Woman charged with felony injury to child in Lewiston

An Olympia woman is charged with felony injury to a child after Lewiston police allege she struck a 7-year-old girl on the face, knocking her unconscious, then pushed her aside to fall defenseless onto a concrete sidewalk.

Jessica L. Stewart, 31, faces a maximum penalty in Idaho of 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine if she is convicted of the crime. The minimum penalty in Idaho is a one-year prison sentence for a defendant convicted of felony injury to a child.

According to a police report, first responders were called Thursday afternoon at 1:14 to the Comfort Inn, on the 2100 block of Eighth Avenue in Lewiston, because a 7-year-old girl had fainted. The child was said to be changing color and was not completely alert, court records said.

At 1:50 p.m., motel staff contacted police to say they had reviewed surveillance video that allegedly showed Stewart hitting the child on the chin, causing her to fall and hit the sidewalk, court records said.

Police reviewed the surveillance video that showed the child getting a drink out of a Nissan Frontier. The child did not close the vehicle’s door. Stewart appeared to be pointing at the door to tell the child to close it. The child lightly pushed the door, but it did not close all the way and she walked away with the door still open, court records said.

Stewart then allegedly struck the child on the left side of the face and the child appeared to lose consciousness and began falling as Stewart pushed her out of the way, court records said. The child fell to the sidewalk and “was clearly unconscious when she fell to the ground beneath her, a concrete sidewalk,” court records said.

Stewart then turned around after closing the door, saw the child laying on the sidewalk and picked up the child, who was “completely limp and still unconscious,” and carried the child into the hotel room, court records said.

Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge Michelle Evans set a $5,000 bond in the case.

Evans set a preliminary hearing for June 10 in the case.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.