Home » News » Crime
March 22. 2013 12:58AM
OSSIPEE - The Carroll County Attorney's Office has reached a plea agreement with the mother of Strider Downs Skidgel, the 2-1/2-year-old who was assaulted by his mother's boyfriend so severely that he was in the hospital for several weeks and survived three surgeries.
Heather Downs, 33, of Bartlett, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony witness tampering and one count of endangering the welfare of a child during a brief hearing in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee. The county attorney's office dismissed three other counts of child endangerment, according to county attorney Robin Gordon.
Gordon said an hour-long sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 8 at 10:30 a.m.
Downs was living with Justin Roy, 34, at his mother's mobile home in Albany with her three children until the early morning hours of December 19, 2011, when, after a night of drinking, Roy took Strider out to the shed and caused life-threatening injuries to the boy's abdomen. Roy was also convicted on simple assault charges for sitting and jumping on Strider's older brother's legs, and for squirting the 11-month-old baby in the face with the contents of a baby bottle.
Roy, who faces more than 100 years in jail, will be sentenced April 2.
The witness-tampering indictment against Downs' alleged that she told her older son, Zander, then 7, to withhold testimony or information by asking him not to tell the police what he knew concerning what happened to Strider at the house.
The charge is a Class B felony punishable by up to a 3½- to 7-year jail term. The child-endangerment charge alleged that Downs did not bring Strider to the hospital in a timely fashion. Strider, who has since recovered from his injuries, and his younger brother, Gallagher, are in the care of their biological father and grandparents in Maine, with the older boy in the custody of Downs' parents.
Downs testified as a state's witness in the week-long Roy trial.
lmulkern@newstote.com
Bartlett mother in child assault case reaches plea agreement
Heather Downs, 33, of Bartlett, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of felony witness tampering and one count of endangering the welfare of a child during a brief hearing in Carroll County Superior Court in Ossipee. The county attorney's office dismissed three other counts of child endangerment, according to county attorney Robin Gordon.
Gordon said an hour-long sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 8 at 10:30 a.m.
Downs was living with Justin Roy, 34, at his mother's mobile home in Albany with her three children until the early morning hours of December 19, 2011, when, after a night of drinking, Roy took Strider out to the shed and caused life-threatening injuries to the boy's abdomen. Roy was also convicted on simple assault charges for sitting and jumping on Strider's older brother's legs, and for squirting the 11-month-old baby in the face with the contents of a baby bottle.
Roy, who faces more than 100 years in jail, will be sentenced April 2.
The witness-tampering indictment against Downs' alleged that she told her older son, Zander, then 7, to withhold testimony or information by asking him not to tell the police what he knew concerning what happened to Strider at the house.
The charge is a Class B felony punishable by up to a 3½- to 7-year jail term. The child-endangerment charge alleged that Downs did not bring Strider to the hospital in a timely fashion. Strider, who has since recovered from his injuries, and his younger brother, Gallagher, are in the care of their biological father and grandparents in Maine, with the older boy in the custody of Downs' parents.
Downs testified as a state's witness in the week-long Roy trial.
lmulkern@newstote.com
- Police say Nashua man struck woman with Jeep - 0
- Police seek man they say passed counterfeit bill at Manchester mall - 1
- Manchester police seek Food Mart robber - 3
- No arrests in Manchester homicide; single shot to chest killed man - 11
- Jury finds Chester man guilty of sex assault - 1
- License revocations for DWI announced - 0
- Hampton man indicted for Poker Room assault, robbery - 0
- UPDATED: Chester police seek two men in armed home invasion - 1
- Intruder, a burglar, and attempted break-in keep Manchester police busy - 0
Man who confronts burglar in Nashua gets bit
READER COMMENTS: 0- Car may have started itself, crashes at Manchester Home Depot - 1
- House votes to ban lead sinkers and jigs over an ounce - 7
- House passes auto dealers bill of rights - 2
- Rochester man facing up to 30 years in prison for brutal assault - 0
- Gambling debate begins following frantic lobbying - 6
- Pease chosen to receive new KC-46A refueling tanker; to bring 100 jobs - 7
- FBI agent kills Florida man during questioning about Marathon bombing suspect - 2
- Lightning strikes home in Exeter - 0
- For now, no more breakfasts in Manchester's Veterans Park - 16
Threats at Goffstown High ‘not credible’
READER COMMENTS: 0| Follow us: | ||
 |
 |
 |
- Should applicants for jobless benefits have to pass a drug test?
- Yes
- 78%
- No
- 22%
- Total Votes: 1424