Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 24-year-old Morton resident arrested for allegedly threatening to blow up a lumber mill yesterday may have been trying to get his buddies a day off from work, according to police.

Police were called to Alta Forest Products at the north end of town about 8 a.m. following a phone call that prompted authorities to evacuate the premises and send employees home for the day.

Alta’s mill in Shelton was also vacated because they didn’t know if the threat was site specific, Morton Police Chief Dan Mortensen said this morning.

A bomb squad with the Washington State Patrol checked the property and found no explosive, Mortensen said.

Meanwhile, the chief traced the call back to a cell phone belonging to Marcus T. Dantinne, 24, of Morton. He was contacted at his residence on Collar Avenue at about noon, Mortensen said.

Dantinne doesn’t work at the lumber mill, nor was he a dissatisfied customer, according to Mortensen.

“It appeared he might have made the call because he wanted to hang out with some of his friends, and they had to work,” Mortensen said.

Dantinne was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for making a bomb threat, a felony.

Alta, located on the 300 block of state Route 7, manufactures Western Red Cedar fence boards.

•••

For background, read “News brief: Threat of bomb clears Morton lumber mill” from Monday November 17, 2014, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The house where the fire in Vader started is still standing, but is just a shell.

The former community center building to the north had to be torn apart with an excavator to extinguish its burning contents.

And the Masonic Hall to the south suffered only superficial damage on an exterior wall.

822 A St., Vader

The cause of Sunday morning’s blaze is under investigation; he doesn’t know what started it, Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 Chief Richard Underdahl said yesterday.

“The back part of the house was really where the intensity was,” Underdahl said. “It was collapsed.”

Firefighters called about 8:50 a.m. arrived to find the single story home on the 800 block of A Street fully involved, with flames coming out the roof and the walls, the chief said.

There was talk about explosions, but Underdahl said he never heard any as he battled the blaze beside his crews.

No occupants were located, but Lewis County Fire District 5 Chief Gregg Peterson who conducted incident command with District 20’s Assistant Chief Ruth Crear said he learned three people got out of the house, including a boy and also a man who went to the hospital with a laceration to his hand.

Peterson said he heard the injury was related to a window, and trying to put out the fire.

Some nearby residents were asked to evacuate the neighborhood as a precautionary measure because of the large amount of smoke, Underdahl said.

“It was bad,” he said. “The smoke was thick, and was really, really bad.”

Some 40 firefighters responded from five other departments to assist, with many on the scene until almost 5 p.m., according to Underdahl.

The chief said the radiant heat from the house fire ignited the contents of the adjacent metal-sided quonset hut style structure. Once a community center, and later in its life a youth center, the building is now owned by an individual who used it for storage, he said.

“They noticed that thing was smoking and realized there must be fire inside,” he said.

Firefighters began to attack it from both ends, but the intense heat forced them back out, and they fought it defensively, he said.

Among the items inside and something that may have contributed, he said he learned later, were as many as 60 five-gallon buckets of hydraulic oil.

An excavator was brought up from Castle Rock.

“We unfortunately had to pull the quonset hut apart,” Underdahl said. “It had to be completely torn apart.”

One firefighter, Assistant Chief Crear, ended up with some type of leg injury, but she stuck around and then went to Providence Centralia Hospital later, Underdahl said.

“We were able to save two little kittens,” he said.

The pair, quite possibly strays, came running out from the brush next to the building, according to Underdahl.

“We grabbed them, got them” he said. “They were just scared.”

•••

For background, read “Fire burning in Vader” from Sunday November 9, 2014, here

Danny Wing, right, and his wife Brenda Wing listen to lawyers and a judge decide their bail in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lawyers for the Vader couple accused in the battered child death of a 3-year-old boy both told a judge today nothing in the charging allegations indicate their client did it.

“Nothing in there suggests she was the agent in this death,” Vancouver-based attorney Mark Muenster said.

Brenda A. Wing, 27, and her 26-year-old husband both clad in green striped jail garb sat handcuffed at the defense table during the discussion of their bail pending trial.

“(It) does not contain any evidence Danny Wing abused this child, ever,” Steve Thayer, also from Vancouver, said.

The couple was arrested and charged on Friday in connection with the Oct. 5 death of Jasper Henderling-Warner.

His 21-year-old mother who lives in Vancouver had allowed the Wings to care for her son for a period of time described by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office as several months. Jasper died at Providence Centralia Hospital where he was rushed after Brenda Wing called 911 and said he was not breathing.

The coroner concluded from healing fractures, numerous bruises and an autopsy Jasper died of chronic battered child syndrome, meaning ongoing physical abuse.

Charging documents describe a timeline and the child’s injuries, but offer no details of what happened to the boy. The Wings gave conflicting accounts of his final weekend.

Nikki Warner wanted to be present at this afternoon’s hearing in Lewis County Superior Court, but said she was stuck in Vancouver, where she’s been mostly homeless and struggling to earn money for food, for gas.

She said she wants answers about her son’s death.

“I’m pretty much numb on the case,” Warner said this afternoon by telephone. “I feel like a deer in the headlights.

“I have to totally shut out my grieving so I can work; I’m pushing myself to sidetrack myself to work.”

Charging documents describe a note signed by Warner and the Wings making them Jasper’s guardians from July 31, 2014 until July 31, 2015. The sheriff’s office has said they are distantly related.

The couple has three children of their own, between infancy and age 6, but they were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services after the Oct. 5 death.

The Wings were arrested when they went to CPS office in Centralia for a visit with their children, on a $500,000 arrest warrant.

This afternoon, Muenster argued Brenda Wing’s bail should be reduced to $50,000, indicating she would be highly motivated to stay in the area with ongoing shelter care proceedings regarding her children.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey set her bail at $200,000 because of the potential flight risk and the seriousness of the charge.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead requested bail be raised to $750,000 for Danny Wing, because he has prior convictions including domestic violence offenses, and noted a September case in another county involving a drug violation and a third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer.

Attorney Thayer pointed out the Wings retained them after the death and knew a criminal filing could be made, suggesting Danny Wing didn’t flee during that time, so he wouldn’t be likely to flee now.

“Their parents are present,” Thayer told the judge.

Judge Brosey left Danny Wing’s bail at $500,000.

The lawyers asked for a delay before the Wings arraignment, as they need time to see if arrangements can be made about legal representation on the charges.

Ordinarily, a person has a right to be arraigned within 14 days, but they waived that right and a court date was set for Dec. 4, according to Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

The Wings are each charged as either the principal or accomplice with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter.

Sheriff’s office spokesperson Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown has described the mother as upset, angry and sad.

Warner this afternoon said there’s not a word for what she’s going through.

“This whole case with Danny and Brenda, it just blows me away,” Warner said. “I just want to know why they did it, and what my son did that was so wrong.”
•••

For background, read “Coroner: Ongoing physical abuse led to Vader toddler’s death” from Friday November 7, 2014 at 9:18 p.m., here

Tina Murphy of Winlock and Penny Morosoff of Toledo hold posters in support of Jasper Henderling-Warner outside the courtroom this afternoon.

Courtesy photo by Dustin Lampien

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Authorities have asked at least two households to evacuate as firefighters battle a blaze including one home and a building that formerly housed a youth center in Vader.

Twenty-three-year-old Dustin Lampien said his house across the street is infiltrated with smoke.

“I’m actually getting all the kids clothes and getting out,” Lampien said in a brief phone conversation at about noon. “We’re getting evacuated, as are the neighbors, who have six kids.”

His wife has already taken their four children, ages five and younger, to his mother’s home, he said.

Lampien said it was around 9 a.m. or even 8:30 a.m. when he noticed the house across the street was on fire.

“I heard an explosion, like something blew up, and smoke started billowing out the front and left side of the house,” he said.

He said his understanding was the owner was away, but the owner’s son and two others are staying there. They’re all accounted for, Lampien said.

Lampien lives on A Street near Ninth Street in the tiny South Lewis County town.

He said 40 to 60 foot flames were still rising from the former youth center and fire crews were actively battling that fire.

“The roof just collapsed about five minutes ago,” Lampien said.

He described it as a very large building, with a metal roof, currently being used as storage of “a lot of antiques.”

Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 Chief Richard Underdahl said the quonset hut type structure had no windows and crews tried to fight the fire from inside but finally backed out.

His department was joined by personnel from fire departments from Castle Rock, Toledo, Winlock and Napavine.

The Masonic Hall building on the south side of the house sustained exterior fire damage as well, he said.

Courtesy photo by Dustin Lampien

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Charging documents in the homicide case of 3-year-old Jasper Henderling-Warner describe a variety of week’s old injuries and conflicting statements from the married couple who were caring for him about his final day or days on this earth.

The Vader pair were arrested today and are being held in the Lewis County Jail on $500,000 bail.

Jasper Henderling-Warner

Brenda A. Wing, 27, and Danny A. Wing, 26, are each charged as either the principal or accomplice in the Oct. 5 death.

No details are offered of exactly what happened, but the results are described in court papers as numerous abrasions including on the back of his head, trauma to his face and multiple bruises to his arms and legs.

X-rays revealed healing fractures, and Jasper was missing his two lower front teeth, according to the court documents.

The cause is labeled by the coroner as chronic battered child syndrome, meaning ongoing physical abuse, according to authorities.

“Basically, it gets to the point where the body just says, ‘I’ve had enough’,” Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office began investigating when it received a Sunday evening 911 call from Brenda Wing that the boy was unconscious and he was rushed to Providence Centralia Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Brenda Wing said they’d just picked the boy up from his mother in Woodland the night before. Danny Wing told detectives it was two nights before.

Eighteen-year-old Zachary Kidder who resided with the couple at their home on the 400 block of Main Street in Vader said the child had been there for the entire week to week and half he’d been staying there.

The mother, un-named in court documents, told detectives she and the couple agreed they would be his guardians for a year, beginning on July 31, court documents state.

The mother explained she was homeless and could not care for her son and described trips to both Chico, Calif. and Oregon City to look for work. She lives in the Vancouver, Wash. area.

The sheriff’s office has said the parties were distantly related.

Prosecutor Meyer’s documents say they met in July and had several play dates with the boy and the Wing’s children.

Meyer charged the Wings today with homicide by abuse, causing the death by engaging in a pattern or practice of assault or torture; or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter, recklessly causing the death.

“They’re both plausible charges, based upon the facts that we’ve got,” Meyer said late this afternoon.

He said he believes both Wings had a role in the death. Meyer alleges further they used a position of trust on a particularly vulnerable victim.

The little boy was suffering from skin infections that were secondary to his cause of death, according to the court documents.

Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said the doctor who performed the autopsy is not finished with all the forensic studies and could add more contributing factors to the death certificate.

Detectives were told by Kidder that the boy would simply fall over, stiffen and writhe in pain for up to 30 minute several times each day, charging documents state. He also told the detectives at first the Wings picked the boy up two days earlier, but then admitted he was instructed by Danny Wing to say that.

Charging documents offer the following from Brenda and Danny Wing about his condition that weekend:

Brenda Wing said the child was sleeping when they picked him up and when they got home, she put him to bed on the couch in the living room, where her own infant slept in a bassinet.

The following morning she awoke to him moaning, repeating “hungry” while turning his head back and forth with his eyes closed. He had a small bit of toast and Gatorade and she went back to sleep until about noon, and then went to the store.

When she tried to wake him around 4 p.m, he was totally limp so she gave him a bath to revive him and noticed a lot of bruises all over him, she said.

“Brenda initially told detectives once she put the cold water on the child, he stopped breathing,” charging documents state. “She and her husband Danny called 911 and began CPR on the child.”

Danny Wing’s statement was they had brought the boy back to their home on Friday night Oct. 3, not Saturday as his wife had said. On Saturday, the child was coherent, walking around and seemed okay, he said.

That was the day he and his wife noticed the bruises, not right before they called 911, according to Danny Wing.

Brenda Wing told detectives the boy’s mother was a drug user and she believed he had been abused while in the mother’s care.

The mother told detectives after she returned from Oregon City, the Wings brought Jasper to her for a visit in mid-September.

“The mother indicated that she made several attempts to reach the Wing family via cell phone, but they would not take her calls,” Meyer wrote. “When they did, they would make excuses not to meet with her for visitations.”

She provided a note signed by her, Danny and Brenda Wing, making them the guardians from July 31, 2014 until July 31, 2015.

Detectives found a Facebook posting they believe the mother made in September, indicating the Wings had temporary custody of her son, and that she missed him.

Meyer said the evidence they have does not point to the mother being involved.

While the final report has not been issued from the autopsy, the injuries discovered were “weeks, not months” old, during the time the boy was in the care of the Wings, according to the doctor, charging documents state.

The couple is expected to go before a judge on Monday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
•••

For background, read “Two arrested in death of toddler from Vader residence” from Friday November 7, 2014 at 1:07 p.m., here

Jasper Henderling-Warner / Courtesy photo by Lewis County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 1:32 p.m.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Vader couple taking care of the 3-year-old boy who died under suspicious circumstances early last month have been arrested for homicide by abuse.

Brenda Wing, 27, and Danny Wing, 26, were taken into custody just before 11 a.m. today at the Child Protective Services office in Centralia.

Firefighters and deputies responded the evening of Oct. 5 to a 911 call  from the Wing’s home, in which Brenda Wing said the boy was unconscious and not breathing. Responders continued CPR and conducted other life-saving measures but the toddler was pronounced dead at Providence Centralia Hospital.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at the time said only that it was suspicious, but now reveals the child had severe and obvious bruises and injuries to his entire body.

“The Wing’s explanation for the injuries were inconsistent with the investigation and autopsy findings,” Chief Civil Deputy Brown  states in a news release. “The Wing’s stories have varied from each other as well.”

Jasper Henderling-Warner’s cause of death is labeled by the coroner as chronic battered child syndrome.

Brown indicated the boy’s mother had allowed the Wings to care for her child for several months. The mother resides in Vancouver, Wash.

Brown said the Wings are family of the mother, although it isn’t clear exactly how they are related.

A detective told the mother today by phone of the arrest, Brown said.

“She’s obviously very upset with it,” Brown said. “She’s angry and she’s sad.”

The child’s father was notified as well, according to Brown.

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield states that Jasper died from severe abuse and neglect, calling his treatment appalling.

“To think this poor little boy went through months of pain and suffering is heart wrenching,” Mansfield said in a prepared statement. “This case is a solemn reminder of the sickening and tragic consequences surrounding a life of drugs, alcohol, and abuse.”

The Wing’s have been charged with homicide by abuse, and should be held accountable for their role in the boy’s death, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said in the news release.

“No child should be forced to endure the pain and agony that Jasper suffered,” Meyer stated.

Brown said she wasn’t prepared to go into detail about why the mother put her son into the care of relatives.

Brenda and Danny Wing have three children  of their own, between infancy and age 6, who are all currently in custody with CPS, according to Brown.

The sheriff’s office asks for anyone with any information on this incident to call Detective Engelbertson at (360) 748-9286 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-748-6422 to earn a reward or remain anonymous.

•••

For background, read “Law investigating death of toddler from Vader residence” from Monday October 6, 2014, here

South Lewis County / Google Maps

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Deputies are looking for a fairly small young man who wore a red bandana over his face when he robbed a gas station next to Interstate 5 at the Vader exit last night.

The armed individual got away with about $320, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Law enforcement responding to the 8:30 p.m. call were told by the 26-year-old woman she was working when he walked into the store, displayed a pistol and demanded cash, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Cowlitz Shell station is on the 100 block of Mulford Road, Toledo.

He left on foot to the east, but it’s possible he got into a vehicle before deputies arrived, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

The clerk, a Vader resident, was uninjured, Brown said.

Containment was set up around the area and a police dog deployed, but no suspect as located, according to Brown.

The robber was described as brown-haired and brown-eyed and about 20 years old. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall weighing approximately 150 pounds, she said.

He wore all dark clothing.

Chief Brown asks anyone who may have information to please contact the sheriff’s office or Lewis County Crime Stoppers.