More charges filed in death of 4-year-old girl

Prosecutors filed new charges Wednesday against a Spokane couple accused of killing 4-year-old Summer Lytle.

Jack Driscoll, Spokane County chief deputy criminal prosecutor, said he sent a request to Superior Court Judge Michael Price to amend the homicide-by-abuse charge, adding three aggravating circumstances against 28-year-old Jonathan Lytle and 32-year-old Adriana Lytle.

Those aggravating circumstances included violating a position of trust, deliberate cruelty and a particularly vulnerable victim.

“I felt under the facts and circumstances that was the appropriate legal charge,” Driscoll said. “The facts speak for themselves.”

Jonathan Lytle took Summer to Deaconess Medical Center just after midnight Sunday after his daughter stopped breathing. Medical personnel found extensive injuries, including bruising from her thighs to her head, clumps of missing hair, a burn mark and a bite mark.

Spokane County Medical Examiner Sally Aiken said Summer died as a result of homicide, but she has not officially determined the cause of death.

In interviews with police investigators, the Lytles admitted using a dog-shock collar on Summer and forcing her to stand for hours in a bathtub while washing urine-soaked clothing. Adriana Lytle is Summer’s stepmother.

The couple also has an 8-month-old boy, who was placed in foster care after the Lytles’ arrest over the weekend. Investigators have not indicated whether that boy showed signs of abuse.

While the death penalty is not available, homicide by abuse carries the same standard prison sentence as first-degree murder, Driscoll said.

Since neither Lytle has a previous felony conviction, they face a standard range of 20 to 26 ½ years in prison if convicted.

However if a jury also finds aggravating circumstances, the judge could sentence both Lytles to more prison time, Driscoll said.

“I’ve already signed the paperwork and sent it to the judge,” Driscoll said.

The Lytles are expected to appear today in Spokane County Superior Court for a first appearance on the new charges.

The Department of Social and Health Services’ Children’s Administration first came in contact with Summer and her father on June 1, 2005, said spokeswoman Kathy Spears.

The father, for some unknown reason, informed the department that Summer had been left in his care by her biological mother.

Soon after, the department became aware of allegations the mother and father made against each other. The father accused Summer’s mother of physical abuse. The mother accused Lytle of sexual abuse.

“We need to look into whether or not there was an investigation opened at that time,” Spears said.