IAN LANDERS - 2 yo - Lufkin TX

LUFKIN, TX -
Deliberation began late Monday in the case of a woman charged in
the 2007 death of her boyfriend’s 2-year-old son.

Samantha Wideman is charged with injury to a child in the death of
Hudson toddler Ian Landers, who died in September 2007 following a
head injury that left him on life support in a Houston hospital.
The boy’s mother, Tonya Landers, was separated from Wideman’s
boyfriend, Scott Landers, at the time.






In the final day of testimony, Wideman took the stand in her
defense, saying she never did anything to hurt the toddler and
wanted nothing but to make a home for him with her 4-year-old
daughter and the baby girl she just had with Scott Landers.

“Did you ever hit Ian?” Deaton asked.

“No,” Wideman said.

“Did you ever shake Ian?”

“No.”

“Did you ever get frustrated or angry with Ian?”

“No, I wouldn’t even say I did that,” Wideman said, sobbing. “He
was so sweet.”

She went on to say that she and Scott Landers were constantly
fearful the boy’s mother would call CPS on them, noting the time
she contacted CPS after seeing minor scratches on the boy’s face in
2006.

“Every time he came home I was scared CPS would be called,” she
said.

“Did you and Scott ever have concerns after he came from Tonya’s?”
Deaton asked her.

“We did, but we knew how active he was,” Wideman said. “We never
read that much into it.”

Wideman said that on Aug. 31, the day Ian’s initial head injury
occurred, she was in another room when her daughter ran out of the
playroom, saying something was wrong with Ian.

“I found him on the floor by the bed and he was unconscious,” she
said sobbing. “I revived him and he seemed dazed but he just wanted
me to hold him. I called Scott and he came home quick. We took Ian
to the ER.”

After several hours of waiting, an ER doctor saw the boy and said
he was fine, even after Wideman told him she found Ian unconscious,
she said.

“(The doctor) wasn’t taking me seriously. The only thing he was
concerned about was getting us out of there as fast he could,” she
said.

Deaton has suggested a medical mistake was made when the doctor did
not order a CT scan. Wideman said she asked the doctor if that was
all he was going to do when he told her the boy could go
home.

“We took the doctor’s word,” she said shaking her head.

The next morning, Wideman said Ian slept until 10 a.m., unusually
late for him, she noted.

“I just figured he had a lot of excitement from the day before and
was tired,” she said. “After he woke up he and (my daughter)
watched cartoons. I made them breakfast and then she went to her
bedroom to play. Ian got up when (my daughter) called him. He
turned around to see the TV and then fell out.”

Wideman said she tried to revive Ian like she did the day before
but when she couldn’t wake him she called Scott Landers.

“I told him what happened,” she sobbed.

Wideman then testified that she told Scott Landers to call
911.

“And did he do it?” Deaton asked.

“I guess not,” Wideman replied, sobbing.

Although Wideman testified Monday that she loved Ian like her own
child, during day one of the trial, her former friend testified
that Wideman told her she hated the boy.

“She didn’t like him because he was from another woman,” Jodie
Smithhart said.

“Did she use the word hate?” Prosecutor Dale Summa of the Angelina
County District Attorney’s Office asked.

“Yes,” Smithhart answered.

Wideman said Monday that she and Smithhart stopped being friends
after she refused to testify on her behalf in a child custody
hearing.

“I wouldn’t go and she was pretty mad at me about it,” Wideman
said.

In his closing arguments, Deaton said the jury should find Wideman
not guilty.

“Accidents just happen. That’s the way life is, especially with
toddlers,” he said. “There’s a million ways this case could have
happened that are not injury to a child. There’s just no evidence
Samantha did anything wrong in this case. Send her home to her
kids.”

Summa said in his closing arguments, “It doesn’t sound like
Samantha Wideman was keeping an eye on (Ian Landers). If you don’t
believe the blunt force trauma was caused by her pushing him or
shaking him, don’t these injuries come from her not paying
attention to him? We can’t do anything to bring Ian back, but we
can try to give him justice.”

After the defense rested its case Monday, the prosecution called
three rebuttal witnesses, one being Dr. Rebecca Girardet, a
pediatrician at UT Medical School Houston and medical director of
the child abuse team.

“Ian had three-layer retinal hemorrhages, which is highly
associated with inflicted trauma,” she said.

She said she’d only seen two other documented cases of accidental
injuries that were similar, and those were when children’s heads
had been crushed after TVs fell onto them in a severe accidental
injury.

A verdict in the case could be reached today.
* * * *
An Angelina County jury found a Lufkin woman
guilty of criminal negligence, a lesser charge than what she was
indicted on. The jury took about four-and-a-half hours to come to the
decision.
After five more hours of deliberation, the jury sentenced Wideman to
365 days in state jail and ordered her to pay a $10,000 fine.
Samantha Wideman was charged with injury to a child in connection with her boyfriend's toddler son's death in 2007.


The jury found Wideman not guilty on two more severe charges.
The maximum penalty for criminal negligence is two years in a state jail.
As of 5:30 p.m., the jury was deliberating Wideman's sentence.
Tonya Lyon weeps bitterly after hearing the outcome she's been
waiting on two-and-a-half years.
She came to the courthouse for justice.
At the same time, cries of relief came from Samantha Wideman's sister, Shandi Hennigan.
"It feels better knowing she's not knowing to be in life for prison," Hennigan said.
After four-and-a-half hours of deliberation, the moment before the verdict will stick with Hennigan.
"It was gut wrenching," Hennigan said. "It was terrifying not knowing what you're fixing to hear about one your family members."
The jury found Wideman guilty of negligence, and not guilty of two
more severe charges that could have landed her life in prison.
"My mind was shot," Hennigan said. "I didn't know what we were going
to walk into. I was hoping for the best and preparing for the worst."
Off-camera, Lyon says she's devastated by the jury's decision. On
the witness stand during sentencing, Lyon told the jury Ian will never
grow up.
He will never go to school and he will never have a life of
his own. But this is the jury's decision. One both sides have to live with.
"It's just a big weight lifted off everybody's shoulders right now," Hennigan said.
But for the mother who lost her two-year-old son, the pain will never subside.