Woman Faces Trial Over Death of Boyfriend’s Son : Courts: North Hollywood resident could get 15 years in prison if found guilty of fatally beating the 2-year-old.

A North Hollywood woman was ordered Thursday to stand trial in the beating death of her boyfriend’s 2-year-old son. The boy had been placed in his father’s care by a Dependency Court judge despite allegations the child was being abused in the home.

Eve Wingfield, 22, will be arraigned July 13 in Van Nuys Superior Court on murder and child abuse charges. Wingfield, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

Wingfield’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Joel Wallenstein, said the woman is innocent, calling the evidence against her circumstantial and weak.

“She denied to the police that she did this,” Wallenstein said. “She does not know how this child received the injury that caused his death.”

The death of Lance Helms has sparked widespread interest and led to a series of steps by the County Board of Supervisors to make the Dependency Court process more responsive to the safety needs of children.

Lance’s paternal aunt and grandmother had sought custody of the boy after he was taken away from his parents by county social workers following his birth as a drug-addicted baby. His parents were heroin users, according to court testimony.

David Helms, 30, was given custody of Lance in January after completing a drug rehabilitation program, despite claims from Helms’ mother and sister that he was abusing the child. Lance’s mother was sent to prison on a robbery charge.

During the day-and-a-half-long preliminary hearing, Senior Deputy Medical Examiner James K. Ribe testified that Lance died April 6 from injuries suffered from several blows to the abdomen.

Ribe said the blows could only have come from an adult, and that the child died within an hour of receiving the blows. He said there were other bruises and injuries to the child’s body that had begun to heal.

Helms testified that Wingfield was alone with Lance and the couple’s 4-year-old son while he was working at a furniture store.

Helms said when he returned home shortly after 6 p.m., Wingfield left him alone with the two children for about 10 minutes while she went on an errand.

After she left, Helms said Lance stopped breathing.

A paramedic called to the scene said Lance was not breathing and did not have a pulse. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin L. Herscovitz said the couple’s 4-year-old son later told police that his mother had struck Lance. That child was placed in the custody of Wingfield’s sister.