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Hearing set for Great Bend man charged in infant’s death
new_deh_infant murder cody reed mug.jpg
Cody Lane Reed

A motion for competency hearing has been set for 2 p.m. Wednesday via Zoom in Barton County District Court before Judge Carey Hipp for a Great Bend man charged in connection with the 2019 death of an infant in Great Bend.

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case. According to John P. Milburn, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, Cody L. Reed of Great Bend has been charged on multiple counts in connection with the death of his 5-month-old daughter, Lettizia Reed, in January 2019.

At a plea hearing April 23, 2021, Reed pled not guilty to all charges. Reed is being represented by defense attorney Heather Helvie.

According to charging documents from the State Attorney General’s Office, Reed faces the following charges:

- First-degree murder, an off-grid person felony, stating, “On, about or between the 24th day of January, 2019, and the 31st day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully kill a human being, to wit: L.A.R. (XX/XX/2018), and said killing was done in the commission of or attempt to commit an inherently dangerous felony.” or an alternative charge of second-degree murder, a severity level 2 person felony, stating, “On, about or between the 24th day of January, 2019, and the 31st day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully and unintentionally kill a human being, to wit: L.A.R. (XX/XX/2018), and said killing was done recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

- Abuse of a child (one of two counts), a severity level 5 person felony: “On, about or between the 24th day of January, 2019 and the 28th day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully and knowingly torture or cruelly beat a child under the age of 18 years.” or an alternative charge, “On, about or between the 24th day of January, 2019 and the 28th day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully and knowingly shake any child under the age of 18 years and said shaking resulted in great bodily harm to said child”

- Possession of a controlled substance, a class B non-person misdemeanor, stating, “On or about the 28th day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully and knowingly possess any hallucinogenic drug designated in K.S.A. § 65-4105(d), K.S.A. § 65-4107(g) or K.S.A. § 65-4109(g), and amendments thereto,”

- Possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B non-person misdemeanor, stating, “On or about the 28th day of January, 2019, in the County of Barton, State of Kansas, the Defendant, Cody L. Reed, did then and there unlawfully and knowingly possess with intent to use any drug paraphernalia, to wit: Smoking pipes, a dab kit, and/or a canister, used to store contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce a controlled substance into the human body”

Pending the result of the Wednesday hearing, the case is currently set to go to a jury trial beginning Jan. 31, 2022.


Case background

According to a 2019 GBPD release, at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, the Great Bend Police Department and the Great Bend Fire and EMS responded to an apartment located in the 1300 block of Cherry Place in reference to an unresponsive 5-month-old female, identified as Lettizia Reed. The infant was then transported to The University of Kansas Medical Health Systems - Great Bend Emergency Room. 

Life-saving measures were attempted on scene and at the hospital, but she was then flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita where she remained in critical condition. On Jan. 31, 2019, the infant died as a result of her injuries. 

Reed was arrested on Feb. 5, 2019, and booked into the Barton County Jail on an initial charge of second-degree murder, and later transferred to the custody of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.