Crime & Safety

Mom, Boyfriend Must Stand Trial for Murder of Her 8-Week-Old Baby Girl

Sarah Catherine Connor, 20, and Joseph Eugene Champion, 23, could each face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of killing Harmony Connor last May.

A Palm Desert couple accused in the death of the woman's 8-week-old child must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled Thursday.

Sarah Catherine Connor, 20, and Joseph Eugene Champion, 23, could each face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of killing Harmony Connor last May.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mac Fisher found there was sufficient evidence to bound the defendants over for trial on the murder count, as well as assault on a child resulting in great bodily injury.

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Fisher scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment in the case for April 10 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Connor remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, while Champion is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

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The pair were arrested last May 29 -- the same day Harmony succumbed to what sheriff's investigators described as traumatic injuries -- the type of which were not specified.

Deputies were called to the defendants' Pinyon Street residence around 6:15 a.m. on May 24 and discovered the baby in respiratory distress, according to sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Buompensiero.

Harmony was initially taken to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage and later transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Buompensiero said.

According to court records, Connor has a 2012 conviction for misdemeanor forgery and fraud. The court did not have any criminal history on file for Champion.

—City News Service.


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