, on a presentment charging them with felony murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated neglect.

The pair are accused of causing the death of their son, Kipp, by leaving the toddler inside a car overnight and into the afternoon of July 14 while temperatures soared into the 90s. The child’s official cause of death has not been made public.

More:2-year-old left in vehicle found dead at Westmoreland mayor's Gatlinburg home

Division lines between husband and wife are already being formed in what could become a defense blame game – typical when two people are charged in the same crime.

Jade Phillips, daughter of Westmoreland Mayor Jerry Kirkman, has posted her $100,000 bond- with electronic monitoring ordered - and has hired veteran Knoxville defense attorney Tasha Blakney. She appeared in court Monday dressed in a black dress and gray sweater, her father seated beside her in the courtroom before Ogle took the bench.

Her husband was dressed in a black-and-white striped jail jumpsuit, unable to post bond. There was no one there on his behalf. Amber Haas, a veteran with the 4th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office, was appointed to represent him. Anthony Phillips cast a glance at his wife as she was leaving the courtroom. She did not look in his direction.

Fourth Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn, whose district includes Sevier County, took the case against the couple to a grand jury earlier this month. No grand jury was scheduled to meet in Sevier County in July, but it was not immediately clear if Dunn convened a special panel to decide charges against the couple.

Ogle set a Nov. 1 motions hearing. A trial date was not set Monday.

The Phillips were arrested in Westmoreland, Tenn., following the issuance of presentments by the grand jury.

Gatlinburg police found the Phillips' son dead around 2 p.m. on July 14, after one of the parents called E-911 and reported they had left him in a vehicle overnight and into the afternoon as the temperature outside approached 90 degrees.

Initially, authorities were especially tight-lipped about the case, refusing to reveal the names of the child and the parents, the address where the child was found, and whether anyone had been taken into custody.

More:Parents in Gatlinburg hot car toddler death charged with felony murder

The USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee first reported that the home where the child was found, 416 Laurel Ave., is owned by Kirkman, the mayor of Westmoreland, a small Middle Tennessee town with a population of about 2,200 people.

Jade Phillips, the mayor's daughter, had been living in the house with her husband and their toddler son, according to next-door neighbor Freeda Hall.

Jade Kirkman married Anthony Dyllan Phillips in March 2015, according to a wedding announcement published in the Gallatin News-Examiner.

The Phillips are charged under a section of the first-degree murder statute known as felony murder. Under that law, the state must only show the child was killed as a result of the felony crimes of abuse and neglect, not that they planned to kill the child.

There is no difference in penalty. A person convicted of first-degree murder is subject to the death penalty, life without parole or life with a mandatory 51-year prison term.

Jade Phillips left the courtroom with her father and attorney Monday without public comment. Her husband returned to the Sevier County Jail.

More:Gatlinburg chief: Parents of toddler who died in hot car were 'distraught'