State of Tennessee v. Susan Marie Gilliam Campbell

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Criminal Appeals and held that the evidence was sufficient to sustain Susan Marie Gilliam Campbell's dual Class E felony convictions for criminally negligent homicide and facilitating escape arising from the drowning of the five-year-old boy she was babysitting. On the homicide conviction, the Court concluded that her cumulative conduct — taking the child to the lake without his parents' knowledge, failing to supervise him near deep water, drinking beer and using marijuana while responsible for child care, and impeding efforts to summon help — constituted criminally negligent conduct that proximately caused the death. On the escape conviction, the Court announced that escape under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-601(3) is a continuing offense and that facilitating escape includes aid given to a fugitive who has already failed to return to custody, so her protection of her at-large son satisfied § 39-16-607(b). No separate opinions were filed.