Guilty Plea In Toddler's Death -- Monroe Caregiver Admits Abuse; Could Get 20 Years
EVERETT - Now that a Monroe woman has pleaded guilty to killing a 16-month-old girl under her care, her attorney will fight for a lower-than-usual prison term, arguing the crime was not intentional.
Robin Johnson told a Snohomish County judge yesterday she was guilty of homicide by abuse in the June 3 death of Charlotte Wetzel.
Johnson cared for Charlotte for about 4 1/2 months at her home day-care center. Speaking in a quiet but composed voice, she acknowledged to the judge that on June 3 she kicked the child in the stomach with her heel and stomped once on her stomach.
She abused Charlotte about five times in the preceding several months, pulling her hair, hitting her and kicking her in the ribs - causing her to vomit, she said.
Johnson's husband, who is caring for the couple's two young daughters and Johnson's teenage son, was in the audience when the plea was entered and left quickly afterward.
Deputy Prosecutor Jo Vanderlee told Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer she will recommend that Johnson, 33, be sentenced to 20 years in prison, the low end of the sentencing range for the crime.
Johnson's lawyer, Royce Ferguson of Everett, told the judge he was reserving the right to recommend Johnson be given a sentence lower than the standard range of 20 to 26 years. He said he probably would seek a sentence equivalent to manslaughter, arguing that the crime was the result of negligence rather than intent.
Afterward, Ferguson said he would ask for about 10 years because Johnson has suffered from mental problems. His client was sexually and physically abused as a child and was suffering from major depression at the time of Charlotte's death, Ferguson said. Not seeking treatment was negligent, he said.
Johnson pleaded guilty because she "wants to do the right thing," Ferguson said.
"She really never intended to kill anybody," the lawyer said. "She's not a terrible person. . . . She was struggling. She was drowning with her own problems and took it out on this little baby."
Johnson was co-owner of Robin's Day Care, which she operated from her home for about two years. Throughout that time, she cared for fewer than a dozen children.
Charlotte's parents, Margot and Milynn Wetzel, placed their child in Johnson's care in January.
At the time of her death, Charlotte was the only child in Johnson's care except for Johnson's own children.
Charlotte died from a heavy blow to the abdomen, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.
Johnson resented the time the day-care children took away from her own kids and felt overwhelming anger and irritation toward them, court documents allege.
After Johnson's arrest, Monroe Police looked into other allegations of abuse but found no evidence of other incidents, said Cmdr. Steve Seibert.
Since their daughter's death, Margot and Milynn Wetzel have thrown themselves into raising awareness about child abuse. They didn't attend yesterday's hearing but plan to be at Johnson's Dec. 10 sentencing. Margot Wetzel said she will ask the judge for a sentence of about 30 years.
When that's over, she said, "we'll be able to move on a little bit."
The homicide-by-abuse law was sparked by the death of Eli Creekmore, 3, of Everett, who was kicked to death by his father in 1986 after authorities removed the boy from his home several times, then returned him. To win a conviction, prosecutors must show a defendant engaged in a pattern of assault, abuse and torture.
Anne Koch's phone message number is 425-745-7814. Her e-mail address is: akoch@seattletimes.com