By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office has concluded it could only prove, if it went to trial, that now-23-year-old Kyle Davison negligently caused injury to a 4-month-old baby when it began choking while in his care.
The child, now 17 months old, has shown slight improvement, but has severe brain damage, according to Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.
“She can’t talk, we don’t think she can see, we’re not sure about her hearing,” Halstead said. “She has a lot of other medical issues she had prior.”
The baby, identified in court documents as A.F.J.L., was airlifted to Marybridge Children’s Hospital and placed on life support after the incident in early October of last year. She’s back home with her mother since August, Halstead said.
Davison was arrested and charged in Lewis County Superior Court at that time, and remains held in the Lewis County Jail.
Doctors disagreed about what caused the injury.
A doctor at the hospital told police that tests indicated inter-cranial hemorrhage, consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to charging documents.
A second doctor concluded the symptoms were indicative of previous problems, and what happened when the baby started choking, according to Davison’s lawyer, Sam Groberg.
Davison and the baby’s mother, Llacye Faye Link, told police he was watching her when she began choking and stopped breathing and he tried to revive the infant – by patting her back, and then he got scared and shook her – then carried her to a neighboring apartment to get help, according to court documents.
Link and her daughter had been visiting Davison, her former boyfriend, at his home in Mineral, then went to dinner and back to her Morton apartment. Link said she stepped out to buy a bag of pot.
Prosecutors initially charged Davison with first-degree assault of a child, alleging that Davison intentionally hurt the child, inflicting great bodily harm.
When Davison took the infant next door, it either wasn’t breathing, or wasn’t breathing the way he thought it should be, depending on which of the two lawyers you ask.
A deal made last week resulted in Davison making a so-called Alford plea on Thursday morning to third-degree assault of a child. The two sides stipulated the baby was more seriously injured than what would normally accompany that level of assault.
Halstead said he doesn’t have any proof Davison picked up the baby and shook it violently trying to hurt it. The mom doesn’t want to see anything happen to Davison, he said.
Third-degree assault of a child is related to negligence, Groberg said.
“Here, if you’re trying to help, a reasonable person would have done something different,” Groberg said “But he didn’t do it out of maliciousness.”
While the two sides now agree on what would be the proper charge, they disagree about the penalty.
When he is sentenced, Halstead will be asking for the maximum of five years in prison.
The standard sentencing range for the offense is four to 12 months. Groberg said he will recommend his client be sentenced to time served, about a year.
“He feels horrible,” Groberg said. “He probably will always feel horrible.
“He feels like he didn’t do things right; like maybe if he had learned CPR, things would have turned out differently.”
Groberg said the case offers a lesson, for anyone.
“Don’t shake a baby. At all. Under any circumstances,” he said. “Learn CPR.”
Davison will appear in court again on Wednesday to get a hearing scheduled for sentencing.
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For background, read “Lawyer seeks second opinion on brain trauma in Morton child assault case” from Monday April 14, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
What kind of name is Llacye? Two “L”? Poor gal probably spend alot of her time correcting others on how to spell her name!! Lol!
@Sunshine girl-i agree with u on there was no criminal intent,I too think a young man panicked and made the wrong decision,,with that said,I have to comment on your statement”” weed is what keeps people from shaking their babies” Where did you get that from? I really would like to know,,because even under influence of weed, people can do stupid shit,including shake their babies..even though it wasn’t intentional, he was negligent in caring for the baby and the outcome is long term care for this baby,,,he should face the consequences
I don’t know anyone involved and from the second I heard a report from doctors disagreeing with the courts that he caused the injuries I was on his side. If I remember correctly the first doctors to see the baby blamed him but once the baby was transferred to specialists they disagreed. I can’t believe the courts are seeking maximum penalties. It hardly seems right. I understand everything has to be investigated but not everything needs to be prosecuted. I feel the only doctors the courts should listen to are the ones most qualified. I am not claiming to be an expert on facts here but if the doctors believe his story based on injuries then why is it still being pursued?
“maybe it was lack of weed for why the baby was shaken? just give me some weed and I will mellow out, but without weed-I could be on edge”
If you have to be on drugs to be safe around your own kid, then please go and get yourself fixed before we read about the damage you’ve done to a child.
I’ll even pay for it.
maybe it was lack of weed for why the baby was shaken? just give me some weed and I will mellow out, but without weed-I could be on edge
If you would not have shook a baby before you smoked weed , you would not be so inclined, but a young person who panics might shake a infant not knowing the ramifications of that. It is hard to believe that there is anyone who is not aware of that but in a moment of panic, not anger a young person might make the wrong decision. I thought the worst too , but I have grandkids in this area and they all say this is just a terrible situation and the guy would not do this terrible thing. They are adamant . They also know all involved. I would expect the worse if alcohol was involved. Weed is what keeps people from shakin their babies. Sometimes we do the wrong thing for the right reason and there is a terrible price to pay. I am just not sure if there was criminal intent. Neither are the Doctors on this case.
maybe the mother shook the baby when she was high on weed
As I recall, Hunt has already determined that the mother in this case is the real ‘victim’. Afterall, the baby had problems “before” being left in the care of an incompetent care-giver. Plus, the mom was only out buying weed.