An Athens woman who entered an insanity plea in her murder case Wednesday in Limestone County Circuit Court had been diagnosed with extreme bipolar depression prior to the death of her child.

Stephanie Diane Smith, 25, who is charged with capital murder in the suffocation death of her child — 4-year-old Zadie Wren Cooper — had been diagnosed and was receiving medical treatment. However, she was not on her medication for the disorder when the child was killed July 4, 2016.

During her arraignment on the capital murder charge Wednesday, Smith pleaded guilty by reason of insanity before Circuit Judge Chad Wise. She is facing a capital murder charge, rather than murder, because Alabama law requires a capital murder charge in the wrongful death of a child under age 14.

No trial date has been set.

Her defense attorney is Garry Clem of Athens.

The death

On July 4, 2016, Athens police had received a 911 call from Smith reporting her daughter was not breathing. Athens police, firefighters and ambulance personnel found Smith performing CPR on Zadie, who was lying on her back on her bed.

An Athens emergency medical technician continued CPR until an ambulance arrived to take the child to Athens-Limestone Hospital. She was later transferred to Huntsville Hospital, where tests determined Zadie had no brain activity.

On July 7, Zadie’s family removed her from life support and she died.

Under questioning by investigators, Smith recounted that she had heard something on the baby monitor and found Zadie between the bed and wall. According to Smith, she was not breathing.

Smith recounted the same sequence of events when investigators and the Department of Human Resources interviewed her again in October 2016.

A private autopsy did not determine a cause of death.

Believing the death was suspicious, police were continuing their investigation, Police Chief Floyd Johnson said.

Confession

On April 13, Smith and a friend came to the Police Department on Hobbs Street, and Smith confessed to killing Zadie. She said she has a mental condition and that she was not initially aware of what she was doing to Zadie. She said she blacked out and when she removed the pillow from Zadie’s face, the girl was not breathing.