DeLeon faces stiffer charge

Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen on Tuesday decided to upgrade the charges against Carole DeLeon from second-degree murder to homicide by abuse.

DeLeon was facing trial on the second-degree murder charge in connection with the Jan. 13, 2005, death of her foster son Tyler DeLeon. She also was charged with criminal mistreatment of another boy in her care.

But Tuesday, Rasmussen amended the charge to homicide by abuse. That class A felony is equivalent to first-degree murder, which carries a potential sentence of life in prison.

DeLeon could have faced a life sentence under the previous charge only if a jury determined that she acted with deliberate cruelty.

“After a full review of the evidence against Carole DeLeon, and in consultation with the felony staff and with input from Mr. Jerry Wetle, I have filed a motion to amend the information to include a charge of homicide by abuse in the death of Tyler DeLeon,” Rasmussen said. Wetle is the former Stevens County prosecutor.

DeLeon, 52, remains in the Stevens County Jail after Superior Court Judge Al Nielson ruled she had violated the terms of her release by contacting two other adoptive children – who had been removed from her care – during a period of about five months last year.

According to court records, DeLeon used the help of Child Protective Services investigator Dwayne Thurman to deliver boxes of gifts, cards and notes to the two children on several occasions between August and late December.

One of the boys who received the gifts told his stepmother that he was having trouble sleeping and was afraid DeLeon was going to get loose and kill him, according to court records.

The boy “was very scared for the next couple of days” after receiving a box from his former adoptive mother, records say. He “has not had any outbursts or issues of hurting people or others until he receives gifts or things that remind him of Carole.”

DeLeon’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, could not be reached late Tuesday for comment.

The next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26, when Rasmussen said he expects Oreskovich to ask Judge Nielson to reconsider his decision to keep DeLeon jailed until the trial, which has not officially been set. The judge’s decision was upheld last week on appeal.

The investigation of DeLeon started when Tyler DeLeon died on his seventh birthday. The dead boy weighed 28 pounds, which was only 12 pounds more than he weighed at the age of 6 months when he was placed in DeLeon’s care, according to state records.

DeLeon is accused of severely restricting her son’s water and food intake to the point of locking the bathroom door at night and installing a baby monitor to prevent him and another foster child from getting drinks. She also told school employees not to allow Tyler to have water.

“We believe the evidence will show that Tyler died of dehydration and that he suffered from chronic nutritional deprivation,” Rasmussen said. “We will present to the jury evidence that we believe shows that Carole DeLeon engaged in a pattern of nutritional and fluid deprivation of Tyler which ultimately brought about his death.”

School officials and state social workers documented injuries on Tyler, including bruises, cuts, a broken leg and missing teeth.

The other child was removed from DeLeon’s care in 2004. Four months later, he had gained 18 pounds and gone from being in the fifth percentile for height and weight to the 95th percentile for children his age.

Rasmussen also said Tuesday that he will not file criminal charges against Thurman for his role in delivering the gifts to the children. “I don’t understand his behavior, but I’ve decided not to charge him criminally,” Rasmussen said.

Connie Lambert-Eckel, who is the deputy regional administrator for the Division of Children and Family Services, could not be reached for comment.