Mum lied for months about daughter's death using Instagram for sympathy - the truth was far darker
Stephanie Smith, 28, portrayed herself as a victim of grief when in fact she had deliberately smothered her 4-year-old daughter to death with a pillow while she was defenceless
A mum poured her heart out to Instagram followers following the death of her four-year-old daughter only for it to emerge the monster smothered her to death.
"My beautiful girl... I miss you terribly," Stephanie Smith, 28, said following the death of little Zadie Wren Cooper. "Every time it ebbs and allows me a breath, I think, ‘Maybe this is it. Maybe this is when I feel better.’ But then the wave engulfs me again and I’m back in that bedroom pounding on your chest, willing you to live.”
Stephanie's message on Instagram garnered an outpouring of sympathy from people who did not know the beast had killed her own daughter. In 2016, Stephanie was living with her daughter in Athens, Alabama. She had recently separated from her husband and regularly shared photos of Zadie, her beaming smile radiating in each snap. Stephanie proudly shared selfies of them, calling her daughter her "little sugar bear."
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But the unthinkable happened on Independence Day, 2016, a day that should bring every American joy. 911 responders heard Zadie was unresponsive and not breathing during a frantic call with Stephanie. The monster claimed when she went to check on Zadie, she had found her trapped behind her bed and the bedroom wall and had become starved of oxygen. The girl was rushed to Huntsville Hospital, but she was determined to be brain dead just three days later.
Her life support was withdrawn on July 7 and she died surrounded by her family. Stephanie poured out her grief onto her blog, Living Without Z "Her smile could light the world. Her laugh made me feel whole. Without her, I am merely the shell of a broken mother with eternally aching arms," she said. Stephanie's Instagram soon became packed with photos of Zadie and posts where she admitted to struggling with mental health issues. In an October 2016 post titled "shame," the mum expressed how she was ashamed she could not keep Zadie safe.
"My daughter died in my care,” she wrote. “She died not more than 20ft from me in the next room… I fear I’m wearing a shirt that says, ‘I failed as a mother!’ It’s like everyone who passes me instantly knows."
But in April 2017, she revealed there had been rumours about the circumstances behind Zadie's death. Some people had held her directly responsible - and they were right. Stephanie walked into a police station nine months after her daughter's death and asked to speak to a detective. She shockingly confessed to having killed Zadie and that she had placed a pillow over her face and smothered her.
When she realised Zadie had stopped moving and wasn't breathing, she called 911 and tried to resuscitate her. She claimed that being off her medication for a psychiatric condition had played a significant part in why she had done it. When asked why Stephine had not admitted to the crime at the time of the investigation, she claimed to have been afraid of the consequences. Stephanie blamed her actions on a blackout, but Limestone County Sheriff's Department officers did not believe her.
"She knew exactly what she was doing," they said. Commenters were in disbelief and shared their anger about being misled. Stephanie was taken into custody and charged with capital murder, a charge that carries the death penalty in Tennessee.
She pleaded guilty to felony murder to avoid the death penalty. Stephanie was sentenced in August 2020 following delays in legal proceedings due to Covid-19.
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