Caregiver pleads not guilty in 4-year-old Jefferson City boy's death

Quatavia Givens
Quatavia Givens

A Jefferson City woman accused of causing a 4-year-old child's death pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Cole County Judge Jon Beetem's court.

Beetem on Tuesday ordered lawyers in the case of Quatavia Givens, 26, to look at counties where jurors could be brought to Cole County for a possible trial.

Taylor Elswick, Givens' public defender, had requested a change of venue in this case in December, believing it would be difficult to find an impartial jury in the location where the crime occurred due to media coverage.

Givens is charged with one count of abuse of a child for allegedly abusing 4-year-old Darnell Gray in late October while babysitting him.

Givens had reported to authorities that Darnell was missing, saying she thought he might have been abducted, which triggered a weeklong search that ended with authorities finding the boy's body. Authorities said Givens later admitted she had injured the boy, and an autopsy showed he suffered multiple injuries caused by blunt force trauma.