Woman to be sentenced Tuesday in death of son
WATERVILLE, Wash. – It was nearly two years ago that Rustin Atkerson suffered what would be a fatal head injury.
On Tuesday, his mother, Elaine A. Hurd, will be sentenced to time in jail after she pleaded guilty in May to second-degree criminal mistreatment. A neurosurgeon told detectives Rustin would still be alive if treated sooner.
Defense and prosecutors made a joint recommendation of six months in jail, though Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber is able to sentence her to up to a year.
Although Hurd will serve jail time in connection to her 2-year-old son’s death, investigators still aren’t certain what happened.
On June 21, 2017, Ian Atkerson, Rustin’s father, dropped his son off with Hurd and then she took him to the East Wenatchee home of Steven Rowe, her boyfriend at the time.
Hurd told detectives with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that Rustin, who already had a broken arm, fell down some stairs and hit his head, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Douglas County Superior Court.
Hurd put Rustin to bed and didn’t check on him until the next day when she found him having a seizure, the affidavit said. He was taken off life support Aug. 3, 2017.
According to Dr. Lee Sandquist, a neurosurgeon at Central Washington Hospital who treated Rustin, the boy would have survived his injury if he’d received prompt medical care.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which performed an autopsy on Rustin, told Det. Jason DeMeyer they believed the cause of death was blunt force injury of the head, according to a report from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
The examiners told authorities that “Because the severity of the injury is inconsistent with the explanation given by caregivers, the manner of death is classified as homicide.” Medical examiner Dr. Emily Brown later said Rustin’s injury was not likely the result of a fall.
Rowe was arrested July 20, 2017, on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child and held at Okanogan County Jail on $500,000 bail, but never charged by prosecutors. He was released from custody July 24, 2017.
The next day, Hurd filed for a protection order against Rowe in Douglas County Superior Court. In the protection order, she blamed Rowe for Rustin’s impending death and accused him of calling her repeatedly to “get our stories straight.”
Ian Atkerson filed for restraining order June 26, 2017 in Chelan County Superior Court on behalf of Rustin to protect his son from Hurd. In the restraining order, he cited previous incidents of suspected abuse.
Hurd was ultimately arrested by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in July 2018 and then charged with second-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree criminal mistreatment.
She pleaded guilty in May to second-degree criminal mistreatment and will be sentenced Tuesday in Waterville.