RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) - A Vermont man charged with killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter in a case that led to changes in the state’s child protection laws has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Dennis Duby originally pleaded not guilty in the death of Dezirae Sheldon. Prosecutors say Duby was the only adult home in February 2014 when the girl suffered severe head trauma.
In court Monday, Duby said he was tired and frustrated when he kicked Dezirae’s feet out from under her, causing her to hit her head. He said he didn’t mean to cause the injuries that led to her death.
Duby’s plea deal calls for him to serve 13 years in prison.
The girl’s mother, Sandra Eastman, previously had been convicted of child cruelty after the girl’s hospitalization for broken bones. The family was under supervision of Vermont’s Department for Children and Families.
Dezirae’s father won a $500,000 settlement last year after suing the state, saying it failed to protect her.
Two months after Dezirae’s death, a young child in an unrelated case died while also under DCF supervision. Fifteen-month-old Peighton Geraw, of Winooski, died less than an hour after a DCF worker had visited the apartment where he had been living with his mother.
The deaths prompted the Legislature to examine the state’s child protection laws.
In June 2015, Vermont enacted a law that shifted the state’s priority in protecting children to their well-being, not reuniting them with their families. DCF also hired more social workers and administrative personnel to keep better track of cases of at-risk children.
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