Probation for parents in fatal beating stuns Dallas child advocates10:52 AM CDT on Saturday, November 1, 2008
By TIARA M. ELLIS
The Dallas Morning News
Three-month-old Tyreona Mabry's life was painfully short.
She suffered as many as 40 rib fractures, bleeding on the brain and eyes, three leg fractures, and other injuries by the time she died in February 2004, court records show.
The child's parents – Tameika Hampton and Tremaine Mabry – were home alone with the infant and her older sister the night Tyreona died. Both parents denied killing her.
Earlier this week, Ms. Hampton, 25, and Mr. Mabry, 26, both pleaded guilty to causing the injuries that killed Tyreona. Instead of prison sentences, the plea agreement called for Ms. Hampton and Mr. Mabry – who were both initially charged with capital murder – to receive probation.
News accounts of the punishment touched off a wave of angry phone calls and e-mails to court officials and the media, and upset many of those who work to combat child abuse.
"I'm certainly no prosecutor and don't claim to be one," said Lynn Davis, the president and CEO of the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. "But let a jury decide. Let's not just give these people probation. There are too many cases like this that day after day after day folks are getting away with abusing those poor innocent children and nothing is being done about it."
Ms. Hampton and Mr. Mabry could not be reached for comment. Ms. Hampton's attorney could not be reached for comment. Mr. Mabry's attorney declined to comment.
Juan Sanchez, the special court-appointed prosecutor, told State District Judge Lena Levario that he could not prove either of the parents killed the child, according to court officials. Mr. Sanchez, who has been a defense attorney in some high-profile capital murder cases, did not return repeated phone calls this week.
Judge Levario appointed Mr. Sanchez as a special prosecutor in the case in 2007 after the Dallas County District Attorney's office asked to be removed from it, citing a potential conflict of interest. Kevin Brooks, the DA's office chief felony prosecutor, was Ms. Hampton's attorney before he joined the prosecutor's office, said district attorney spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield.
According to a source familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity, obtaining a capital murder conviction would have been difficult because both parents professed innocence and neither blamed the other.
Dallas defense attorney Russell Wilson, who was not involved in the case, said to prosecute the parents on the original charge, the prosecutor would have had to prove – beyond a reasonable doubt – which of them caused the fatal injuries.
"There are cases where the science can't give you a specific time period for death. When they aren't able to give you a specific time period, they are unable to give you a specific perpetrator," Mr. Wilson said. "With an infant there are usually multiple adults handling that child during a 24-hour period."
Mr. Sanchez told Judge Levario a few weeks ago that he did not believe he could get a conviction and informed her he and the defense attorneys had reached a plea agreement.
Ms. Hampton was sentenced this last week to two years' probation for the second-degree felony of injury to a child by negligence. Mr. Mabry received five years' probation Oct. 15 for the first-degree felony of injury to a child by causing serious bodily injury.
Child Protective Services had not been called to the couple's Far East Dallas apartment before Tyreona's death. But some of the baby's injuries had been documented.
In January 2004, Tyreona was hospitalized with pneumonia. X-rays revealed that she had 13 fractured ribs at that time, court documents show.
Less than a week before Tyreona died, her mother said, she took her to a Mesquite hospital, because she had accidentally hit the baby's head against the sink, according to court records. She told police officials that the doctor told her the baby was fine.
Since being out of jail on bond, Ms. Hampton has given birth to two more children, both of whom are 1 year old or younger and living with relatives, according to Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales. Tyreona's older sister, who is now 6, is living with another relative. Ms. Hampton can have only supervised visitation with her children, according to her probation terms.
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