BRENT WEAVER - 11 yo (2002) - Lancaster PA

LANCASTER, Pa. — A homicide trial is set to begin for a former visiting nurse
accused in the morphine death of an 11-year-old central Pennsylvania
boy with cerebral palsy.
Fifty-year-old Joy O'Shea Woomer is scheduled for trial Monday in Lancaster County Court.
She's charged in the September 2002 death of 11-year-old Brent Weaver.
Prosecutors say the 50-year-old woman injected the East Hempfield Township boy with a lethal dose of morphine.
The boy's parents have told investigators that their son was in good
condition when they left him in Woomer's care. But they say she awoke
them the next morning and said he was unresponsive.
Woomer's attorney has argued that there isn't any evidence linking her to the death.

About three hours before he died, 11-year-old Brent Weaver received a
lethal dose of morphine, a forensic toxicologist testified Monday.But who gave the boy the narcotic, and why?Prosecutors are trying to convince a jury it was Joy O'Shea Woomer, a private duty nurse who was caring for the child at the time of his death. Woomer has been charged with homicide and is on trial in Lancaster County Court.
On
Monday, as the trial entered its second week, prosecutors called Dr.
Rebecca Jufer, an expert from Maryland's Chief Medical Examiner's
Office, to describe the results of tests done on Weaver after he died."Within three hours," Jufer told Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield, the child would have died from the lethal amount of morphine in his system.Weaver, a cerebral palsy patient, received all his food and medicine through a tube.Last
week, Weaver's mother, Carol, testified that on Sept. 26, 2002, she
gave Brent his medicine, put him to bed and hooked up his feeding tube
to a pump that would deliver formula into his body throughout the night.The next morning, Woomer found the boy unresponsive at 6 a.m., according to testimony. She woke his parents, called 911 and began CPR.The boy was pronounced dead less than one hour later. Blood tests revealed the morphine, and the police investigation began.During
his cross-examination of the prosecutor's expert, defense attorney
Christopher Patterson asked Jufer about her estimated time of death.She reiterated her belief that it would have been within three hours."That's when (the morphine) hit the child," Patterson said. "Do you know when it was placed in the feed bag?"Jufer said her analysis was based on blood samples, organ tissue and fluids collected from the child's body.Another
physician, Dr. Michael Wills, an Lancaster General Hospital
anesthesiologist, testified about the seven different medicines Weaver
was receiving at the time of his death, mostly anti-seizure drugs, plus
vitamins.None of them, including two drugs administered during
the attempted resuscitation by emergency medical personnel, Wills said,
were morphine or metabolize as morphine.Assistant District
Attorney Randall Miller, who is prosecuting the case with Mansfield,
asked Wills about the additional cold medicine Carol Weaver gave her
son before bed.Wills suggested that Miller ask a toxicologist about that.Last week, the boy's parents, Mark and Carol Weaver, testified about the extensive needs of their child and accommodations they made for him in their East Hempfield Township home.Carol Weaver, 48, said that, in addition to bathing, stretching, feeding, dressing and changing her child's diaper, she would get up three or four times each night as he awoke to reposition his legs and make him comfortable.About two years before Brent's death, the Weavers hired private-duty nurses to watch the child through the night so they could rest.Woomer, who worked for Bayada Nurses, was caring for the Weaver child for the first time on the morning of his death because his regular nurse was off.East
Hempfield Township police Detective Paul Fitzsimmons, who is the lead
investigator in the case, testified on Monday about two interviews he
had with Woomer after the incident.Fitzsimmons said he learned Woomer had cared for two other children in 2002, both of whom were receiving morphine, until they died of natural causes.Woomer
said she had never administered the drug through a feeding tube and
never gave Weaver any medication the night he was in her care.Under
cross-examination, Patterson asked Fitzsimmons if the Weavers belonged
to a support group or knew other families "in similar circumstances.""Mrs. Weaver made it clear she didn't want anybody else caring for Brent" besides family members, Fitzsimmons said.Testimony in the case is expected to continue today in the courtroom of Judge David Ashworth.

Lancaster County Nurse Sentenced To Prison For Death Of 11-Year Old Child


LANCASTER—

A Lancaster County nurse convicted of killing her 11-year-old patient is sentenced to prison. Joy O'Shea Woomer will serve 7 to 20 years in a state prison, with credit for time served. She will also have to pay $6,700 in restitution.

O'Shea Woomer was sentenced by Judge David Ashworth today during a hearing that lasted about two and a half hours. The Judge said he received 68 letters in support of the defendant. Many of the letters talked to her character before the incident which took the life of 11-year-old Brent Weaver on September 27, 2002.

Before being sentenced, O'Shea Woomer addressed the court with a short prepared statement. At no point, did she admit to administering the fatal dose of morphine that killed Brent Weaver.

"I am deeply sorry for the loss of your son," she said to the Weaver family. "There is no greater pain then the loss of a child."

She then asked the Judge for leniency, telling the court, her lifelong work in her church and as a nurse was not finished.

"There is much to do and I have much to share," she tearfully told the Judge.

Four other people testified on behalf of the prosecution including Brent's father and mother, Mark and Carol Weaver. Mark Weaver recalled a young boy with cerebral palsy that couldn't walk or talk but had a love of life and the outdoors.

"Brent's smile and shouts of glee kept it all in perspective for us," said Mark Weaver during his statement to the court. "He taught me how to truly love and I am eternally grateful."

The defense presented the maximum witnesses allowed, ten, when addressing the judge. The goal, to try and lessen the sentence for O'Shea Woomer. Among the ten, the nurses own 14-year-old daughter Rebecca, who tearfully told the court how much she misses her mother, who has been in prison since October of 2008.

"I know that she couldn't hurt anyone. It's not in her nature," Rebecca Woomer told the Judge. "She has so much love to give. She has so much to give the world."

After the sentence, the Judge Ashworth laid out the two potential appeal processes. If the defense considers an appeal, a post-sentence motion needs to be filed with the Lancaster County court within ten days. The second appeal would be directly to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Attorney's have 30 days to file that claim. O'Shea Woomer's attorney, Chris Patterson said his client and team are considering an appeal.

Previous Story: Woomer's supporters say, she is innocent.

Joy O'Shea Woomer's supporters have set up a website called justiceforjoy.org and meet once a month to try and help raise money for her defense. They say, she is a good person who was wrongly accused and prosecuted and now faces a harsh penalty.

"Why would she ever commit a crime like this?" asked Defense Attorney Chris Patterson after the guilty verdict was handed down in January.

It's the question friends and family of Joy O'Shea Woomer want the prosecution to answer. The 50-year-old nurse, convicted in January of third degree murder in the death of 11-year-old Brent Weaver, some 7 years after his death.

"Obviosuly the jury worked hard. Several of the jury members were crying and we respect their decision, but we disagree with it vehemently," Patterson said.

Brent Weaver suffered from Cerebral Palsy and could neither walk nor talk. O'Shea Woomer was caring for the boy for one night in September of 2002 at his East Hempfield Township home. That's when the prosecution claims, she gave him a lethal dose of morphine through a feeding tube.

:She gave the kid a multiple lethal dosage of morphine that ended his life, a medication that was never prescribed or approved by a physician," said Assistant District Attorney Randy Miller.

The prosecution claims the drugs came from another patient that O'Shea Woomer had in her care. But her friends and family are standing by her side. Through the website, they question the case, as they try and raise money for an appeal. The website hoping to keep her story in the forefront, while prosecutors hope the verdict and today's sentencing will end a painful 7 years for Weaver's family.

"We did what we can do and we do hope that this verdict will give some solace and peace to the family after all these years and all this pain," said District Attorney Craig Stedman.

Supporters are already trying to raise money for an appeal in this case. To date, they have raised about $9,000.

O'Shea Woomer faces a maximum penalty of 27 1/2 to 55 years in prison.

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