A judge Wednesday handed down a verdict that could put a south Everett man and his girlfriend in prison for 10 years for nearly starving the man’s 4-year-old son to death.
Danny Jay Abegg, 27, and Marilea Rose Mitchell, 23, withheld food from tiny Shayne Abegg, who was taken out of the home in March after one of Mitchell’s relatives tipped off state Child Protective Services about Shayne’s condition.
Both were convicted of first-degree criminal misconduct.
Mitchell sobbed while Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne recited evidence he considered. Abegg dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
Abegg’s lawyer, public defender Marybeth Dingledy, said her client “knew all along we would lose” because of a pile of incriminating evidence, including more than 40 photographs.
Many of the photos were of an emaciated Shayne after he was rescued from his father’s home.
Wynne reached the verdict Wednesday afternoon at the conclusion of a two-day trial. The defendants’ attorneys opted not to try the case in front of a jury.
Wynne also found there were two aggravating circumstances; that the boy was particularly vulnerable, and that the crime was part of an ongoing pattern of abuse. Those findings could mean additional prison time when the pair is sentenced, now scheduled for Feb. 1.
Deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said he intends to ask the judge to impose a 10-year term for both Abegg and Mitchell — the maximum punishment allowed by law.
“If this ain’t a maximum offense, I don’t know what is,” Roe said.
Without aggravating factors, the sentencing range for each would have been between 21/2 and 31/2 years behind bars.
When Shayne was 14 months old, he weighed 30 pounds. Nearly three years later, he weighed just 25 pounds.
Dingledy said she will fight for her client to get a sentence within the standard sentencing range.
During closing arguments Wednesday, Roe reminded the judge of the cliche about a picture being worth 1,000 words.
Many of the photos taken of Shayne showed him after he was removed from his father’s apartment. The boy was gaunt and pale. Detectives also shot a video of Shayne in his room at Children’s Regional Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.
“The pictures you’ve seen are worth a million words,” Roe told the judge. “The video you’ve seen is worth probably a couple million.”
Shayne was in “horrible condition” and near death when he was first seen by doctors, Roe said. The boy’s temperature was 87 degrees, and his heart rate was 30 beats a minute when it should be closer to 100, Roe said. He was wasting away for lack of nourishment. He had virtually no fat, and his body was feeding off his muscles.
Shayne came unexpectedly to Abegg about a year before he was taken out of the home in March. He was not wanted in the Abegg household.
Abegg started to prepare papers to put Shayne up for adoption a week before sheriff’s deputies checked on his welfare March 7. They immediately called for an aid crew.
An attorney hired by Shayne’s court-appointed guardian said he’s pleased with the verdict.
Seattle lawyer David Moody plans to file a claim against the state asking for damages. He maintains that state Department of Social and Health Services workers should have acted faster to remove Shayne from the home. The claim is a first step in the filing of a lawsuit.
“We will begin the civil phase seeking redress for little Shayne,” Moody said.
Nobody denied in court that Shayne was in bad shape when he was taken from the home.
Dingledy told Wynne that Abegg simply didn’t know how bad the condition was and that her client expressed regret when detectives told him the boy could have died.
“Danny is not a doctor. Danny is not an expert,” Dingledy told the judge. “Danny knew he was bad. He didn’t know how bad his condition was.”
She also told the judge that Abegg and Mitchell were new parents and were overwhelmed with Shayne and a then 1-year-old girl that they had together.
“It’s horrible parenting but not deliberate cruelty,” she said, arguing against aggravating circumstances that could warrant stiff prison sentences.
Mitchell’s lawyer, Steve Garvey of Everett, said the couple “was clueless” and had no idea Shayne was in danger of dying.
“We’re not asking the court to decide that Marilea Mitchell should be mother of the year,” Garvey said. “We’re asking the court to decide she was negligent and not reckless. These are two people who were thrust into parenthood and didn’t know what to do.”
Garvey said Mitchell tried.
“She did the best she could,” Garvey said. “It wasn’t good enough, but she did the best she could.”
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