In Bell v. State, 362 Ga. App. 687, 870 S.E.2d 20 (2022), this Court, due to insufficiency of the evidence, reversed Cortney Bells convictions for murder in the second degree and cruelty to children in the second degree relating to the death of Bells infant daughter, Caliyah. Id. at 699-702 (1), 702-703 (2), 870 S.E.2d 20. We also ruled, however, that the evidence was sufficient to support a felony charge against Bell for contributing to the dependency of a minor, and we affirmed that conviction. Id. at 703-706 (3), 870 S.E.2d 20. Thereafter, our Supreme Court granted certiorari “to determine whether [this Court] erred in holding that the evidence was legally sufficient to support Bells conviction on that charge.” Bell, ––– S.E.2d ––––, 2023 WL 6976484 at *1 (Ga., October 24, 2023). Our Supreme Court held: “In the absence of evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer that Bells conduct proximately caused Caliyahs death, the evidence presented to the jury was simply insufficient as a matter of constitutional due process to support her conviction for felony contributing to the dependency of a minor.” Id. at *6 (citation omitted).
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In light of our Supreme Courts ruling, we vacate Division 3 of our prior opinion in which we found the evidence to be sufficient to support Bells conviction for contributing to the dependency of a minor, we adopt as our own the Supreme Courts opinion holding that the evidence was, instead, insufficient, and we reverse the trial courts judgment, as the evidence was insufficient to support any of Bells three convictions.
Judgment reversed.
FOOTNOTES
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. The Supreme Court made clear that its “review on certiorari [was] limited to the merits of [this Courts] decision related to Bells conviction for felony contributing to the dependency of a minor[,]” not our decisions regarding the insufficiency of the evidence to support Bells convictions for murder in the second degree and cruelty to children in the second degree. Bell, ––– S.E.2d ––––, 2023 WL 6976484 at *1, n. 1.
Mercier, Chief Judge.
Dillard, P. J., and Land, J., concur.