A 32-year-old Overland Park mother has pleaded no contest in the 2023 death of her 1-year-old daughter, a child doctors found so malnourished she had little to no body fat left on her small frame. Alexis Siera Williams entered the plea Friday to second-degree murder and multiple counts of child abuse and endangerment, more than three years after the toddler was found unresponsive in a Johnson County apartment.
According to KMBC, Williams pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, two counts of abuse of a child and two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child. A separate account from KCTV5 described her plea as covering second-degree murder, abuse of a child, aggravated endangerment of a child, and abuse of a child, without specifying two counts of each abuse charge. Williams and co-defendant Kevin Martenia were originally charged with first-degree murder, abuse of a child and aggravated endangerment of a child, the station reported.
A 911 Call and a Child Pronounced Dead Within Minutes
The case dates back to May 22, 2023, when the child was found dead in an Overland Park apartment, per the same KCTV5 report. An affidavit cited by the station states that Overland Park police were called just after 11 a.m. to an apartment for an infant not breathing, and first responders pronounced the child dead just after 11:10 a.m.
What investigators found afterward painted a disturbing picture. Court documents described the girl as underdeveloped for her age and malnourished, with little fat or no fat on her body, and officers also noted bruising, facial injuries and protruding ribs, according to a 2024 KCTV5 report on the affidavit.
Autopsy Pointed to Neglect and a Fatal Blockage
An autopsy found that the child died from a telescoping intestine that caused a bowel obstruction, the same affidavit-based report states. Doctors also found a healed fracture in her right arm and a skull that did not fuse correctly due to malnutrition and dehydration. Based on those findings, doctors concluded that the condition had come from neglect and ruled her death a homicide.
FOX4 Kansas City reported that a medical examiner determined the cause of death was an intestinal blockage and that the baby was malnourished and underdeveloped, findings consistent with the autopsy details described in the Johnson County case. A judge set bonds at $1 million for both Williams and Martenia at their first court appearances, according to KSHB.
Sentencing Next Month, Co-Defendant Still Awaiting Trial
Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 23, according to KMBC's report on the plea. Martenia, who is facing the same charges, is set for trial on Jan. 19, 2027, per the KCTV5 account of the case's current status.
The years-long gap between the toddler's death and Friday's plea reflects how the case moved from its original first-degree murder and child-abuse charges filed in 2024 to Williams' no-contest plea this month, while Martenia's case continues toward trial early next year. For now, the Overland Park community is left with the sentencing date next month as the next milestone in a case that began with a 911 call over a child not breathing.
