The Natchitoches Parish District Attorney’s Office has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in the case of a Natchitoches mother accused in the burning death of her infant son.
Hanna Barker, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 2018 death of Levi Cole Ellerbe, Barker’s six-month-old son whose body was found near railroad tracks after Barker reported he had been kidnapped from her home. Levi suffered second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body and died the next day at a Shreveport hospital.
Barker’s girlfriend, 26-year-old Felicia Smith, is also charged with first-degree murder in Levi’s death. A notice about possible capital punishment prosecution in Smith's case has not been filed.
The notice in Barker's case was filed Thursday, confirmed the clerk of court's office.
District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington said he could not comment.
According to court records, Smith confessed to setting Levi on fire, but told investigators it was Barker who came up with the plan to kill him.
Barker has denied any involvement and has pleaded not guilty, as has Smith.
First-degree murder is punishable by the death sentence upon conviction.