Delaware Supreme Court Upholds Sentence of 19-Year-Old Daycare Worker Who Murdered a Child to ‘Release Her Anger’ and ‘Stress’ from Hearing Babies Cry

The Delaware Supreme Court docket on Friday affirmed the life sentence of a daycare employee who pleaded responsible to murdering a four-month-old little one.

As Legislation&Crime beforehand reported, DeJoynay Ferguson was arrested in September 2019 and pleaded responsible in April 2021.  She appealed by arguing that her life sentence was unfair, based on the Delaware Supreme Court docket’s Friday resolution.

“She contends that the sentencing decide sentenced her for the only function of retribution; that he sentenced her with a closed thoughts; that he was unwilling to think about the mitigation proof and arguments she offered; and that her sentence violates her proper to due course of,” the state supreme courtroom wrote as to Ferguson’s appellate techniques. The excessive courtroom disagreed with these complaints and saved the sentence in place.

A 3-judge panel defined what predicated the toddler’s dying:

In January 2019, on the age of 18, Ferguson started working on the Little Folks Little one Growth Heart, a daycare facility in Bear, Delaware. At the moment, Ferguson’s solely expertise in childcare was a three-month stint at one other daycare in Delaware. Due to this lack of expertise, Ferguson was initially employed as a trainer’s aide within the toddler room. Nonetheless, after she had been in that place for 2 months, the lead trainer who supervised Ferguson was terminated from employment, and Ferguson was left to deal with the toddler room alone with minimal expertise or coaching.

The excessive state courtroom famous that Ferguson admitted at sentencing that she was “in means over my head” whereas working on the daycare.

“Sadly, she turned to abuse to take care of management of the toddler room,” the courtroom stated. “Starting in June 2019 and persevering with by way of September 2019, video surveillance from the daycare exhibits Ferguson smothering three kids on 28 completely different days, typically a number of occasions a day, and bodily abusing two further kids. Ferguson’s conduct lastly got here to a head on September 5, 2019, when she suffocated I.T., a wholesome 4 month-old woman, to dying.”

The incident was additionally captured on video; it occurred “lower than three hours after” the kid’s mom dropped her off on the facility, based on the state supreme courtroom opinion.

“Ferguson positioned her hand over I.T.’s mouth and nostril and suffocated her, inflicting her dying,” the courtroom continued. “Nearly half-hour later, when Ferguson realized that I.T. was unresponsive, she started to carry out CPR on her and finally known as for assist. Ferguson was 19 years-old on the time of the homicide.”

In accordance with the state supreme courtroom’s opinion, Ferguson stated the sound of crying infants on the daycare facility careworn her out.  After she put the mortally wounded I.T. again in her crib, Ferguson felt “extra relaxed . . . as a result of she had been in a position to launch her anger and resolve the supply of stress,” the defendant later advised a forensic psychologist.  Ferguson additionally advised the police that “she modified her methodology of suffocation over time to make it more practical,” the Delaware Supreme Court docket famous.

A grand jury indicted Ferguson on one rely of homicide by abuse or neglect within the first diploma, 48 counts of kid abuse within the first diploma, and 4 counts of kid abuse within the second diploma.  The fees concerned incidents related to 5 completely different kids.  Ferguson finally pleaded responsible to 1 rely of homicide by abuse or neglect within the first diploma, six counts of kid abuse within the first diploma, and two counts of kid abuse within the second diploma.  Prosecutors agreed to drop different fees in return for Ferguson’s responsible pleas.

The minimal doable sentence for all of the counts to which Ferguson pleaded responsible was 27 years in jail, based on the state supreme courtroom’s opinion.  The utmost was life in jail.  As famous, the sentencing decide selected the utmost.

The sentencing decide famous that the “smothering dying occurred on the finish of a sample of smothering infants in an effort to get them to be nonetheless whereas altering their diapers.”

“A sentence to a time period of years wouldn’t pretty specific the outrage of any society on the fully mindless killing of one in every of its toddler kids by somebody entrusted to its care,” the sentencing decide stated, based on the Supreme Court docket opinion.  “It’s, subsequently, the judgment of the Court docket that the sentence on the rely of homicide within the first diploma by abuse or negligent must be a life sentence.”

The decide was not moved by assertions from Ferguson’s attorneys that she was an immature teenager who suffered from undiagnosed psychological well being points.

The state supreme courtroom stated its evaluate of the sentence was restricted.  The sentence fell throughout the limits set by state statute, and Ferguson didn’t contend her sentence was based mostly on “inaccurate or unreliable information.”

The one appellate challenge, the excessive courtroom famous, was whether or not the sentencing decide made his resolution based mostly on “a closed thoughts, vindictiveness, or bias.”

These points didn’t occur right here, the Delaware Supreme Court docket concluded.  The three-judge appellate panel stated the sentencing decide ordered a pre-sentence investigation, learn proof offered by prosecutors and by the protection, and browse correspondence in regards to the sentence.  The decide additionally listened to Ferguson converse for herself at sentencing.

“Whereas it’s clear that the decide was not persuaded by Ferguson’s mitigation proof, on this report we can’t conclude that the decide ignored, or failed to think about, the mitigation proof and argument she provided, or sentenced her with a closed, vindictive, or biased thoughts,” the three-judge state supreme courtroom panel concluded.

Learn the Supreme Court docket’s opinion right here:

[Image via a Delaware State Police mugshot.]

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