SKYLAR BOGGS - 7 months (2008) - Hedgesville WV

A Hedgesville, W.Va., woman was found guilty Thursday on all three
charges relating to the death of her seven-month-old son in August
2008.
After less than an hour of deliberations, a jury found Monica
W. Boggs, 20, guilty of death of a child by a parent, guardian or
custodian, child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and gross
child neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury.

The verdict came on the third day of the trial in Berkeley County Circuit Court.
Skylar Boggs died Aug. 19, 2008.
On Wednesday, West Virginia University pathologist Matrina
Schmidt testified that fractures and bruises, along with trauma-induced
brain hemorrhaging, led her to rule the boy’s death as a homicide
caused by blunt force trauma.
Schmidt’s findings and two recorded statements made by Boggs to
police were presented as evidence Wednesday. Boggs’ mother, three of
her siblings, her boyfriend and a psychiatrist also testified. Boggs did not to testify in her own defense.
In an interview with West Virginia State Police, shortly after
Skylar’s death, Boggs said she threw her son in his crib “pretty hard”
the day before he died after becoming frustrated with the child’s fussy
behavior.
“I just lost it,” Boggs told Sgt. David E. Boober in the first
of two taped interviews the night of Aug. 20, 2008. “I belong in jail
because I killed my son, but I didn’t mean to do it.”
In a taped interview with Boober, Boggs said she threw a baby
bottle toward the boy while he was in his crib two days before she
threw him in the crib, because the child was crying and not being
cooperative and she became upset. That incident resulted in a black
eye, which she lied about to her mother and boyfriend, she told Boober.
Boggs told police she was stressed at the time with the
circumstances of her life. She was jobless, financially strapped and
wanted to go back to college. “I can’t do anything because of the baby,” Boggs told Boober in the first recorded interview.

A 20-year-old Hedgesville, W.Va., woman was sentenced Monday in
Berkeley County Circuit Court to a maximum of 50 years in state prison
for the 2008 death of her infant son.
Judge Gray Silver III of the 23rd Judicial Circuit sentenced
Monica W. Boggs to 40 years for death of a child by a parent, custodian,
guardian or other person by child abuse in the death of 7-month-old
Skylar Boggs, who died Aug. 20, 2008, of injuries he sustained two days
earlier when he was tossed into his crib and fractured his skull on a
toy piano.
Silver sentenced Boggs to an additional term of one to five years
for her conviction on a charge of child abuse resulting in bodily
injury; and another one to five years on a charge of gross child neglect
creating substantial risk of bodily injury. Both are to be served
consecutively to the child-death sentence.
“I regret it and I’m going to have to deal with it,” Boggs said
of her son’s death before the sentence was handed down.
Boggs, formerly of 8791 Hedgesville Road, was convicted of the
charges in a September jury trial. She was five months pregnant at the
time of the trial, a published report said.
“She’s a sweet girl. She wouldn’t hurt anybody. This was a tragic
accident,” said Boggs’ father, Rich Boggs, who asked the court for
leniency. “I’m just asking for another chance for Monica.”
“Because of her silence, this child died,” said Berkeley County
Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely. “She had knowledge the child
struck his head and did not seek medical treatment.”
In addition to the Aug. 18, 2008, incident in which the baby was
thrown into his crib and hit his head, there was evidence at trial that
Skylar Boggs was injured Aug. 16, 2008, when hit by a baby bottle thrown
by his mother. Monica Boggs did not immediately seek medical treatment
for her child after either of the incidents.
Prior to the sentencing, Silver denied a motion by defense
attorney B. Craig Manford to grant Boggs a new trial. Manford said the
sentence will be appealed. He argued that the verdict was against the
weight of the evidence because “there was not an intent to cause bodily
injury.”
An autopsy photo of Skylar Boggs’ injuries should not have been
allowed to be seen in court, Manford argued. The photo, though cropped
and in black and white instead of its original color, “certainly invoked
the passion of the jury,” he said.
There was sufficient evidence presented for the jury to reach the
verdict it did, Silver said. The court also accommodated defense
concerns about the injury photo by having it cropped and the color
removed before it was presented to the jury, the judge said.
Manford also asked Silver to consider alternative sentencing,
such as the Youthful Offender Program, in which Boggs could be placed
for up to two years while receiving treatment and training. Boggs has a
low IQ of 80, low self-esteem and other mental-health issues due to an
unstable and abusive childhood, he said.
“I do not see any redeeming qualities that merit giving her
alternative sentencing,” Silver said.
He noted the presentence investigation indicated Boggs has an IQ
of 96, that she denied responsibility for her actions, showed little or
no remorse and told multiple versions of what happened to her son.
“Telling the truth is an elastic concept” for Boggs, Silver said.
The judge also noted from the presentence investigation a
recommendation that Boggs should not be allowed to be alone with any
“child, handicapped adult or animal.”
Manford said Boggs will have to serve 12 years before she is
eligible for parole. The death of a child by parent conviction carries a
10-year mandatory minimum sentence, he said.

A Berkeley County woman convicted in connection to the death of her
7-month-old son was sentenced Monday to the maximum sentence allowable
under the law.A jury of seven women and five men convicted
20-year-old Monica W. Boggs, of Hedgesville, Sept. 3 on one count of
death of a child by a parent, guardian, custodian or other person by
child abuse; child abuse resulting in bodily injury; and gross child
neglect creating a substantial risk of bodily injury.She was
arrested in August 2008 after the death of her son, Skylar Trigg Boggs,
when she confessed to throwing him into a crib. The baby struck his head
on a Fisher Price toy piano in the crib and suffered a fractured skull,
which led to his death. She also confessed to throwing a bottle into
the crib days earlier, which struck the child in the face near his left
eye.She was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Gray Silver III to
40 years in prison on the death of a child conviction, and one to five
years in prison on each of the remaining convictions. Silver, who said
that it's unlikely anyone will ever know the true extent of the victim's
suffering at the hands of his mother, also ordered that the three
sentences run consecutively."I do feel sorry for the defendant,
but not sympathetic," Silver said.He later said Monica Boggs
didn't warrant being granted an alternative sentence, following a
request by her attorney, Craig Manford, that she be placed at the
Anthony Correctional Center for Youthful Offenders."I do not see
any redeeming qualities that merit giving her alternative sentencing,"
Silver said.The maximum sentence was in line with what Berkeley
County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely asked the court to impose
on the woman.Prior to sentencing being announced, Manford,
Monica Boggs and her father pleaded with the court for mercy."I
just want to say that I'm sorry," said Boggs, who openly wept at times
during sentencing. "I regret it and I know I have to deal with it the
rest of my life. ... I just want to tell my family I love them."Boggs'
father, Richard Boggs Sr., later took the stand and pleaded with Silver
for leniency."What I really want to say is Monica, she is a
sweet girl. She wouldn't hurt anybody," he said. "I know that this was a
tragic accident. ... I'd like to plead with the court to give her
another chance."Manford said Boggs was just 19 at the time of the
incident and has no prior criminal record or issues with drug or
alcohol abuse."I know a child died and I know there's got to be
some sort of retribution ...," Manford said. "It's just a tragedy all
the way around. ... She was a baby raising a baby."Manford never
denied the allegations that Boggs threw the baby in the crib, but argued
during the trial and again Monday that Boggs never intended to
seriously injure the baby and that she didn't realize the toy piano was
in the crib."I think we did provide enough evidence that there
was no intent," Manford said. "Monica was not aware that that toy piano
... was put in the bed."While he said it was wrong to throw the
child into the crib, he said at best it constituted reckless conduct.Dr.
Bernard Lewis, a defense expert in forensic psychology who interviewed
Boggs several times, also testified before the court. He said in his
opinion, Monica Boggs would benefit from continued therapy as well as
vocational training. He suggested that an alternative sentence such as
electronically monitored home confinement would be more beneficial than
an extended prison sentence."This was a young lady who was raised
in a very unstable environment," he said. "She has never really been
able to take control of her life."He described her as a young,
immature person with low cognitive ability who didn't have the skills to
deal with her life's stressors or the skills to manage her emotions."This
was clearly a young lady who was in no way ready to be a mother to a
child," Lewis said.Games-Neely was not swayed by the calls for
mercy, stating that the woman failed to seek medical attention for her
baby despite the fact he suffered a massive skull fracture.