Judge gives Megan Boswell’s new lawyer more time in postponing murder trial until 2025

It’s been almost three years since little Evelyn Boswell went missing. But those hoping for justice for the toddler will have to wait another two years after a judge rescheduled her mother’s trial to February 2025.

The trial for Megan Boswell, the Sullivan County mother accused in 2020 of killing her toddler, already had been postponed earlier this year, from September to February 2023.

But a breakdown in communication between Boswell and her defense attorney, C. Brad Sproles, led to a decision by Judge James Goodwin to appoint a new attorney, Gene Scott.

According to Sproles, Boswell initially asked for a new attorney during a hearing to discuss whether jurors can see gruesome photos from the recovery and autopsy of Evelyn’s body. That request for a new attorney was denied by the judge.

“I met with (Boswell) a few times,” Sproles said. “We just weren’t able to effectively communicate about her case.”

Sproles eventually asked the judge to remove him but said he would be happy to assist Scott in any way he can.

Next steps in the Evelyn Boswell case that drew international attention

In a brief hearing Wednesday morning in Sullivan County Criminal Court, Goodwin noted that Boswell’s new attorney would need a substantial amount of time to get her case ready for trial.

“You’ve got quite a bit of discovery to go through, and you’re going to need to deal with … getting experts in different fields,” he said to Scott.

Scott, agreed, asking for a Feb. 3, 2025, trial date. A status hearing is scheduled for April 21 of next year.

Boswell remains in jail under bail set at $1 million. She faces a total of 19 charges, including felony murder and aggravated child abuse, and could receive a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Left undecided are two motions originally filed by Boswell’s previous attorney. Sproles sought to separate the charge of filing false reports from the murder trial, in effect having a separate trial for those charges. Sproles also asked to change the location of the trial.

Story continues

Megan Boswell trial: She knew daughter was dead before the body was discovered, investigator says

What happened to Evelyn?

Megan Boswell’s case drew international attention after a search for 15-month-old Evelyn ended with the discovery of the child’s body on family property.

Evelyn was born in November 2018 to Megan Boswell, then 17, and Ethan Perry, then 19.

Megan Boswell was living with her father and two younger siblings at the family compound in Blountville, Tennessee. Perry had joined the military a year earlier after graduating high school.

Evelyn was first reported missing in February 2020 by her grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr., who told authorities he had not seen the child since early December 2019.

According to investigators, Megan Boswell had been telling people Evelyn was with Perry. She said she did not report the girl as missing to police on the advice of her mother, Angela Boswell.

Megan Boswell then changed her story multiple times, investigators said. She told investigators Angela had Evelyn and was refusing to return her. Later, she said Angela gave Evelyn to an unnamed person, and Evelyn was safe and would have a better life with that person.

In late February 2020, Megan Boswell said to investigators Evelyn died after her boyfriend rolled over onto the child while they were sleeping, but that she did not know where her body was, police said. A few weeks later, law enforcement agents found Evelyn’s body in an old playhouse that was originally built for Megan Boswell to play in when she was a child.

Megan Boswell initially was taken into custody in mid-February 2020 on a charge of lying to authorities about Evelyn’s disappearance. She was charged with Evelyn’s death in August 2020.

Megan Boswell is accused of killing her daughter under two separate legal theories – that the child’s death resulted from an act of child abuse or from an act of child neglect. The indictment alleges Megan Boswell abused her daughter’s corpse, a charge typically leveled when a body is moved and hidden in some manner.

Liz Kellar is a public safety reporter for Knox News. She can be reached by email at lkellar@knoxnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Megan Boswell update: Lawyer succeeds in postponing trial until 2025