ALEXIS MARIE "Lexi" POUNDER - 3 yo (2010) - Sandy OR

A Sandy man and his fiancee have been arrested and jailed in
connection with the death of the man's 3-year-old child, whose body
was found at their home on Saturday.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Detective Jim
Strovink says 27-year-old Donald Cockrell and 24-year-old Michelle
N. Smith were arrested Sunday evening and taken to the Clackamas
County Jail.

The Oregonian reports that results from an autopsy performed
Sunday were expected to be released Monday, when the couple are
scheduled to be arraigned.

Deputies, firefighters and homicide detectives were called to
the home at about 1 p.m. Saturday to investigate the death of a
child.

Five other children found in the home have been placed in
protective custody.

Sandy woman pleads guilty in beating, starvation death of 3-year-old

A Sandy woman pleaded guilty to aggravated murder Friday in Clackamas County Circuit Court in the beating, torture and starvation death of her fiance's 3-year-old daughter.

Michelle Nicole Smith, 25, will serve a minimum of 30 years in prison and avoids the possibility of a death sentence. In return, she will testify against her fiance, Donald Lee Cockrell, 28, who goes on trial Jan. 26.

Alexis "Lexi" Marie Pounder was found dead in her home Jan. 9 of "blunt force trauma and acute starvation," according to court documents.

Investigators said it was one of the most brutal child deaths they have seen. A Clackamas County judge found photos of the girl so "graphic and disturbing" that he had them sealed in an envelope that can be opened only with the court's permission. Court documents said the Lexi's sister also was injured.

Details of the crime were not discussed Friday, but the enormity of what happened to Lexi Pounder briefly revealed itself.

Circuit Judge Robert D. Herndon quoted a letter outlining Smith's agreement that called Lexi the victim of "intentional torture."

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http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2010/12/sandy_woman_pleads_guilty_in_beating_starvation_death_of_3-year-old.html

Sandy man faces new charges, possible death penalty in death of daughter



A Sandy man accused of starving and torturing his 3-year-old daughter was reindicted Tuesday and now faces the death penalty as well as charges that he gave narcotics to his children and those of his girlfriend.

Donald Lee Cockrell, 28, had been charged with murder by abuse of his child, Alexis "Lexi" Marie Pounder. Clackamas County prosecutors added a charge of aggravated murder and five counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a minor. The drug Cockrell allegedly gave the children, oxycodone, is a commonly abused synthetic opiate.

Cockrell's girlfriend, Michelle Nicole Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to earlier this month to aggravated murder. Smith agreed to testify against Cockrell and will serve a minimum sentence of 30 years in return for her plea and cooperation. She will be sentenced when the case against Cockrell is completed.

Smith appeared before a grand jury this month. Her statements apparently led to the new charges against Cockrell.

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http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/12/sandy_man_faces_new_charges_po.html

The trial of accused child killer Donald
Cockrell, which was set to begin today, April 4, has been postponed
until Jan. 7, 2013, said Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney
Christine Landers.

The reason for the delay is that Cockrell’s
attorney, Jenny Cooke of Portland, was granted more time to prepare a
defense for Cockrell, who pleaded not guilty to three counts of
aggravated murder, three counts of murder, five counts of first-degree
criminal mistreatment and five counts of using a controlled substance.
There were 17 other counts that already have been dismissed.

Cockrell, 30, and his fiancee at the time of the
incident, Michelle Smith, 27, were arrested Jan. 10, 2010, after
authorities were called to her parents’ home at 22050 Cottontail Lane,
southeast of Sandy, where the two were living on one level with five
children – three were hers and two were his. Her parents were living on a
separate level.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to the residence at the reported death of one of his children, 3-year-old Alexis M. Pounder.

Deputies who investigated the incident allege that one or both adults beat and starved the toddler until she died.

An autopsy performed by Dr. Larry Lewman of the
Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office revealed the little girl died of
“physical and nutritional child abuse.”
Cockrell’s other child showed similar signs of
abuse, Landers told The Post soon after the arrest. All four children
were taken into protective custody, according to a sheriff’s detective.

Smith pleaded guilty last year to one count of
aggravated murder, three counts of murder by abuse and four counts of
criminal mistreatment. She will be sentenced to 30 years behind bars
without parole if she cooperates by testifying against Cockrell.

“Part of (Smith’s) deal is her testimony at
(Cockrell’s) trial,” Landers said. “Sentencing (for Smith) would
typically take place after (Cockrell’s) trial.”

Both have been held without bail for more than two years in the Clackamas County Jail.

Cockrell’s trial is now set to begin three days short of three years from the date of his arrest.

“If Donald Cockrell is found guilty of aggravated
murder,” Landers said, “there will be a subsequent trial – we call it
the penalty phase – where the same jury considers three (sentence)
options.”

Those options include life in prison without
parole, the death penalty if all 12 jurors agree or life behind bars
with parole after 30 years if 10 jurors agree.

The trial is scheduled to take place in the courtroom of Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Susie Norby.

http://www.sandypost.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=133356844811533400

Upset by fatal child-abuse trial, juror creates post-verdict college fund for survivor sibling

Posted Apr 12, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

Josh Henle was initially aggravated to be called for jury duty in a
Clackamas County, Ore., case that interfered with his work schedule and
Hawaiian vacation plans.

Then, as he began to learn about the fatal child-abuse case for which
he'd been selected, Henle realized the importance of his role as a
juror, but became increasingly disturbed by the evidence, reports the Oregonian.

"I grew up believing that there's always a silver lining," he told
the newspaper. "In this case, though, I just didn't see it. I never
thought this way before, but I was starting to think that there's true
evil in the world. I looked at the situation, and didn't know how any of
it could lead to something good."

He and his fellow jurors convicted Donald Lee Cockrell of murder by
abuse last month, over the death of his 3-year-old daughter, Lexi, who
spent much of her brief life in a cage, according to testimony. Cockrell
got a life prison term, and his former fiance, who took a plea, got 30
years for aggravated murder.

However, Henle was concerned that Lexi's younger sister Kara, now 2
and living with her mother, would someday have to know that her father
committed this terrible crime. What better way to let her know that
others cared about Kara and expected the best for her, he thought, than
to set up a college fund.

So Henle, a businessman with a young daughter of his own, made plans
to put together a college fund on Kara's behalf with the help of a
nonprofit founded by Shannon Kmetic, a former Clackamas County deputy
district attorney. Kmetic ordinarily likes to see such efforts made on
behalf of all of the neglected and abused children her group works to
support, but made an exception for Henle. He is the first juror in her
17 years as a prosecutor to take on such a project, she told the Oregonian.

As contributions poured in, a number from people who didn't have a
lot of money, Henle said he began to see the silver lining that had
eluded him earlier.

"It was really inspiring," he said, adding: "It was like love--you
can't force it, but when it happens, you see these great actions that
naturally flow out of it."

Kara's mom thanked Henle and the others who have contributed for
their support, but declined to discuss her daughter with the newspaper.


http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/distraught_over_fatal_child-abuse_trial_juror_creates_post-verdictcollege/