STORY: "Megan Martzen sentenced to 3 years probation," published by ABC on April 30, 2013.
GIST: "The Reedley babysitter who pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter was formally sentenced to 3 years probation on Tuesday. In March, 22-year-old Megan Martzen pleaded "no contest" to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal. This after her murder trial for the 2009 death of Ella VanLeeuwen ended in a hung jury in February. Ella, who was 17-months old, died three years ago following an incident that occurred while under Martzen's care. During her murder trial last month, prosecutors argued Martzen beat Ella to death, but the defense insisted the toddler fell off the bed and prior injuries contributed to her death."
GIST: "The Reedley babysitter who pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter was formally sentenced to 3 years probation on Tuesday. In March, 22-year-old Megan Martzen pleaded "no contest" to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal. This after her murder trial for the 2009 death of Ella VanLeeuwen ended in a hung jury in February. Ella, who was 17-months old, died three years ago following an incident that occurred while under Martzen's care. During her murder trial last month, prosecutors argued Martzen beat Ella to death, but the defense insisted the toddler fell off the bed and prior injuries contributed to her death."
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=9084028
More detailed Fresno Bee story: "In February, a Fresno County jury voted 10-2 against conviction on a murder charge and 8-4 against conviction on a charge of child abuse causing death. In addition, the jury deadlocked 6-6 on involuntary manslaughter."
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/30/3280398/reedley-sitter-gets-3-years-probation.html
Daily Mail (UK) story: "Martzen accepted a felony conviction in exchange for a sentence of probation, after the murder trial ended in a mistrial. The 22-year-old is officially not a murderer, but by pleading no contest to the charge of involuntary manslaughter, she admitted playing a role in the toddler's death, according to abcnews.com. Speaking outside Fresno County Court ahead of the sentencing, Martzen said: 'I would've never done anything to hurt Ella, I loved her so much. 'My heart hurts for the family.'"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317575/Megan-Martzen-Babysitter-admits-killing-toddler-care-escapes-jail.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
