Mother who drowned daughter ordered to appear in Stanislaus court

Jennifer Lynn Bigham, who drowned her 3-year-old daughter in a bathtub, must appear in a Stanislaus County courtroom next month or face an arrest warrant.

Tuesday, Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Thomas Zeff issued a $50,500 bench warrant for Bigham that will go into effect if she fails to show up for court Jan. 6.

The state’s 5th District Court of Appeal has ordered that Bigham, 28, be placed in the custody of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department so she can be transferred to a secure mental health facility to be evaluated.

The appellate court’s decision reversed a ruling by Zeff, who ordered jail officials to release Bigham from custody in January 2013 because doctors said the woman no longer is insane.

The local court already had ruled that Bigham was not guilty of murder and child abuse by reason of insanity in connection with the death of her daughter, Alexandrea Bigham. The not-guilty ruling was based on reports from two doctors, Phil Trompetter and Jocelyn Roland, who examined the defendant and determined she suffered from severe mental illness when she drowned her daughter.

Zeff on Tuesday asked Deputy District Attorney Elaine Casillas and Bigham’s defense attorney, Marlon Simon, to file written motions on how to proceed in accordance with the appellate court’s decision. The attorneys will have their opportunity to argue over the issue during the Jan. 6 hearing.

It’s unclear when Bigham will be ordered to appear to surrender to authorities. It’s also unclear where she is.

Bigham told Roland she would like to live with her mother in Oregon once her case concluded and she was released, according to testimony in a January 2013 hearing to determine whether the defendant should be confined in a secure medical facility.

Bigham will be sent to a secure facility, where doctors can evaluate her mental health, according to the prosecutor. Casillas has said Bigham can be released only when the doctors decide she poses no public risk.

The drowning occurred about 5:50 p.m. Jan. 14, 2010, at a home in the 400 block of Thrush Drive in Patterson. Bigham – then a Castro Valley resident – and her daughter were visiting relatives.

The prosecutor said in court that two relatives also were home at the time. They realized Bigham and her daughter were inside a locked master bedroom.

After hearing splashing and the child screaming, the relatives saw Bigham leave the bedroom and grab a steak knife from the kitchen. Bigham stabbed herself in the chest with the knife.

The relatives found the little girl in the bathtub. Authorities tried to resuscitate Alexandrea, but she died at a Modesto hospital about four hours later.

This story was originally published December 9, 2014 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Mother who drowned daughter ordered to appear in Stanislaus court."