DASH CHRISTOPHER-RAY WRIGHT - 5 Months(2010) - Zanesville (E of Columbus) OH

A preliminary autopsy report has the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office investigating a 5-month-old boy's death as a homicide.
Sheriff Matt Lutz said detectives were called to a home at 2148 East
Pike just after midnight Monday. Upon their arrival, they discovered
Dash Christopher Ray Wright was not breathing. Wright was transported to
children's hospital in Columbus, and was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday.Lutz said that, according to the preliminary autopsy
report's findings, investigators don't think the child could have died
of sudden infant death syndrome. Lutz said the report shows the child
died from blunt force trauma to the skull.The sheriff's office
has been interviewing witnesses throughout the past week and will be
presenting its case to Muskingum County Prosecutor Michael Haddox this
week.Lutz said the baby was with family members at the time he stopped breathing.
Wright was born Feb. 22 in Zanesville, a son of Dale Wright and Rose Mary Elson, both of Zanesville.
Calling hours for the infant will be from 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at
DeLong-Baker and Lanning Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 7 p.m.

A Zanesville man says he's not-guilty of murdering his 5-month-old son.28-year-old Dale Wright pled not-guilty to felony charges of murder, felonious assault and endangering children Wednesday in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court.



According to the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office, on August 2nd deputies were called to a home in the 2000-block of the East Pike and found Dash Christopher Ray Wright not breathing. The child died on August 3rd at Children's Hospital in Columbus. Sheriff Matt Lutz says a preliminary autopsy showed the child died of blunt force trauma to his skull.Judge Mark Fleegle continued Dale Wright's bond at one-million dollars. He remains in the Muskingum County Jail.

Dale Wright was denied a lower bond and might stay in the Muskingum County Jail until his trial for the murder of his infant son.
Wright, 28, had asked Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle to lower his bond of $1 million. Wright is charged with one count of murder, one count of endangering children and one count of felonious assault in connection with the death of his 5-month-old son, Dash Christopher Ray Wright.Wright has entered not-guilty pleas and his defense attorney, Mark Stubbins asked that his bond be reduced because he has family ties to the area and was not considered a flight risk.But the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office fired back with a motion stating it disagreed and cited Wright's past criminal record and the severe injuries that led to the infant's death.Assistant Prosecutor Ron Welch said Dash was diagnosed with a skull fracture, subdural hemorrhages and retinal hemorrhages, which physicians at Children's Hospital in Columbus indicated were comparable to injuries sustained by children who have been run over by vehicles or who have suffered high distance falls onto a solid surface."These facts indicate a brutal death involving a helpless baby," Welch stated. "Individuals who commit such acts represent a significant threat to public safety."Dash was found not breathing Aug. 2 at the Wright home on East Pike and was first transported to Genesis Good Samaritan Hospital, where he initially was diagnosed with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. Dash was pronounced dead Aug. 3.Wright also has been in trouble with law enforcement in the past. In 2001, he was placed on community control for grand theft, forgery and theft by deception. In 2002, he was in prison for 11 months after being convicted of theft by deception. In 2004, he was convicted of federal charges of counterfeiting and check fraud.If convicted of the current charges, Wright faces 15 years to life in prison.

Judge Fleegle OKs evidence in murder trial

Evidence taken from a home in September can be used in a murder trial scheduled for March. Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle ruled the search Muskingum County Sheriff’s detectives conducted at Dale Wright’s home, 2148 East
http://columbus10.cityspur.com/2011/01/29/judge-fleegle-oks-evidence-in-murder-trial/

ZANESVILLE — Dale Wright covered his face as a jury watched a video of his son, Dash.
The video, which was shown by the prosecution as part of the opening
statements in Wright’s murder trial Monday, started with Dash being fed
by Wright. Then it showed Wright holding the tiny baby up and swaying
and swinging to pop music.
The images changed from a healthy baby to autopsy pictures showing
Dash deceased with his skull swollen from a fracture.
The prosecution contends that Wright is an abuser whose 5-month-old son
died as a result of that abuse on Aug. 3. Wright is facing 15 years to
life in prison if convicted of murder and child endangering.
“This man murdered Dash when he brutally and savagely inflicted those
injuries on him,” Assistant Prosecutor Ron Welch said as he pointed Wright out to the jury.
Defense attorney Mark Stubbins painted an
entirely different picture, saying Wright was a “surrogate mother,” who
stepped up when Dash’s mother didn’t.
Calling the prosecution’s case circumstantial, Stubbins said the sheriff’s office charged “the
last person that had been with Dash.”
“Dale Wright was the focus of their investigation,” Stubbins said. “You will find investigators
rushed to judgment and did not examine all possibilities.”
Welch was brought to tears as he told jurors that Dash would never crawl,
walk, play T-ball, know his brothers or sisters, his grandparents,
giggle, go to a prom or sing a song.
“You won’t hear Dash testify, but you will hear him speak and you will see how his tiny body
holds the truth to what happened to him,” Welch said.
Wright was indicted on the charges after EMS personnel found him standing in his
front yard on East Pike on Aug. 2 holding a non-responsive Dash. Welch
said Dash, who was pronounced dead at Children’s Hospital in Columbus at
4:30 p.m. Aug. 3, died as a result of a skull fracture, subdural
hemorrhages and retinal hemorrhages.
Welch said Wright had “inexcusably assaulted” Dash so severely and with such force and
violence, it tore and shredded his retinas.
Welch also told jurors there were no other witnesses to the assault, no confession from
Wright, no videos showing the attack and no way of knowing why the attack occurred.
Wright told Muskingum County Sheriff’s
detectives that he, Dash, and the mother of the baby, RoseMary Elson,
had gotten up the morning in question, ate breakfast and at that time, Dash was a healthy baby.
At 9 p.m. that night, Elson had Dash on
the couch in the basement where Dash slept in a Pack n’ Play, feeding
him. Elson stayed up with Dash until she went upstairs to go to bed
shortly before midnight, Welch said.
As Elson left, Dash began to cry a little, Welch said, but Wright told
investigators he told her he would take care of the baby.
“That’s the last time Elson saw her baby awake,” Welch said.
“Within 20 minutes, Dash wasn’t healthy anymore.”
Wright told detectives he fed Dash and then went to do some laundry.
The washer and dryer are in the basement where Dash slept.
When Wright returned, he told investigators Dash had thrown up almost all
the three ounces of formula he had given the baby and wasn’t breathing.
Wright then said he cleaned the baby up and ran upstairs to have Elson call 911.
When Detective Capt. Steve Welker talked to Wright after Dash died, Wright
wanted to talk about “everything but Dash,” Welch told jurors. Welker
kept having to direct him back to the baby, Welch said.
He told jurors Wright did tell investigators he had not slept
for 33 straight hours the night Dash was injured.
“Now we have a man who has had no sleep and a baby spitting up,” Welch said.
“There were only two people that took care of Dash: Dale Wright and
RoseMary Elson. Elson was asleep upstairs.”
Welch said Dash died as “no child should ever have to.”
“That’s murder,” Welch said. “It’s the only verdict that justice will allow on this case.”
Stubbins told jurors testimony will show Elson was with Dash the entire day until the last 10 minutes.
“But she wasn’t the focus of the investigation,” Stubbins said. “Dale
cooperated with the investigation. He allowed deputies to come into his
home and take evidence, he spoke to them at the hospital and at the
house. He didn’t lawyer up. When he was asked to go to the sheriff’s
office to answer more questions, he went and answered all the questions.
His statements were consistent.”
“RoseMary didn’t care for her son,” Stubbins said. “Dale is the one who bathed him and took care of
him. RoseMary worked and wanted to have fun time.”
Stubbins told jurors that if all the emotional testimony was boiled away and only
medical testimony was given, jurors would learn children have pliable
skulls that can be damaged with little force. Stubbins said the injuries
Dash suffered could be from a number of reasons, including having been
accidentally sat on or in a fall.
“There are a number of innocent explanations,” Stubbins said.
Stubbins also said the prosecution has no evidence of exactly how Dash was injured.
“Focus on the medical,” Stubbins told jurors.
Jurors then heard from Community Ambulance employees who arrived at the home
that night and tried to resuscitate Dash as they sped to the hospital.
Dash was described as non-responsive, cold to the touch with no pulse or signs of life.
The prosecution will continue its case Tuesday morning in Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle’s court.
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110627/NEWS01/110627004/Prosecutor-paints-father-abuser-murder-case?odyssey=nav|head

Dale Wright found guilty in infant son's murder


Prosecutor: Jurors say they are confident with decision to convict

Dale Wright lowers his head as the guilty verdict is announced Wednesday. Wright was found guilty on one count of murder and one count of child endangering in the death of 5-month-old Dash Wright.
Jun. 30, 2011

ZANESVILLE -- Dale Wright bent his head slightly and shook it back and forth as the guilty verdict was read Wednesday in his murder trial.

It was the only reaction from the man as he was convicted of murdering his 5-month-old son, Dash Christopher Wright.

Wright now faces up to 15 years to life in prison. He also was found guilty of one count of child endangerment.

Dash died in August 2010 when he sustained a 5-inch skull fracture and had subdural and retinal hemorrhages.

His attorney, Mark Stubbins, had no comment after the verdict other than that he plans to file an appeal.

"It takes a special type of evil to kill a child," said Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor Ron Welch after the verdict was read in a Muskingum County Common Pleas court. "It's a shame Dash has no family here to see this."

RoseMary Elson, Dash's mother, cried out after the verdict and threw herself, sobbing, into her mother's arms in the courtroom.

Elson testified Tuesday she knew the defense was suggesting to the jury she could have harmed Dash, but she said she believed Wright had not hurt their child and told jurors she loved him.

Stubbins suggested throughout the three-day trial Elson could be a suspect since she was with the baby the entire day. Elson admitted to the jury Tuesday Wright told her she should be "happy" the focus was on her and not him.

Elson left Dash with Wright in the basement of their home just before midnight Aug. 2 so she could go upstairs to sleep.

Wright was doing laundry at the time, Elson testified, but 20 minutes later, Wright was rushing into the bedroom with Dash in his arms, saying the baby had stopped breathing.

Dash was transported to Children's Hospital in Columbus and died Aug. 3.

Welch said jurors told him they were confident they had made the right verdict.

"We are always hesitant and nervous with a case of this magnitude," Welch said. "But the fact that the jury found Wright guilty restores my faith in our justice system that jurors are able to make a determination on serious matters without eyewitness testimony or confessions."

No evidence was presented except medical testimony from doctors and experts along with law enforcement testimony that had been involved in Dash's case.

The defense's only witness was Dr. Mark Shuman from the Miami-Dade County (Fla.) Medical Examiner's Office. Shuman testified that Dash's injuries could have been caused accidentally two to three weeks before his death.

Although Welch said he was relieved the verdict came back guilty, he said it "doesn't replace what's been lost."

Welch said the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office did a fantastic job investigating the case and the doctors and experts at Genesis HealthCare System and Children's Hospital in Columbus also did excellent jobs.

"We're very lucky in this community that we have Children's Hospital who can provide us with experts that would rival any in the country," Welch said. "There aren't many experts that can go up against what they say."

Judge Mark Fleegle ordered Wright held without bond at the Muskingum County Jail and ordered a presentence investigation
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/106300302/Dale-Wright-found-guilty-infant-son-s-murder

ZANESVILLE -- Dale Wright had nothing to say before he was
sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his
5-month-old son.
Wright, 28, was convicted of one count of murder
and one count of child endangerment in late June in connection with the
death of Dash Christopher Wright.
Dash had a five-inch skull fracture and subdural and retinal hemorrhages, which led to his death in August 2010.
Wright
did tell Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fleegle that he
intends to appeal his conviction and wants a court-appointed attorney
from the Ohio Public Defender's Office.
Muskingum County Assistant
Prosecutor Ron Welch said it was difficult to say that a life sentence
is insufficient since it is the maximum punishment for this crime, but
"this defendant murdered a defenseless 5-month-old that relied upon him
for care and safety and for that reason, an eternity in prison would not
be enough.
"Everyone that was involved in seeing that Dash Wright
received some sort of justice needs to be commended," Welch said. "Too
often people are left feeling as though the justice system failed for
some reason. In this case everyone did their jobs. Medical personnel,
law enforcement and Children's Services did an excellent job."
During
Wright's trial, defense attorney Mark Stubbins repeatedly told jurors
that Wright was not the only person who could have harmed Dash.
Stubbins pointed at RoseMary Elson, Wright's girlfriend and mother of Dash.
Elson
took the stand after being called as a witness by the prosecution
during the trial and told jurors she knew part of the defense tactic
would be to paint her as a suspect and she was fine with that.
According
to testimony at the trial, Elson had left the baby with Wright in the
basement of their home just before midnight Aug. 2, 2010, so she could
go upstairs to sleep.
Wright was doing laundry, Elson testified,
but 20 minutes later, Wright was rushing into the bedroom with the baby
in his arms, saying the baby had stopped breathing.
When EMS
personnel arrived at the scene, Dash wasn't responding. He was rushed to
Children's Hospital in Columbus, where he died on Aug. 3.
The
defense called one witness, Dr. Mark Shuman from the Miami-Dade County
(Fla.) Medical Examiner's Office. Shuman testified Dash's injuries could
have been caused accidentally two to three weeks before his death.


http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110802/NEWS01/108020301/Man-gets-15-years-life-murder-5-month-old-son?odyssey=nav|head