Oceanside

A woman and her daughter from Oceanside pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of manslaughter in a case where two babies were allegedly killed but the bodies never found.

Ida Belle Franks, 47, and Vickie Vaughn Judkins, 24, are accused of killing Judkins’ premature babies and disposing of their bodies in trash dumpsters on Dec. 30.

“What is unique about this case is that the bodies were never recovered,” said Catherine Stephenson of the district attorney’s Child Abuse Unit. “We are alleging that both women are responsible for the deaths.”

Stephenson told Judge Robert P. McDonald that attempts to abort Judkins’ babies led to their premature births. She said prosecutors will show that both babies were born alive.

Stephenson reported that Judkins was five months to seven months pregnant when the babies were born.

Stephenson said prosecutors will argue that Franks and Judkins disposed of the bodies by wrapping them in plastic and dumping them in trash dumpsters.

Both are also charged with child endangerment for failing to take measures to sustain the lives of the babies, Stephenson said.

Both women were given court-appointed lawyers and ordered to return to court Dec. 6 for a preliminary hearing. They were released on their own recognizance.