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Parents get suspended sentences in car-seat death Date published: 11/8/2008
BY KEITH EPPS The parents of a 2-year-old girl who strangled to death in a car seat won't have to go to prison. Charity Joy Demas, 33, and Timothy William Demas, 35, got suspended sentences yesterday following a hearing in Stafford County Circuit Court that lasted nearly four hours. Their daughter Ariana Demas died Oct. 10 of last year while strapped in a car seat inside her home in North Stafford. Judge J. Martin Bass called the child's death "completely and utterly tragic." Ariana, the youngest of four Demas children, was put into the seat by her mother because the child was fussy and her mother was too tired to stay up with her, according to testimony. Charity Demas was convicted of child neglect and received a suspended five-year prison term. Timothy Demas got a suspended 12-month sentence on his misdemeanor conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. According to prosecutor Eric Olsen's statement of facts, none of the children in the Demas' $400,000 house had his own bed. Ariana generally slept with her parents and on occasion was placed in a car seat to sleep. According to the evidence, on the night Ariana died Charity Demas stayed up until 1 a.m. working on an art project for a college course. When Ariana began fussing, her mother tried to nurse her, but the baby rejected that effort. Charity Demas testified that she knew the child wanted to be carried around, "but I couldn't do it. I was too tired." Demas said she placed the child in the car seat and took her to another room, in part so her husband could sleep. She said she had done it a couple of times before and it worked out fine. "If I had any thought that what happened could happen, she would have never been in there," Demas said. "I more than loved my daughter; I cherished her." Demas said she got up the next morning and got ready for class. Just before she was about to leave, she woke her husband to let him know he had to supervise the children. Just before she walked out the door, Demas said, she checked on Ariana and her neck was against the strap of the car seat. She said the child looked dead, "but I hoped that she wasn't." The girl was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Olsen argued that Charity Demas deserved some time in incarceration. He said the children were victims of ongoing neglect, including living in a filthy house and not attending school. He also claimed that another Demas child has a curable medical condition that Charity Demas has resisted treatment for. Defense attorneys Jim Ilijevich and Terence Patton rejected claims that the Demases were bad parents. Ilijevich put on extensive evidence showing that while the Demases had not followed state law in home-schooling their children, Charity Demas was giving them adequate instruction. The other three children are now in public school. The defense attorneys also put on a number of witnesses, mostly members of the Demases' church--Mount Ararat Baptist--who portrayed the couple as loving and attentive parents. The Demases' suspended sentences include a number of conditions, including parenting classes. Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
I have had a bad experience with Olsen as well. In my opinion he is one of those prosecutors that thinks everyone is guilty and deserves the maximum punishment. I guess that may be an attitude that other prosecutors exude as well but that doesn't mean it is right. He is biased in his thinking and illogical in his desire for retribution not justice. He seems to hate the defendants. Justice is supposed to be blind. His demeanor hardly seems to exemplify that.
I cant believe its acceptable to strap your kids in a carseat and leave them unattended. That little girl deserved better then that, any dummy can see that. So I guess we can all stop paying a babysitter, just strap your kid in a carseat and go about your business. PATHETIC!!!
A previous article when the parents were charged stated there were multiple investigations of neglect for all of little Ariana's life. I doubt this was a case of a messy house one day, or one weekend. No one knows what was going on in that home, or in their lives. It is a tragic loss that could have been prevented. I am sure the parents love their children, but love does not make one fit to be a parent. I pray that social services keep an eye on this family.
the mother homeschooled her children and they had pallets on the floor to sleep on, and the messy house was dishes left from the night before, the other child had been to a doctor . These people are sweet and the children are really well behaved, this is a tragic loss that they will never recover from , they were scared in to the plea agreement like so many others......... shame on ya'll.
is what Grumpy must be, then. Olsen is a very honorable man and just because he is thorough in his job doesn't make him a crook. I remember once when crazy Judge Simpson tried to make him look bad because a plea agreement fell through but the judge brought in to try it sided with Olsen. You can't blame him because a judge is nuts.
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