LAKAYLEE CHAMBERS - 18 months (2009) - Manchester OH

A man whose 18 month old daughter died after suffering severe head trauma now faces new, upgraded charges.

The Adams County prosecutor filed murder charges late Friday afternoon
against 21 year old David Chambers. Chambers was arrested Wednesday
night at the hospital where his daughter Lakaylee was being treated.
She died on Thursday.

Lakaylee was flown to Children's Hospital
on Tuesday from Manchester in Adams County. Paramedics were called to a
home in the 900 block of Cemetery Street around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday for a
report of a child having seizures after falling down some stairs. When
rescue crews arrived, they found the girl had severe head trauma. She
was unconscious and not breathing, but paramedics were able to revive
her.

Investigators now believe the child may have suffered her injuries as the results of abuse.

Chambers was originally charged with child endangering but that charge has now
been dropped in favor of the new, more serious charge. A judge set
Chamber's bond this afternoon at one million dollars. He's held in the
Adams County jail.

In the meantime, a funeral for Lakaylee has
been set for Monday at the Wilson Funeral Home in Manchester.
Visitation will be held from 12-2 p.m. and the funeral will follow. A
fund has also been set up to help with those expenses at the First
State Bank in Manchester.

WEST UNION, Ohio -- A family friend called her death a system failure; Thursday night an Adams County jury declared the death of 18-month-old LaKaylee Chambers a murder.

Either way, LaKaylee is dead and her father, David Chambers, has been found guilty of murdering her through his actions of Sept. 15, 2009.

In his own testimony Tuesday, Chambers admitted he shook LaKaylee so hard, in an effort to revive her after a fall, that he heard her head crack against a tile floor, but he continued the actions after moving her to a carpeted area of the apartment. His delay in calling for an ambulance was noted by the prosecution as a part of the chain of events leading to her death.

Experts testified her injuries were lethal and extreme force was used to administer blows which caused her brain to swell and internal bleeding which resulted in her death.

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense continued trading communications on Friday to help the court set a date for sentencing, court officials said.

Once both sides are in accord, Judge Brett Spencer will determine what penalty Chambers will pay for his actions at a sentencing hearing.

Based on the closing statements of Assistant Adams County Prosecutor David Kelley, a guilty verdict would mean, motivated by justice, "a wrong is righted".

Chambers was convicted of murder as the result of felonious assault and murder as the result of child endangerment.

Born March 2, 2008, LaKaylee Chambers was in and out of protective care at least once prior to her death on Sept. 17, 2009.

Chambers and his wife, LaShea (Bayless) Chambers had previously been identified in a 2008 domestic violence incident police report which claimed David had thrown LaShea down the stairs in the same apartment building where LaKaylee was injured the following year.

Tall and 200 plus pounds, David allegedly dragged the petite LaShea by her hair before help arrived.

The allegation led to court dates, and LaKaylee was taken from the home during the time. But witnesses and LaShea retracted their previous testimony to police, so the charges against David Chambers for the domestic incident were dropped, officials said.

When charges against her father were dropped, LaKaylee was returned to the household in November 2008.

According to official records, Chambers has a history of violence-related convictions.

Mentioned briefly by Chambers during the murder trial, after a "previous felony conviction" question was posed by Chambers' attorney Herman Carson, court records verified that in 2006 David Chambers was convicted of felonious assault after a fight at a West Union restaurant during which another man was stomped in the face.

According to family members of LaKaylee, David Chambers was also convicted of domestic violence in 2004, but they declined to elaborate.

Chambers admitted to police, in interviews leading up to his arrest, he was not taking medication for his bipolar issue. He also mentioned anger management techniques he used, like writing and drawing when he felt he needed to during the interrogations. During parts of the trial, Chambers was observed incessantly writing on a notebook, including before the jury was selected and during final arguments.

Since his arrest, Chambers has become a father again, this time to a son, an issue he also mentioned to police in 2009. Chambers told police in September 2009, as a man, his yet to be born son was his pride and joy, then paused to preface he cared deeply about LaKaylee as well.

LaKaylee's biological older brother, not fathered by Chambers, was not living with the family when she was killed. He is in the care of a family member, officials said.

Chambers remains in Adams County Jail.

The crimes carry a possible 15 years to life sentence, officials said.

Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 276.
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Judge decries lack of personal responsibility
Chambers gets 15 to life

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Judge decries lack of personal responsibility
Chambers gets 15 to life

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Chambers gets 15 to life

By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer Ledger Independent | Posted: Monday, June 14, 2010 9:25 pm | (0) Comments

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WEST UNION, Ohio -- David Chambers was sentenced Monday for the murder of his toddler daughter.

Convicted by an Adams County jury last month of two counts of murder with specifications for the death of LaKaylee Chambers in September 2009, Chambers sat quietly in his orange jail jump suit, handcuffed at the defense table while his mother, Debby Angel calmly pled for mercy.

She was the only person to speak on his behalf before he was sentenced.

"I don't feel my son killed my granddaughter," Angel told the court. "If he did commit this crime I wouldn't have anything to do with him ... I don't believe he should have a life sentence at all."

Chambers also spoke to Adams County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brett Spencer.

"... There is not a level to describe how sorry I am ... My daughter depended on me and I panicked. I should have been a better father," Chambers said, thanking his wife and infant son for "being there for me and keeping my head up."

LaKaylee Chambers died after allegedly falling down a flight of stairs in the Chambers' apartment. The 18-month-old had fatal injuries attributed by health care and forensic professionals to Chambers' actions and inactions.

During sentencing, Chambers' wife, LaShea Chambers was seated somewhat neutrally, behind an Adams County Sheriff's deputy who was the dividing line between Chambers' family and friends, and other relatives and friends of the victim.

She appeared calm during the proceedings.

Because of statutes surrounding the murder conviction, Spencer sentenced Chambers to 15 years to life in prison, with a lifetime probation should he ever be paroled from prison.

Though given the option, members of the family group supporting the conviction did not speak, later commenting outside the courtroom, "Justice has finally been served."

Spencer, who referred to Chambers as a "recipe for disaster," was not as silent, listing issues in the presentencing report, including a trio of paternity tests listed against Chambers, "two children other than LaKaylee," Spencer said.

Citing numerous times Chambers had been given second chances and failed to follow through, or committed more offenses in the process, Spencer continued to list failures in Chambers' actions.

"(Chambers) has a history of never accepting "no" for an answer," Spencer said.

At least three protective orders were issued in recent years against Chambers, including one because of a witness intimidation accusation related to a 2006 assault at the West Union McDonald's; another by LaShea Chambers following an incident at a hospital when she had taken LaKaylee for medical care and a security guard had to be called to protect her from David Chambers; and another in 2009 by a mother who filed against David Chambers to keep him away from her daughter, he said.

Control was never a reaction Chambers exhibited when told not to do something, Spencer said, refreshing memories about Chambers' own testimony of a plan to conceal a family dog, forbidden at the apartment, by leaving doors open and planing to use the open door excuse to explain the dog if apartment officials caught them with the animal.

In 2007, Chambers was arrested the first day of the county fair for threatening a group of people and spent the entire week of the fair detained to preserve the peace at the event, Spencer said.

After LaShea Chambers told him not to leave his daughter alone when she went to work, it was minutes before he was leaving the toddler in the care of a very young person and getting himself cigarettes. Efforts by the court to help Chambers get an education or job, instead of hours on video games and doing what he wanted, failed, Spencer said.

"I even, personally, tried to get you into Job Corps ... and here we are," Spencer said.

According to Spencer, the juvenile involved in the 2009 protective order was also harassed when Chambers continued to contact her by phone.

"You pleasure yourself in whatever wake you left behind you," Spencer said.

Based on past performances, Chambers was denied any consideration for community control options, and will have to serve at least 15 years of the concurrent sentences before probation is considered, Spencer said.

Chambers' attorney Herman Carson filed for an appeal of the conviction. In the meantime, Chambers will be transferred to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Spencer said.

LaShea Chamber declined to comment on the sentence; she left the courthouse, in close proximity to a group of law enforcement officers at the encouragement of a woman believed to be a family member.

Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 276.

For more area news, visit www.maysville-online.com.
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