Charges dropped against mom in tot's murder

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - A mother, already convicted once in connection with her daughter's death, will not have to face a retrial in the case. The state announced Friday it was dropping the charges against Kimberly Mawson.

Mawson was convicted in 2007 of killing her 19-month-old daughter, Jade, in 2002.

She had already served nearly three years of her 35-year sentence when Richard Corley, the lawyer for Mawson's ex-boyfriend, came forward and said his client, Daniel Fusco, confessed to the crime shortly after Jade's death.

As a result, a judge in 2010 granted Mawson a new trial. She was released from the Adult Correctional Institutions on bail while prosecutors and detectives reviewed statements made by Fusco and tried to determine if they would retry Mawson.

In a release Friday, the attorney general's office said it was dismissing the murder charge against Mawson because, if the case went to trial, prosecutors could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The attorney general's office also announced Friday that no charges will be filed against Fusco in connection with the case.

Prosecutors said the account attributed to Fusco could not be reconciled with the evidence presented at trial concerning the manner of Jade's death.

“Conduct beyond the control of law enforcement, and information that was known, but not disclosed to law enforcement prior to trial, have ensured that no true measure of justice can be achieved for Jade Mawson at this time,” Attorney General Peter Kilmartin stated.

The attorney general's office said the investigation of Jade Mawson's death is once again considered an open case.