NATCHITOCHES — Hanna Nicole Barker, the mother accused in the burning death of her 6-month-old boy in Natchitoches, was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after her probation on 2016 drug charges was revoked.
Barker, 23, also was arraigned on the charge of first-degree murder for which a Natchitoches Parish grand jury indicted her on Nov. 9. She pleaded not guilty, and her trial was set for Jan. 13, 2020.
Her son, Levi Cole Ellerbe, was found in a Natchitoches ditch on July 17 after a 911 call about a fire.
Levi died a few hours later, in the early morning hours of July 18, at a Shreveport hospital. He had suffered second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body.
Another woman, 26-year-old Felicia Marie-Nicole Smith, is accused of setting Levi on fire. Smith also has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge, but has not been arraigned yet.
During Monday's hearing, probation officer Joe Black testified about how Barker violated the probation she'd been granted after she had pleaded guilty to charges of possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Black listed a range of offenses he said Barker had committed during her time in drug court, from fleeing to and being arrested in Texas days after being accepted into drug court to several unauthorized relationships with fellow drug court clients to violating house arrest by having Smith in her home.
Barker's attorney, Dru Thompson of Shreveport, said he would agree to what Black said, but without any admission of guilt. He pointed out that Barker had a nine-month period without any violations and had passed 157 consecutive drug screenings.
That ended, though, on June 12, 2018, when she had contact with Smith, said Black. He said Barker violated both her probation and house arrest by having Smith at her home.
Thompson said he would "vehemently contest" any charges related to Smith. He asked Dyess for any punishment other than revocation of her probation.
But Natchitoches Parish Assistant District Attorney Amanda McClung said the fact that Barker was on both probation and house arrest "speaks volumes" because most drug court clients are not on house arrest.
Dyess sentenced Barker to the original five-year sentence with the Louisiana Department of Corrections.
On the night before Levi died, Barker called 911 from her travel trailer at Mayberry Trailer Park off the La. Highway 1 Bypass. Less than a minute later, one of Barker's landlords also called 911.
Barker reported that Levi had been kidnapped by two people who knocked on her door and sprayed her face with pepper spray. She said she ran from the trailer, but returned to find Levi gone.
Police mobilized a search for the baby and, just over an hour later, a woman driving to her home on Breda Avenue spotted a fire up a hill and on the other side of a railroad track. She called 911, thinking some kids had set a fire.
Prosecutors allege that Smith took Levi to that spot, covered him in gasoline and then set the fire before going to work her shift at IHOP near Interstate 49.
Smith was arrested on July 21; Barker was arrested four days later.
During a September hearing, a Louisiana State Fire Marshal lieutenant testified that the women were involved in a romantic relationship, although he said Smith was more invested in the relationship.
The regional supervisor, Lt. Jeremy Swisher, said Barker told officials that she only was involved with Smith for attention and for money.
Swisher testified that it was Barker who asked Smith to kill the child, who was just days away from turning 7 months old.
Barker's attorney, Dru Thompson of Shreveport, argued there's no evidence to prove that.
After Barker's arraignment, Thompson told Dyess he was reserving his right to file a motion to quash her indictment and said other motions will be filed.
Dyess set an initial motion hearing for Feb. 25, 2019.