DEKIA MATTOX - 6 months -(2009) Milwaukee WI

MILWAUKEE - A 36-year-old Milwaukee man is charged with
first-degree reckless homicide after a 6-month-old girl was found
under a mattress.

The medical examiner said Dekia Mattox died from a head injury.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Shomin said it's unclear whether
the girl died before or after she was stuffed under the
mattress.

According to Tuesday's criminal complaint, Darius Woodley and
another man took drugs and drank beer Dec. 25. Early the next day,
the other man left to find the baby's aunt. The complaint states he
returned to find Woodley sleeping and the baby not breathing under
a mattress.

Woodley allegedly told police to arrest him but he couldn't explain
how Mattox got under the mattress.

Woodley has no lawyer listed in online court records. His initial
appearance was expected Wednesday.

-- Milwaukee child-welfare officials report finding nothing out of
the ordinary just weeks before the death of a baby found stuffed under
a mattress last weekend.
Authorities found 6-month-old Dekia Mattox dead at her home
Saturday. The medical examiner's report says the home had broken
windows, alcohol containers and not much food, matching what police
have said.
The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare was called to the home seven
weeks earlier for a complaint that Dekia had scratches and cuts. But
the child-welfare worker says she found no marks and reported nothing
out of the ordinary.
The Bureau's director says something clearly changed within the last two months.
A 36-year-old man has been charged in the baby's death.

-- Wisconsin authorities have charged a homeless babysitter in the death of a 6-month-old girl.
Darius Woodley allegedly killed Dekia Mattox and stuffed her body
under a mattress while he was watching her in a squalid Milwaukee
cottage early Saturday.
Woodley, who was described as a homeless drug abuser, was an
acquaintance of the child's 15-year-old mother. Woodley was at the home
drinking and doing drugs with the boyfriend of Dekia's great-aunt while
the two women were out.
Investigators say the man with whom Woodley was allegedly partying
said he went out for a time and returned to find Woodley passed out on
the bed. He discovered the baby under the mattress.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Wednesday the state-run Bureau
of Milwaukee Child Welfare was conducting an internal investigation
into the role social workers played in the family's situation.

Darius Enell Woodley pleaded not guilty Friday to the slaying of 6-month-old Dekia Mattox.


The infant's 15-year-old mother, Diamond Mattox, and Mattox's 48-year-old
aunt, Sharon Coleman, attended the preliminary hearing before Milwaukee
County Court Commissioner Barry Slagle.

Coleman has cared for Mattox since the teen was a child and referred to Dekia
as "my baby." Coleman wore a white T-shirt on which were printed a
picture of Dekia and the words "Fallen Angel."

According to police:
Mattox left the baby with Coleman before going out on Dec. 24. Coleman left
the baby with her boyfriend before going out late Dec. 25, and the
boyfriend left the baby with Woodley before going out twice to search
for Coleman on Dec. 26, the day Dekia died.
The now-former boyfriend, Willie McElroy, 39, testified during the
preliminary hearing that he and Woodley had spent Christmas Day
ingesting heroin, cocaine and marijuana. He said when he returned the
second time, he found Woodley passed out on a bed, the baby stuffed
beneath its mattress.

Date	Time	Location	Description	Type 2	Court Official
05-06-2011	08:30 am	Milwaukee County Courthouse - Room 632	Sentencing hearing	Court	Donegan-45, Thomas P.

http://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetails.do;jsessionid=5F9AB0A8A0BD481E405453A8C2416048.render6?caseNo=2009CF006049&countyNo=40&cacheId=214F7A06DC80EB633B920B7430021AC4&recordCount=13&offset=3&mode=details&submit=View+Case+Details

So, Ms Maid of the Mer, does this mean that he's been found guilty?
Your report indicates a "Sentencing hearing" which, to me, would indicate a guilty verdict or a change in the plea.

Published June 15, 2011, 11:56 AM
Man takes plea deal in baby’s death


Wisconsin News
A Milwaukee man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday, June 14, for killing a baby girl. Darius Woodley, 38, escaped a possible life sentence in March by copping a plea deal

A Milwaukee man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday, June 14, for killing a baby girl. Darius Woodley, 38, escaped a possible life sentence in March by copping a plea deal.
He was convicted of fatal child neglect after being originally charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
Prosecutors said an aunt was watching 6-month-old Dekia Mattox on Christmas Day of 2009 when she went out to buy illegal drugs and left the youngster with Woodley – who was high on drugs himself. The aunt’s boyfriend later saw Woodley passed out then the two checked to see where the baby was.
They found the youngster stuffed under a mattress, and she died a few hours later.
Woodley’s attorney called it an addiction-driven crime. Kathleen Quinn asked for an 18-month prison sentence, so her client could get drug treatment.
But Circuit Judge Thomas Donegan said a 10-year term was needed because Woodley failed at several other chances for drug treatment, and he showed he could not follow the state’s supervision rules.

http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/event/article/id/98945/publisher_ID/19/