Teenager Pleads Guilty To Killing Baby Sitter
The teenager accused of the rape and murder of a 12-year-old baby sitter stunned prosecutors Wednesday by pleading guilty to the crimes.
At his arraignment in Snohomish County Superior Court, David Daniel Dodge, 17, of Camano Island, said through his lawyer that he intended to plead guilty to all counts.
The hearing was hastily recessed at the request of Deputy Prosecutor James Townsend.
When the hearing resumed late Wednesday afternoon, Dodge pleaded guilty as an adult to first-degree murder, second-degree rape, residential burglary and two counts of first-degree burglary in the weekend death of Ashley Jones.
Judge Ronald Castleberry asked Dodge if he had been advised of his rights. The youth said he had.
“On your plea alone you will be found guilty,” the judge told the young defendant. “You understand that?”
“Yes,” Dodge replied.
Dodge also told Castleberry, in response to questions, that he understood he had given up the right to trial and could not withdraw his plea.
Sentencing was set for Nov. 3.
Prosecutors will ask for a maximum penalty of life in prison, said Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen.
Castleberry also quizzed Dodge about the crime, asking if he encountered Ashley on his second of three entries into the Stanwood house where she was babysitting Saturday night and if he hit her in the head with a piece of wood.
“Yes,” Dodge said.
“Did that cause her death?” Castleberry asked.
“Yes,” Dodge replied.
The young babysitter was attacked while baby-sitting five children at a neighbor’s house in Stanwood, a town of about 3,000 about 40 miles north of Seattle.
The family Ashley was baby-sitting for found her, badly beaten, at about 2 a.m. Sunday. Her young charges, ages 2 to 8, slept through the attack. Investigators say her attacker apparently entered the home through an unlocked door.
She died later Sunday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The girl’s parents, who earlier Wednesday had been out making funeral arrangements, were notified of the planned plea hearing but declined to attend, said Lt. David Bales, Stanwood interim police chief.