RAELYNN T MASCAL - 2 yo (2007) - Gardner (N of Worcester) MA

A Gardner woman charged with murder in the beating and shaking death of her 2-year-old daughter was found guilty yesterday of the reduced charge of manslaughter.

A Worcester Superior Court jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about five hours over two days before finding Michelle L. Lepkowski guilty of involuntary manslaughter, assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury and reckless endangerment of a child in the May 18, 2007, death of Raelynn T. Mascal.

At the request of Ms. Lepkowski’s lawyer, Barry P. Wilson, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker postponed sentencing until Dec. 1 and asked the court’s probation department to prepare a pre-sentencing report in the case. The judge ordered that Ms. Lepkowski remain in custody without bail until the date of sentencing.

Prosecutors accused the 35-year-old Ms. Lepkowski, formerly of 55 Grant St., Gardner, of inflicting fatal injuries to her child during a beating that began as a spanking the day before she died. An autopsy determined the tot died from blunt impact and shaking injuries of the head, neck and torso.

Ms. Lepkowski, who called 911 on the morning of May 18, 2007, after discovering that her daughter was not breathing, told medical personnel and police that the 2-year-old had injured herself in a fall at a playground.

While the maximum sentence for manslaughter is 20 years in state prison, Mr. Wilson told Judge Kenton-Walker, after the verdicts were returned yesterday, that he believed the advisory sentencing guidelines for the crime of involuntary manslaughter were in the range of 3 to 5 years for a person with no prior criminal record, such as his client.

The maximum sentence for assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury is 15 years in state prison and the maximum sentence for reckless endangerment of a child is 2-1/2 years in the House of Correction.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole; second-degree murder, which was also a verdict option for the jury in Ms. Lepkowski’s case, is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a possibility of parole in 15 years.

In his closing argument to the jury Monday, Mr. Wilson said the police investigation into the death of his client’s daughter was flawed and suggested Ms. Lepkowski’s former boyfriend, Luke Malizia, was responsible for the girl’s fatal injuries.

Mr. Malizia, 24, testified against Ms. Lepkowski during the two-week trial and told the jury the girl had marks and a scratch on her face after her mother punished her the day before she died.

Charged with reckless endangerment of a child and being an accessory, after the fact, to assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, Mr. Malizia testified under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that is expected to result in his being placed on probation.

Mr. Malizia denied ever striking Raelynn.

In her final summation, Assistant District Attorney Paula J. Frasso defended the investigative work that led to Ms. Lepkowski’s arrest, accused Ms. Lepkowski of lying to authorities to protect herself, and urged the jury to find her guilty as charged.